F5,VMware integration to enable rapid service provisioning

By SearchSMBAsia Editors | Jul 2, 2009

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F5 Networks [6], Inc. an Application Delivery Networking (ADN) service provider, has announced integration [7] between its BIG-IP solutions and VMware [8] vSphere 4 and VMware vCenter Server, together creating a scalable and extensible platform that allows IT administrators to dramatically improve organizations’ control over virtual environments. Working in concert, VMware vCenter Server and F5 BIG-IP solutions enable customers to dynamically provision application resources, reduce costs, and maximize the automation and agility of their IT infrastructures.

The company said that integration with VMware vCenter Server is made possible through F5’s open API, iControl, which enables rapid integration with third party management systems. Due to the flexibility of iControl, organizations can tailor their networks to be more responsive to the dynamic changes happening in the virtual infrastructure.

Together, VMware vCenter Server and F5 BIG-IP systems aim to provide a resilient platform that can continually optimize application delivery and enable IT organizations to more rapidly align with business needs by adapting to changes in business requirements or the overall IT environment.
 
VMware vCenter Server enables customers to dynamically provision application resources in response to fluctuating user demand. However, until now, configuring the application delivery network to recognize and respond to those changes has been a manual process. This integration enables VMware vCenter Server to provide specific instructions on how F5 solutions should handle application traffic for newly provisioned or deprovisioned virtual machines. Instructions can include adding or removing virtual machines from BIG-IP’s load balancing pool or even holding connections until the virtual machines are confirmed to be responsive. Instructions can even be given in the event that virtual machines are consolidated onto a reduced number of hosts by VMware Distributed Power Management. This automation minimizes the need for manual intervention and greatly reduces the possibility of configuration errors.
 
The company also said that the BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager (GTM) complements the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager by extending business continuity/disaster recovery automation functionality to the network, reducing IT administration time and effort, and substantially mitigating the risk of human error. In the event of site failure, BIG-IP GTM works with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager to redirect application traffic to an alternative data center or to the cloud, and ensure that applications remain available.