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Be a Commerce Partner |
F5 Goes After Cisco With Improved Device
F5's new version of its BIG/ip Controller enables improved traffic management. With recent DoS attacks in mind, F5 is also touting its security features.
[March 7, 2000] |
 |
F5 Networks, Inc. recently released version 3.0 of its BIG/ip Controller that offers Internet traffic and content controls so enterprises can deliver a high level of service quality to users through their web sites. According to F5 Networks, BIG/ip provides a new level of fault tolerance for Internet sites by shielding users from system failures and optimizing response times to user requests and data flow.
BIG/ip 4U model
BIG/ip now has an Active-Active mode that takes advantage of traffic throughput to two BIG/ip Controllers, simultaneously. F5 Networks claims that when engaged, the Active-Active mode ensures that identical information is shared by both BIG/ip Controllers. Not only are single points of failure removed from the network, but both controllers help to increase site performance and capacity because each controller shares the load. It is available in a 4U or 2U chassis.
BIG/ip offers new methods of intelligent traffic control that include transparent device persistence, cookie persistence (hash option), HTTP header load balancing, and more, which provides flexibile and manageable IP-based traffic. To make more intelligent load balancing decisions, BIG/ip can identify specific traffic, based on HTTP header information, and then direct that traffic to a set of servers or devices that can best service the request.
Security
The controller comes with numerous security features to provide a highly
scalable, available, and secure Internet site for both internal and external
applications. The controller may be used to balance both inbound and outbound
traffic for devices like firewalls, caches, or routers, and enables stringent
access control and secure administration.
BIG/ip's security features make it resistant to common attacks, and as a "default deny device" it:
- Thwarts Denial of Service attacks (reaps idle connections)
- Thwarts IP spoofing (performs source route tracing)
- Resists unacknowledged SYN without ACK buffers (thwarts SYN floods)
- Thwarts teardrop and land attacks
- Protects itself and servers from ICMP attacks
- Does not run SMTPd, FTPd, Telnetd, or any other attackable daemons
- Uses packet filtering to limit or deny access to and from Internet sites based on monitoring the traffic source, destination and port
- Uses Secure Remote administration based on secure shell (SSH) for command line or SSL for browser-based management
"BIG/ip has quickly gained broad acceptance in the market, not only by many large enterprises, but also by the leading ASPs, ISPs, and network equipment manufacturers," says Steve Goldman, Senior Vice-President of Sales, Marketing, and Services at F5 Networks. "This is primarily because BIG/ip is the most mature and sophisticated product of its kind and is designed to easily integrate into any network environment."
"Quality of Service is extremely important for service providers, since it translates directly into customer satisfaction and market share," says Marc Goodman, F5's Senior Director of Marketing. "To remain competitive, service providers must intelligently manage this capacity in order to realize its fullest potential. BIG/ip gives service providers the ability to increase site reliability, scalability and optimize performance."
On its website, F5 claims "F5 is the leader in the market segment of High-Availability, High Performance. . . F5's main competitor in this segment is Cisco with its Local Director product. F5 has striven to provide the best product in its segment." It says its core products are: the BIG/ip® Controller, 3DNS® Controller, global/SITE™ Controller and the see/IT™ Network Manager.
Availability and Pricing
BIG/ip is available now, and prices start at $9,990 for a single controller.
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