Cloud Computing | News

HP and F5 Automate Cloud Application Deployment

• By Leila Meyer
• 05/15/12

HP and F5 have teamed up to deliver technology intended to speed up the deployment of cloud applications by delivering automated, policy-based application, network, and user configuration. The new solutions combine HP's Virtual Application Networks technology, which provides network virtualization and configuration automation, with F5's Application Delivery Networking (ADN) technology, which automates application configuration.

Deploying applications in the data center typically requires manual configuration of each network device, including user connection profiles for each device. The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend has increased the number of user connection profiles required, and the move to the cloud is rendering manual network and application configuration obsolete. The idea behind HP Virtual Application Networks and F5 ADN is to virtualize and automate the application, network, and user configuration process based on policies.

"Legacy networks are static, inflexible, and require too many manual steps to securely deliver new cloud applications and services to users," said Joe Skorupa, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst, in a prepared statement. "By moving toward an automated, policy-based management paradigm to ensure the network is optimally configured from the application to network to user, enterprises can speed application deployment considerably while reducing the potential of errors caused by manual configuration."

According to HP, its Virtual Application Networks gives organizations a comprehensive, virtualized view of their network, so they can transform it from a "physical enterprise network into a programmable, multitenant and application-aware virtual network," while F5 ADN enables organizations to manage application delivery.

HP is also introducing a new BYOD solution that works with F5 ADN technology to provide a single management platform to provision and monitor user devices on the corporate network.

Further information about HP networking solutions can be found on the HP site.