F5 Networks' Internet Control Architecture
Supports New Microsoft Application Center 2000
F5's Internet Control Architecture Helps Enable Microsoft
Application Center to Provide Seamless Content Distribution
and Application Updates With Uninterrupted Service
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2001--F5 Networks, Inc.
(Nasdaq:FFIV), the leading provider of Internet Traffic and Content
Management (iTCM) products, today announced that Microsoft is using F5
Networks' Internet Control Architecture to enable the web servers and
applications within Microsoft Application Center 2000 to seamlessly
integrate and communicate with each other.
With Application Center 2000, web applications built on Microsoft
Windows 2000 can achieve mission-critical availability (99.999%
uptime) through software scaling, while reducing operational
complexity and costs. With F5's Internet Control Architecture,
Application Center is able to use F5's BIG-IP(R) Controller to
distribute new applications and content updates, without interrupting
service, by adding and removing servers while the distribution and
update process is occurring.
"Microsoft Application Center 2000 is all about simplifying
application management and maximizing availability for any Web
application built on Microsoft Windows 2000," said Bob Pulliam,
Technical Product Manager for Microsoft Application Center 2000. "The
goals of Application Center 2000 align naturally with F5's Internet
Control Architecture and its ability to create application-aware
networks. Customers using F5's architecture along with Application
Center 2000 are able to easily deploy and manage high availability
applications from a single console, reducing errors and lowering
costs."
Application Center 2000 uses Network Load Balancing (NLB) and
Component Load Balancing (CLB) technologies to create clusters of
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server-based computers. Clustering increases
the amount of traffic that the Web site can handle and guarantees
availability when a server becomes disabled. F5's Internet Control
Architecture enables integration of the BIG-IP Controller with
Application Center 2000 clusters for load balancing web traffic across
all available Application Center 2000 web servers. It also permits
instruction on when to add or remove nodes depending on the particular
function Application Center 2000 is performing at any given time. This
helps minimize administration, and significantly simplifies uptime and
availability.
"Application Center 2000 streamlines application deployment,
simplifying the task of migrating applications throughout the
development cycle -- from development to testing to production," said
Dan Matte, Senior Director of Product Management at F5 Networks. "The
Application Center is a prime example of how F5's Internet Control
Architecture enables an application-aware network and helps
enterprises efficiently manage application deployment and availability
for large-scale web applications. With Application Center, the network
informs applications about availability, for instance, and the
application instructs the network on where to direct traffic --
without manual intervention and the associated administration costs."
About Microsoft Application Center 2000
Microsoft Application Center 2000 is a deployment and management
tool for high-availability Web applications built on the Microsoft
Windows 2000 operating system. Application Center 2000 makes managing
groups of servers as simple as managing a single computer, empowering
developers and Web site administrators to deploy applications quickly
and easily while minimizing in-depth application knowledge
requirements. By automating deployment of applications from one server
to another, Application Center speeds up transfer times, eliminates
manual errors, and improves the quality of releases.
About F5 Networks
F5 Networks is the leader in Internet Traffic and Content
Management (iTCM), and delivers application aware networks through its
open Internet Control Architecture. F5 features the industry's leading
set of integrated products and services that manage, control and
optimize Internet traffic and content. Our solutions automatically and
intelligently deliver the best possible Internet performance,
availability and content distribution for service providers,
enterprises and e-businesses. Our products remove bandwidth congestion
and optimize the availability and speed of mission-critical Internet
servers and applications, including web publishing, content delivery,
e-commerce, caching, firewalls and more. Our solutions are widely
deployed in large enterprises, the top service providers, financial
institutions, government agencies, healthcare, and portals throughout
the world. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and
has offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. F5
Networks is located on the web at www.f5.com.
This press release may contain forward looking statements relating
to future events or future financial performance that involve risks
and uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology
such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,"
"believes," "estimates," "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the
negative of such terms or comparable terms. These statements are only
predictions and actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in these statements based upon a number of factors
including those identified in the Company's filings with the SEC.
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CONTACT: Robert J. Chamberlain, Chief Financial Officer
F5 Networks
206/272-5555 |
