F5 Extends Application Manager

SEATTLE -- F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Traffic Management, today announced that its BIG-IP® product family has been enhanced and extended, and continues to dominate the market as the performance leader. Today’s announcement expands and redefines what IT staff can accomplish when delivering applications and affords enterprise organizations an exceptional Return on Investment (ROI) through the BIG-IP product’s ability to provide unmatched levels of networked application intelligence and security at extraordinary speeds. Also announced today, are the results of the Broadband-Testing Performance Report1, which honored F5 with the Gold Award and cited BIG-IP version 9 as the undisputed performance leader in its comprehensive tests of competitive products.

Through a single, unified platform, the BIG-IP solution offers: (1) the market’s first product with integrated hardware compression to offload expensive HTTP compression cycles; (2) a new 6800 flagship platform that delivers massive scalability and throughput; (3) dramatic software optimization which provides up to a 50% increase in L7 performance across all F5 platforms; and (4) FIPS 141-2 Level 2 certification for unparalleled performance and protection of SSL keys and data.

The new BIG-IP solution benefits a broad range of organizations, including medium to large enterprises and hosting providers. The product’s new capabilities and hardware platform are ideal for large enterprises and hosting providers looking for massive scalability and performance. And, with the BIG-IP product’s superior intelligence and ability to scale across all integrated functions, it delivers the best choice for medium to large organizations looking for effective consolidation of functions like SSL processing, HTTP compression, rate shaping, authentication enforcement, and advanced application networking capabilities -- all in a single unified system.

“Enterprises are deploying web-enabled applications at extraordinary rates and subsequently have an increasing need for networks that provide outstanding performance, intelligence, and flexibility,” said Peter Firstbrook, Program Director at The META Group. “A product that enables customers to cost-effectively centralize all application optimization functions, offload processing from applications and servers, and eliminate many ‘point’ application delivery solutions will help them save money and management headaches. These combined attributes are all necessary to increase customers’ ROI of their applications and network.”

F5 Networks Inc.