F5 & NVIDIA expand tie-up with cloud-native functions

F5 and NVIDIA have expanded their technological partnership with the introduction of BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs. 

This collaboration aims to enhance data management and security for service providers by optimising performance for Kubernetes environments and facilitating new edge AI use cases.

The solution integrates F5's network infrastructure capabilities, such as edge firewall, DNS, and DDoS protection, as cloud-native functions. These functions are accelerated by NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs, enabling service providers to leverage distributed environments effectively. The deployment of CNFs closer to the user promotes data sovereignty, reduces latency, and lowers costs related to power, space, and cooling.

F5's Application Delivery and Security Platform currently powers many of the world's major 5G, mobile, and fixed line telecom networks. The integration with NVIDIA DPUs aims to address the challenges these networks face in scaling AI applications, which require significant processing power absent in older network infrastructures.

The deployment of F5 CNFs on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs allows these functions to be integrated into edge infrastructures, optimising computing resources, reducing power consumption, and cutting operational expenses. Additionally, the combination of solutions from F5 and NVIDIA provides comprehensive security alongside advanced traffic management.

The deployment of such technologies enables low-latency applications vital for various AI use cases. These include supporting immediate decision-making for autonomous vehicles and fraud detection, real-time user interaction via NLP tools and AR/VR experiences, and continuous monitoring and response capabilities for health care devices and manufacturing robotics.

F5 previously introduced BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes with NVIDIA DPUs, and the inclusion of CNFs on BlueField-3 DPUs builds upon this work. The company continues to make extensive use of the NVIDIA DOCA software framework, which offers robust APIs, libraries, and tools needed for hardware acceleration while maintaining compatibility across different generations of NVIDIA BlueField DPUs.

Ahmed Guetari, Vice President and General Manager, Service Provider at F5, stated, "Customers are seeking cost-effective ways to bring the benefits of unified application delivery and security to emerging AI infrastructures, driving continued collaboration between F5 and NVIDIA. In particular, service providers see the edge as an area of rising interest, in that data ingest and inferencing no longer must take place at a centralised location or cloud environment, opening up myriad options to add intelligence and automation capabilities to networks while enhancing performance for users."

The development of AI-RAN infrastructure is another focus of the project, where service providers can transform mobile networks to utilise resources more efficiently and create new revenue streams through AI services. 

Ash Bhalgat, Senior Director of AI Networking and Security Solutions, Ecosystem and Marketing at NVIDIA, commented, "As demand for AI inferencing at the edge takes centre stage, building an AI-ready distributed infrastructure is a key opportunity for telecom providers to create value for their customers. F5's cloud-native functions, accelerated with NVIDIA's BlueField-3 DPUs, create a powerful solution for bringing AI closer to users while offering unparalleled performance, security, and efficiency for service providers. We're not just meeting edge AI demands; we're empowering businesses to leverage AI to maintain a competitive edge in our connected world."

AI-RAN aims to enhance the capabilities of mobile providers by integrating streamlined traffic management for AI and RAN workloads and enhanced security measures. The collaborative effort is expected to support mobile providers in deploying distributed AI computing, thus improving cost efficiency and resource utilisation.