F5 Networks

F5 Networks, Inc.
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: FFIV
S&P 500 Component
Industry Technology
Predecessor F5 Labs
Founded February 26, 1996 (1996-02-26)
Headquarters Seattle, Washington, United States
Key people
 François Locoh-Donou (President and CEO) Ben Gibson (Executive Vice President and CMO)
Products Networking
Revenue
  • Increase US$ 1,995.034 million (2016) [1]
  • Increase US$ 1,919.823 million (2015) [1]
  • Increase US$ 547.377 million (2016) [1]
  • Increase US$ 552.899 million (2015) [1]
  • Increase US$ 365.855 million (2016) [1]
  • Increase US$ 365.014 million (2015) [1]
Total assets
  • Increase US$ 2,306.323 million (2016) [2]
  • Increase US$ 2,312.290 million (2015) [1]
Total equity
  • Increase US$ 1,185.262 million (2016) [2]
  • Increase US$ 1,316.728 million (2015) [1]
Number of employees
 4,460 (2017)
Website f5.com

F5 Networks, Inc. is an American-based company that specializes in application delivery networking (ADN) technology for the delivery of web applications and the security, performance, availability of servers, data storage devices, and other network and cloud resources. F5 is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has other development, manufacturing, and sales/marketing offices.

Known originally for its load balancing product, today F5's product and services line has expanded into all things related to the delivery of applications, including local load balancing and acceleration, global (DNS based) load balancing and acceleration, security through web application firewall and application authentication and access products, DDoS defense, and more, both for the local datacenter and cloud.

Corporate history

F5 Networks, originally named F5 Labs,[3] was established in 1996.[4] The company name was inspired by the 1996 movie Twister, in which reference was made to the fastest and most powerful tornado on the Fujita Scale: F5.

F5's first product (launched in 1997[5]) was a load balancer called BIG-IP. When a server went down or became overloaded, BIG-IP directed traffic away from that server to other servers that could handle the load.

In June 1999, the company had its initial public offering and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange with symbol FFIV.[6]

In 2010 and 2011, F5 Networks was on Fortune's list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.[7] The company was also rated one of the top ten best-performing stocks by S&P 500 in 2010.[8] F5 was also named a Best Place to Work by online jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor in 2015 and 2016.[9]

Competitors included Cisco Systems (until 2012[10]), Citrix Systems, and Radware.

François Locoh-Donou replaced John McAdam as president and CEO on April 3, 2017.[11]

Ben Gibson [12] hired as CMO July 20, 2016. [13]

Acquisitions

Products

BIG-IP

F5's BIG-IP product family comprises hardware, modularized software, and virtual appliances that run the F5 TMOS operating system.[25][26] Depending on the appliance selected, one or more BIG-IP product modules can be added. Acronyms used include:

BIG-IP history

On September 7, 2004, F5 Networks released version 9.0 of the BIG-IP software in addition to appliances to run the software. Version 9.0 also marked the introduction of the company’s TMOS architecture,[27] with significant enhancements including:

Subsequent releases enhanced performance, improves application security, and supported cloud application deployments.

BIG-IQ

F5 describes BIG-IQ as a framework for managing BIG-IP devices and application services, irrespective of their form factors (hardware, software or cloud) or deployment model (on-premises, private/public cloud or hybrid). BIG-IQ supports integration with other ecosystem participants such as public cloud providers, and orchestration engines through cloud connectors and through a set of open RESTful APIs. BIG-IQ uses a multi-tenant approach to management. This allows organizations to move closer to IT as a Service without concern that it might affect the stability or security of the services fabric.[24]

Herculon

Herculon is a product for security administrators. DDoS Hybrid Defender and SSL Orchestrator, were introduced in January 2017.

Silverline

Silverline is a cloud-based application service. Its offerings include security services such as WAF and DDoS protection services.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "F5 NETWORKS INC 2016 Annual Report Form (10-K)" (XBRL). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Sept 30 2016. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. 1 2 "F5 NETWORKS INC 2016 Q4 Quarterly Report Form (10-K)" (XBRL). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Sept 30,2016. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ↑ http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/Thomson_Venture_Economics/F5_Networks_Inc_AKA_F5_Labs_Inc-Y45115
  4. ↑ "F5 Networks Form 10-K". Retrieved 2012-05-02.
  5. ↑ Rossi, Ben. "How F5 Networks built an empire on controlling the internet". Information Age.
  6. ↑ "F5 Networks Inc files for a $30,000,000 initial public offering on April 7, 1999". Stock IPO Dates & Prices. 1999-04-07. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  7. ↑ "100 Fastest-growing companies". CNN. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  8. ↑ Frank Byrt. "10 Best-Performing S&P 500 Stocks of 2010". TheStreet. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Glassdoor - Best Places to Work". Glassdoor. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  10. ↑ Duffy, Jim (2012-09-19). "Cisco's exit from ADCs should come as no surprise". NetworkWorld. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  11. ↑ "F5 names new CEO after yearlong search". The Seattle Times. January 30, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ "About F5: Leadership Profiles, Ben Gibson". July 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ "F5 names Ben Gibson as Chief Marketing Officer". July 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Quick Takes: F5 lassos uRoam". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  15. ↑ John Leyden (July 1, 2004). "F5 snaps up MagniFire". The Register. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  16. ↑ "F5 to acquire Swan Labs". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  17. ↑ "F5 Networks Completes Acquisition of Acopia Networks". Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  18. ↑ "F5 Acquires Intellectual Property Assets of Crescendo Networks". Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "F5 Networks Acquires Traffix Systems". Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "F5 Networks Acquires LineRate Systems". Retrieved 11 Feb 2013.
  21. ↑ "F5 Networks Acquires Versafe to Help Customers Protect Against Online Fraud". Retrieved 2 Nov 2013.
  22. ↑ Kundozerov, Ilya (2017-05-01). "F5 continues to lead the ADC market while seeking to meaningfully expand its portfolio". Morningstar, Inc. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  23. ↑ "F5 Networks Acquires Defense.Net". Retrieved 5 Aug 2014.
  24. ↑ "Form 10-K - ANNUAL REPORT 2014". EDGAR. 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  25. ↑ Steven Iveson (2013-04-20). "What the Heck Is F5 Networks’ TMOS?". packetpushers.net. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  26. 1 2 Ryan Kearny; Steve Graves (2008-12-14). "No operating system is an island". embedded.com. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  27. ↑ "What The Heck Is F5 Networks' TMOS? - Packet Pushers -". Packet Pushers. 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  28. ↑ "Manual Chapter: Understanding Core System Services". f5.com. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  29. ↑ "Overview of BIG-IP Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) CPU and RAM usage". f5.com. Retrieved 2013-12-02.

Coordinates: 47°37′20″N 122°21′49″W / 47.622219°N 122.363493°W / 47.622219; -122.363493

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