F5 Networks Provides Key Infrastructure for Northrop Grumman's AKO/DKO Emerging Technologies Laboratory

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Laboratory uses F5's BIG-IP systems for its real-world test environment of mission-critical application deployments

SEATTLE, December 8, 2009-F5 Networks, Inc.(NASDAQ:

title="View F5 Listing on NASDAQ">FFIV

^®products provide a key infrastructure component that is foundational for maintaining application delivery and high availability for the Army Knowledge Online/Defense Knowledge Online (AKO/DKO) Emerging Technologies Laboratory (ETL), established byNorthrop Grumman Corporation. The AKO/DKO ETL is a scaled replica of the AKO/DKO production environment that allows realistic testing, rapid prototyping, and preliminary integration of new capabilities prior to implementation. The AKO/DKO ETL officially opened on August 10, 2009.

AKO/DKO, a partnership between Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Army, provides a single enterprise portal that serves as the entry point for all U.S. Department of Defense and authorized users to access Defense Department and government intranets supporting operations, missions, and critical support processes for forces worldwide.

"From the beginning of our implementation, key factors for success with the AKO/DKO ETL included an infrastructure comprised of the most robust solutions for application delivery," said Skip Magness, AKO/DKO program manager at Northrop Grumman. "The sheer volume of traffic that the AKO/DKO portal generates required solutions that enhance security, manage and redirect traffic, reduce server loads, and provide for disaster recovery if necessary. With the continuing growth of service portal traffic, we also required scalable solutions to meet the needs of the users. We are seeing excellent results with the solutions we've implemented."

For AKO/DKO ETL, Northrop Grumman implemented multiple F5^®BIG-IP solutions, including

title="BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager">BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager

^™(LTM^™) to load balance, secure, and optimize application traffic;

title="BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager">BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager

^™(GTM^™) for WAN high availability with seamless disaster recovery and routing; and

title="BIG-IP WebAccelerator">BIG-IP WebAccelerator

^™to reduce server processor utilization and bandwidth usage.

BIG-IP Modules Streamline Performance for the AKO/DKO Lab

The BIG-IPIPv6 Gateway

^™module provides translation and load balancing between v4 and v6 networks, and directs traffic across mixed IPv6 and IPv4 devices. The BIG-IP

title="Intelligent Compression">Intelligent Compression

^™module reduces the volume of traffic sent to users. The BIG-IPFast Cache

^™module prevents servers from repeatedly handling requests for identical content, and the BIG-IP

title="Advanced Client Authentication">Advanced Client Authentication

^™module eliminates the need to manage and enforce authentication individually across applications.

The AKO/DKO Emerging Technologies Laboratory creates a globally redundant test environment similar to the AKO/DKO production environment. It is located in Northrop Grumman's McLean, Va., facilities, and is part of the company's Transformational, Research, Integration and Demonstration (TRIAD^™) network, which allows secure customer remote access. The AKO/DKO ETL will bring new capabilities to AKO/DKO users, including war fighters and their dependents, more quickly and reliably than ever before, with reduced risk.

"Application security, optimization, and availability are critical, especially when portal usage increases," said Nick Urick, VP of Federal Sales at F5. "Working together with Northrop Grumman, we determined which BIG-IP solutions would provide the highest levels of performance, security, and scalability for the AKO/DKO ETL. The beauty of the BIG-IP family is its modular architecture, which allows customers to choose the best solutions for their organization. The goal for Northrop Grumman is to enable more usability and reliability for people using this important portal, and F5 BIG-IP solutions have a track record of success."

In 2008, AKO attained its one-billionth log-in-a testament to AKO's widespread use and the value it delivers to the extended Army family. AKO/DKO offers secure email, file storage and management, instant messaging, directory services, and collaboration tools to active and reserve service members, family members of deployed personnel, retirees, and other Defense Department personnel.

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks is the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), focused on ensuring the secure, reliable, and fast delivery of applications. F5's flexible architectural framework enables community-driven innovation that helps organizations enhance IT agility and dynamically deliver services that generate true business value. F5's vision of unified application and data delivery offers customers an unprecedented level of choice in how they deploy ADN solutions. It redefines the management of application, server, storage, and network resources, streamlining application delivery and reducing costs. Global enterprise organizations, service and cloud providers, and Web 2.0 content providers trust F5 to keep their business moving forward. For more information, go towww.f5.com.

F5, BIG-IP, Local Traffic Manager, LTM, Global Traffic Manager, GTM, WebAccelerator, IPv6 Gateway, Intelligent Compression, Fast Cache, and Advanced Client Authentication are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

# # #

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.

a.moran@f5.com

News Source : F5 Networks Provides Key Infrastructure for Northrop Grumman's AKO/DKO Emerging Technologies Laboratory