F5 rSeries: Next-Generation Fully Automatable Hardware

Table of Contents

What is rSeries?

F5 rSeries is a rearchitected, next-generation hardware platform that scales application delivery performance and automates application services to address many of today’s most critical business challenges. F5 rSeries is a key component of the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP).

The additional benefit of automation capabilities can greatly simplify the process of deploying F5 products.  A significant amount of time and resources are saved due to automation, which translates to more time to perform critical tasks.

F5OS rSeries UI

Demo Video

Why is this important?

  • Get more done in less time by using a highly automatable hardware platform that can deploy software solutions in seconds, not minutes or hours.
  • Increased performance improves ROI: The rSeries platform is a high performance and highly scalable appliance with improved processing power.
  • Running multiple versions on the same platform allows for more flexibility than previously possible.
  • Pay-as-you-Grow licensing options that unlock more CPU resources.

Key rSeries Use-Cases

NetOps Automation

  • Shorten time to market by automating network operations and offering cloud like orchestration with full stack programmability ​
  • Drive app development and delivery with self-service and faster response time​

Business Continuity

  • Drive consistent policies across on-prem and public cloud and across hardware and software based ADCs​
  • Build resiliency with rSeries’ superior performance and failover capabilities​​
  • Future proof investments by running multiple versions of apps side-by-side; migrate applications at your own pace

Cloud Migration On-Ramp

  • Accelerate cloud strategy by adopting cloud operating models and on-demand scalability with rSeries and use that as on ramp to cloud ​
  • Dramatically reduce TCO with rSeries systems; extend commercial models to migrate from hardware to software or as applications move to cloud​

Automation Capabilities

Declarative APIs and integration with automation frameworks (Terraform, Ansible) greatly simplifies operations and reduces overhead:

  • AS3 (Application Services 3 Extension): A declarative API that simplifies the configuration of application services. With AS3, customers can deploy and manage configurations consistently across environments.
  • Ansible Automation: Prebuilt Ansible modules for rSeries enable automated provisioning, configuration, and updates, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
  • Terraform: Organizations leveraging Infrastructure as Code (IaC) can use Terraform to define and automate the deployment of rSeries appliances and associated configurations.

Example json file:

Example of running the Automation Playbook:

Example of the results:

More information on Automation:

Automating F5OS on rSeries

GitHub Automation Repository

Specialized Hardware Performance

rSeries offers more hardware-accelerated performance capabilities with more FPGA chipsets that are more tightly integrated with TMOS.  It also includes the latest Intel processing capabilities.  This enhances the following:

  • SSL and compression offload
  • L4 offload for higher performance and reduced load on software
  • Hardware-accelerated SYN flood protection
  • Hardware-based protection from more than 100 types of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks
  • Support for F5 Intelligence Services

Conclusion

The F5 rSeries platform addresses the modern enterprise’s need for high-performance, scalable, and efficient application delivery and security solutions. By combining cutting-edge hardware capabilities with robust automation tools and flexible migration options, rSeries empowers organizations to seamlessly transition from legacy platforms while unlocking new levels of performance and operational agility. Whether driven by the need for increased throughput, advanced multi-tenancy, the rSeries platform stands as a future-ready solution for securing and optimizing application delivery in an increasingly complex IT landscape.

Related Content

Cloud Docs rSeries Guide

F5 rSeries Appliance Datasheet

F5 VELOS: A Next-Generation Fully Automatable Platform

DEMO: The Next Generation of F5 Hardware is Ready for you

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