F5 and Quova Partner on IP Geolocation

Alliance and OEM agreement with Quova enhances F5 solutions, enabling superior network security, location-aware functionality, advanced optimization tools, and options for localizable and customizable content

November 16, 2009 -- SEATTLE, NOVEMBER 16, 2009 – F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN) and Quova, Inc., the leading provider of IP geolocation data and services, today announced a partnership and OEM agreement. The partnership will enhance F5’s ability to provide more intelligent context-aware application delivery solutions to IT organizations worldwide.

The Quova technology maps IP addresses and related data to geographic locations at various levels of granularity. The contextual location information solves many security problems, such as enforcing download and access restrictions based on locality. The addition of Quova’s IP geo data will allow F5 customers to solve a whole new range of business networking issues at the perimeter of the network rather than down at the web application level. Localization functions, such as setting the default language page and customizing content for a specific region, will also rely on the Quova data.

“Geolocation is a must-have for enterprises seeking best-in-class fraud detection,” said Avivah Litan, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner, Inc. “New types of attacks will join ones that have already plagued infrastructures, and geolocation provides an important data point in fending off these attacks.”

By integrating Quova’s data service in the TMOS® architecture, F5® solutions will benefit customers in many ways. For example, using Quova’s continent, country, and worldwide state level geolocation data will enable the BIG-IP® Global Traffic Manager™ (GTM™) system to provide more accurate and more granular geographic traffic management. Customers will be able to accurately manage traffic inside large countries that have multiple data centers. Also, F5 solutions will now provide data that can aid in identifying the carrier or Internet service provider of an IP address.

“Location is a critical, contextual element in the world of Application Delivery Controllers, and IP geolocation is all about identifying and managing customers around the world,” said Calvin Rowland, VP of Application Partner Programs at F5. “Such relative elements of information provide our customers with unprecedented levels of intelligent traffic management, security functions, and policy enforcement on the Application Delivery Controller that could previously only be implemented on a web or application server. After our extensive research, we selected Quova over other geolocation vendors because of their data quality and accuracy. We’re excited to enrich our BIG-IP portfolio with the additive capabilities enabled through Quova.”

“Geographic context is at the core of the business decisions required by broadcasters and content publishers,” said Marie Alexander, CEO of Quova, Inc. “Information is power, and Quova is pleased to partner with F5 Networks in furthering the flexibility, modularity and power of the TMOS architecture and BIG-IP lineup. F5’s focus on geolocation data further demonstrates the company’s commitment to lead the market and deliver services that generate true business value.”

Quova will be a part of F5’s technology alliance program. For more information, please visit F5’s website. F5 will also take part in Quova’s certified partner program with similar online resources.

Source: Quova