F5 expands its network presence in the UAE

F5 has expanded its global network with a new point of presence (PoP) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Now up and running, the PoP is part of a purpose-built cloud-native platform that connects and secures distributed applications in multi-cloud and edge environments.  

“The ability to manage and protect application workloads via an F5 PoP will be hugely beneficial for both our existing and future customers across the region. Optimised for app-to-app connectivity and security, our PoPs stand out in the market by consolidating multiple services across monolithic and microservices apps. This significantly simplifies app and API management, security, as well as network connectivity across distributed infrastructures,” said Mohammed Abukhater, RVP for the Middle East, Türkiye and Africa at F5.

Providing 15+ Tbps of peered capacity, all F5 PoPs are interconnected using a dedicated and redundant private backbone, multiple transit and peering connections for direct connectivity across multiple cloud providers, enterprise cloud and edge locations, and telecom operators.

It also gives customers the capability to offload high-performance or latency-sensitive workloads, and functions as a distributed control plane with software running on the customer’s edge or cloud site.

Furthermore, the F5 Distributed Cloud Platform provides routing, SD-WAN termination, load balancing, multi-layer security, Kubernetes-based app orchestration, and a globally distributed app gateway, all of which are accessible from every PoP on the F5 global network.

Other notable PoP features include:

• DDoS protection. Automatic security for infrastructure and apps across hybrid- or multicloud with global L3–L7 DDoS protection.

• Network security.  Network Firewall and anomaly-based detection to prevent attacks at L3 and L4. The PoP can leverage private connectivity over the public Internet via the integrated mesh software stack, which extends network security to the customer environment.

• Application security. Using a combination of threat feeds, signature matching, and advanced algorithmic + AI/ML techniques, F5 protects customer APIs and applications from attacks via the public Internet or within the enterprise.

• Physical security. All F5 PoPs are built in major colocation facilities at Equinix, Digital Realty, Telehouse, and Cologix with strict security procedures like video sensors, biometrics, and human verification to ensure secure platform access.

“Today, organisations manage huge numbers of applications, connected by APIs, that span both traditional and modern architectures and are distributed across multiple clouds, SaaS, on-premises data centers, and edge sites. At the same time, apps have become the front door to cybercrime, and APIs are increasingly the key. F5 is the only solution provider that can secure, deliver, and optimise any app and any API – regardless of location,” added Abukhater.