Forum Discussion
NimbostratusAsking for easier and more comprehensive explanation about what LineRate application proxsy software is Sir!!!
Hi! I'm mailing you again! I'm reviewing the articles again and again that F5 has recently announced for launching LineRate in news release. but I'm still not sure about what this product is. So I am asking basic and comprehensive concept about LineRate application proxy software. my questions are as follow 1. What is LineRate application proxy software?(what is this doing in network. what benefit can DevOps get using this?) 2. Is it H/W product or S/W product? (I need some configuration which is running with other devices) For my better understanding, Could you give me some illustration?(conceptional or physical block diagram would be very
appreciated) 3. What relationship do they have between this Application proxy server and Node.JS and open API. 4. Does this co-work with I-Control? How I can put them together and suggest this combination to my customer? As you guided me by previous answer mail, I can refer every information via F5.LineRate.com site but I am still so confusing Please help me out to catch the clear concept then I have to introduce what this all about to my F5 sales guys this weekend. I'm so Sorry for my insufficient knoweledge and concept about new product. Hope your quick responce please. Any configuration or illustration relating this new product would be great helpful for me. My e-mail address is brett@itian.co.kr Thank you for reading! Bye!
2 Replies
- boneyard
MVP
while just browsing i think i can answer a few of your questions, but for me this is new stuff also. i feel you should contact your local SE for F5, they can probably explain it better or point you to some from F5 who can. or use their contact page https://linerate.f5.com/help/contact
my feeling on the solution:
1) it seems to be a platform in the whole SDN world were you don't only route traffic based on IP and such, but based on application.
2) it seems to be software which can be run on any x86 hardware, you can download and try it from the website. installable on hypervisor or bare metal.
there even is a manual: https://docs.lineratesystems.com/200Release_2.0/100Getting_Started_Guide
3) it seems to be a flexible system which can managed / connected from different sides with an open API and it incorporates node.js.
4) cant find anything on this, it seems to be quite seperate from F5 current, so probably not (yet).
Hi Brett and Boneyard, as the LineRate Product Manager, I will summarize your questions and give you some definitive answers, and thank you for reaching out.
"What is the LineRate Application Proxy Software; what's it doing in the network; how can DevOps benefit"?
LineRate is a high performance, programmable software platform for controlling the data path at layer 7. In order to bring this capability, it has to sit in the network tier but it's designed to be run by the development and operations groups not network engineers. DevOps organizations already realize the power of solving complicated business problems at the network tier, but they often do not have access to the network tier equipment or they do not have the expertise to run network equipment, or they prefer to have more control closer to their applications.
LineRate has solved the big hairy problems of running an application server at the network tier by creating an easy to configure software system that allows developers to code solutions instead of running a proxy.
You can learn more about some of the use cases that customers are excited about here: https://linerate.f5.com/solve These include A/B testing, traffic replication and more.
"Is it a hardware product or a software product?"
LineRate is a software product. You can run it on commodity hardware or you can run it in a VM. You can chose your tier and platform based on your performance needs. You download it from our site at linerate.f5.com. In January, we will provide a web store to allow purchasing of subscriptions based on your traffic needs.
You can download and run LineRate today from linerate.f5.com
Learn about LineRate from docs.lineratesystems.com
Watch one minute videos on how to set it up: https://devcentral.f5.com/articles/linerate-setup-and-configurationin-one-minute
"What is the relationship between LineRate and Node.JS and open API"?
LineRate's programmable data path features allow you to use JavaScript and Node.js to program the network. This means that you can do things like load the MySQL driver from the node package manager and write a solution that makes a sideband connection to make user routing decisions. You can see the sample code for such a system in our A/B test example, here: https://linerate.f5.com/solve/id/1102122/ab-web-traffic-steering
"Does this co-work with I-Control"?
As you know, iControl is one of BIG-IP's APIs that allows customers to control the BIG-IP. LineRate has its own API. LineRate's API is RESTful and allows you to control every aspect of the system. The LineRate command line interface and graphical user interface both use the REST API as well. I would imagine that in an environment with both BIG-IP and LineRate, both iControl and the LineRate REST API will be used to automate, control and inspect the configurations and statistics of the devices.
You can learn more about the LineRate API here: https://docs.lineratesystems.com/300Release_2.2/250REST_API_Reference_Guide
I will reach out to you via email with some diagrams and further information as well.
