Interop: F5 Unveils Cloud Tools

F5 Networks on Monday introduced version 10.2 software for its BIG-IP line of application delivery controllers.

The upgrade is meant to help extend enterprise data center architecture to the cloud, by letting tech departments and service providers employ "On-Demand IT" through a dynamic services model.

F5 made the announcement at the Interop Las Vegas 2010 Business Technology Conference and Expo, which runs April 25 to 29 at the Mandalay Bay conference center.

With the new offering, set for availability this month, F5 is integrating disparate technologies for application delivery, security, optimization, data management, and infrastructure control.

The vendor said those are the key technologies needed to realize the full flexibility and adaptability of virtualization and cloud computing services. The announcement boosts F5's plan to unify application delivery and data services within its product portfolio.

F5 said virtualization and cloud computing's full benefits are realized only when IT departments go beyond single-issue initiatives—like data center consolidation, green IT, or IT/business alignment—and adopt a holistic architecture that integrates multiple initiatives and creates more efficient ways of implementing technologies jointly.

"The cloud is evolving as the next generation of IT," said Erik Giesa, VP of Product Management and Product Marketing at F5, in a statement.

"Whether a business is planning to deploy a private cloud or take advantage of external public cloud services, it needs to put its enterprise requirements first and leverage an integrated architecture for on-demand mobility, orchestration, and automation," Giesa said.

"F5 is committed to helping customers utilize their existing infrastructures, while extending and reusing them to enable a common cloud architectural model—regardless of where IT resources actually reside," he added.

See all the latest IT solutions -- including virtualization, cloud computing and data center advances -- at Interop Las Vegas, April 25-29. Find out more here.