By offering WebAccelerator technology as add-on modules and as a stand-alone appliance, F5 should be able to appeal to a broad range of channel partners and customers, said Joe Hicks, F5's product manager for WebAccelerator.
"If you're not an F5 customer already and you have a load-balancer or other devices, [you can] try out the technology," Hicks said of the WebAccelerator appliance. "It allows us to reach deeper into other channels. If you're a Cisco Gold partner and you don't want to compete [with Cisco's application switching portfolio] you can still introduce customers to F5," he said.
The new WebAccelerator module runs on Big-IP 6400, 6800 and 8400 models. Pricing for the module is $24,995 per Big-IP box. Pricing for the stand-alone WebAccelerator 4500 is $59,995. Both are scheduled for availability this quarter.
In addition to the new WebAccelerator wares, F5 also launched Enterprise Manager version 1.2, the upgrade to its centralized management platform. The new version adds centralized configuration and policy management for multiple F5 devices. The vendor also launched a new hardware platform, Enterprise Manager 3000, for the product line, which manages up to 300 Big-IP devices. Available in August, Enterprise Manager 3000 is priced at $49,995.