F5 Networks' new controller promises high-end ISP load balancing and is designed for enhanced scalability, performance, and return on investment.

by Wayne Kawamoto [April 1, 2002]

F5 Networks, Inc., a provider of Internet Traffic and Content Management (iTCM) products, announced the availability of its BIG-IP Link Controller 2000, which provides high availability for ISPs or websites with multiple wide area links. According to the company, the solution is transparent to ISPs and users, and lowers the cost and deployment complexities for enterprises that need to protect their data centers from connection failures.

F5 says that with its BIG-IP Link Controller, ISPs and enterprises may gain flexibility in how they acquire and use bandwidth for their sites, which may lower cost and increase return on investment (ROI) for connectivity. Enterprises may be able to seamlessly aggregate any type of connection (DSL, T1, T3, E1, etc.) into a unified "virtual link" while maintaining protection against unforeseen failures.

By aggregating lower cost connections, the company says that enterprises can gain flexibility in scaling their bandwidth, reducing over-provisioning and making use of connections that would otherwise be in a standby-only mode due to configuration challenges. The BIG-IP Link Controller is designed to seamlessly direct traffic to the best connection in order to efficiently use bandwidth resources and send users over the best Internet link to achieve good performance.

The BIG-IP Link Controller also provides Link Cost load balancing, which should give enterprises the ability to direct traffic over the least expensive link and maximize ROI of communication costs. For connections that have tiered costs like `burstable' lines, enterprises may be able to lower their bandwidth bill and eliminate costly spikes in traffic when lower cost connections may be used.

F5 says that its BIG-IP Link Controller offers the following:

• Reliable, efficient and low cost data center connectivity
  The solution is designed to provide end-to-end, reliable connectivity through an ability to monitor the health, capacity, performance and cost of each connection and dynamically direct traffic across the best available link.
  
  
• Policy-based traffic control
  The solution should provide granular traffic control for IP network gateways, which may allow users to define how traffic is distributed across their links in a way that meets their business priorities.
  
  
• Evaluate ISP performance with the Internet Link Evaluator
  The solution provides statistics and monitoring to evaluate ISP service and performance.
  
  
• A consolidated solution for the enterprise gateway
  The BIG-IP Link Controller includes integrated Firewall Load Balancing to manage the traffic to redundant firewalls and expand the capacity of firewall security. As an organization's needs change, the BIG-IP Link Controller may provide an upgrade path to expand its capabilities to include F5's comprehensive local and global traffic management capabilities.

"Organizations are always faced with providing highly available connectivity in a cost effective manner," said Dan Matte, vice-president of product management and marketing at F5 Networks. "In these economic times, our customers are redoubling their efforts in this area. The BIG-IP Link Controller addresses two important areas of concern: improving link availability and performance so business critical applications are always available, and reducing expenses of wide area communications."

Availability and pricing
The product is available now.

The BIG-IP Link Controller is delivered on a BIG-IP 2000 IP application switch platform and is priced at U.S. list $19,990 for a single device and $37,990 for a redundant pair.

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