As data loads get heavier and heavier, many enterprises are seeing application performance suffer. The rise of application delivery platforms has helped somewhat, but many of the leading systems are not flexible enough to meet changing business demands.

Seattle's F5 Networks is out to change that with its BIG-IP 6900 Application Delivery Network platform. The hardware-based system works with the Viprion application delivery controller (ADC) to not only trim the number of controllers needed in the data center, but to support some of the newer resource-hungry services such as Web application firewalls, content transformation and application-specific acceleration.

The 6900 features two dual-core processors that tap into F5's Clustered Multiprocessing (CMP) technology that provides support for 6 Gbps Layer 7 throughput capable of handling 25,000 SSL transactions per second.

The system also features Fast Cache and IPv6 Gateway technology, as well as rate-shaping, SSL offload and compression, providing a fully integrated application delivery system right out of the box.

Volume shipments are expected by the end of the year.