F5 Accelerates AI at the Edge for Service Providers with NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs

Rhea-AI Summary

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) has announced BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) deployment on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs, enhancing their technology partnership. This solution provides edge firewall, DNS, and DDoS protection as lightweight cloud-native functions for optimized Kubernetes performance.

The collaboration aims to address AI application scaling challenges in distributed environments, particularly at network edges. Key benefits include:

• Optimized computing resources
• Reduced power consumption per Gbps
• Lower operating expenses
• Enhanced security with minimal latency

The solution supports critical AI applications requiring low latency, such as autonomous vehicles, fraud detection, NLP tools, and AR/VR experiences. This integration expands on F5's previous BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes deployment on NVIDIA DPUs, utilizing the NVIDIA DOCA software framework for seamless integration.

General availability is expected in June 2025.

Positive

• Partnership with NVIDIA enhances edge AI capabilities
• Solution reduces power consumption and operating expenses
• Enables new revenue streams through hosted AI services
• Optimizes existing infrastructure for dual AI and RAN workloads

Negative

• Product not available until June 2025

Insights

Technology and Networking Expert

F5's partnership with NVIDIA to deploy BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions on BlueField-3 DPUs represents a calculated strategic move to capture the emerging edge AI infrastructure market. This collaboration positions F5 to extend its networking and security expertise into a high-growth segment where processing needs are shifting toward distributed architectures.

The technical implementation leverages F5's dominant position in telecom networks—where they already power most Tier-1 providers—while addressing critical pain points for service providers: resource optimization, power efficiency, and security at the edge. By embedding these functions directly on NVIDIA's specialized DPUs, F5 enables telecom operators to transform passive infrastructure into revenue-generating AI compute platforms.

What's technically significant is how this solution tackles the fundamental architectural challenge of bringing AI capabilities closer to data sources without compromising on security or performance. The AI-RAN initiative particularly demonstrates how F5 is helping convert traditional radio access networks into multi-functional compute environments that can simultaneously support connectivity and AI processing workloads.

While the June 2025 availability timeline indicates this won't impact immediate quarterly results, the announcement signals F5's strategic pivot toward higher-value, software-defined networking solutions that align with the distributed infrastructure requirements of AI deployments. This represents F5's evolution from traditional networking vendor to a strategic enabler of next-generation AI infrastructure.

Financial Analyst

This partnership with NVIDIA significantly strengthens F5's competitive positioning in the rapidly evolving edge AI infrastructure market. For F5 investors, this collaboration represents potential new revenue streams beyond the company's traditional application delivery and security business, expanding their addressable market into AI-enhanced networking infrastructure.

The timing is strategic—while general availability isn't until June 2025, F5 is establishing early positioning in the edge AI market, particularly with telecom service providers. These customers typically have lengthy procurement and implementation cycles, making early market positioning important despite the extended revenue timeline.

The solution directly addresses mounting cost pressures facing telecom operators by optimizing resource utilization across distributed environments. By enabling operators to monetize existing infrastructure for AI applications, F5 creates a compelling value proposition that could drive adoption among its established customer base, where they already maintain significant market share in Tier-1 providers.

From a business model perspective, this cloud-native approach aligns with F5's ongoing transition from hardware-centric sales to more predictable software and subscription revenue. The deployment model on NVIDIA hardware suggests a potentially favorable margin profile compared to F5's traditional appliance business, while strengthening their recurring revenue streams.

This partnership demonstrates F5's strategic evolution toward higher-growth AI infrastructure markets while leveraging their core competencies in networking and security—a prudent approach that should resonate well with the company's enterprise and service provider customer base.

F5 BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs turbocharge data management and security, unlocking new edge AI innovations and driving the future of AI-RAN

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS--F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) today announced BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs, deepening the companies’ technology collaboration. This solution offers F5’s proven network infrastructure capabilities, such as edge firewall, DNS, and DDoS protection, as lightweight cloud-native functions accelerated with NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs to deliver optimized performance in Kubernetes environments and support emerging edge AI use cases.

The F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform powers a majority of the world’s Tier-1 5G, mobile, and fixed line telco networks. Service providers recognize the challenges of scaling AI applications across distributed environments, particularly as legacy infrastructures in the network core often lack the processing power required to make AI inferencing practical.

F5 CNFs running on NVIDIA DPUs can now be embedded in edge and far edge infrastructures to optimize computing resources, dramatically reduce power consumption per Gbps, and limit overall operating expenses. Further utilizing edge environments to add functionality and AI capabilities to subscriber services also comes with added security requirements, which F5 and NVIDIA BlueField technologies deliver alongside advanced traffic management while minimizing latency.

Deploying CNFs at the edge puts applications closer to users and their data, promoting data sovereignty, improving user experience, and reducing costs related to power, space, and cooling. Enabling low latency remains essential for AI applications and capabilities such as:

• Immediate decision making, supporting autonomous vehicles and fraud detection.
• Real-time user interaction, including NLP tools and AR/VR experiences.
• Continuous monitoring and response, required for healthcare devices and manufacturing robotics.

Including CNFs on BlueField-3 DPUs expands on F5’s previously introduced BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes deployed on NVIDIA DPUs. F5 continues to leverage the NVIDIA DOCA software framework to seamlessly integrate its solutions with NVIDIA BlueField DPUs. This comprehensive development framework provides F5 with a robust set of APIs, libraries, and tools to harness the hardware acceleration capabilities of NVIDIA BlueField DPUs. By utilizing DOCA, F5 achieves rapid integration and high performance across various networking and security offloads while maintaining forward and backward compatibility across generations of BlueField DPUs. Further, accelerating F5 CNFs with NVIDIA BlueField-3 frees up CPU resources which can be used to run other applications.

Edge deployments open up key opportunities for service providers, including distributed N6-LAN capabilities for UPFs, and edge security services to support Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) and Private 5G. In addition, AI-RAN is gaining momentum, with SoftBank recently showcasing their production environment with NVIDIA.

Unlocking the potential of AI-RAN with NVIDIA and F5

AI-RAN seeks to transform mobile networks into multi-purpose infrastructures that maximize resource utilization, create new revenue streams through hosted AI services, and improve cost efficiency. Enabling mobile providers to support distributed AI computing with reliable, secure, and optimized connectivity, AI-RAN strengthens edge infrastructure capabilities by taking advantage of otherwise dormant processing power. Together, BIG-IP Next CNFs on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs will accelerate AI-RAN deployments with streamlined traffic management for both AI and RAN workloads, as well as provide enhanced firewall and DDoS protections. Multi-tenancy and tenant isolation for workloads tied to essential capabilities will be natively integrated into the solution. With F5 and NVIDIA, mobile providers can intelligently leverage the same RAN compute infrastructure to power AI offerings alongside existing RAN services, driving significant cost savings and revenue potential through enhanced user offerings.

Supporting Quotes

“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,” said Ahmed Guetari, VP and GM, Service Provider at F5. “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 centralized location or cloud environment, opening up myriad options to add intelligence and automation capabilities to networks while enhancing performance for users.”

“As demand for AI inferencing at the edge takes center stage, building an AI-ready distributed infrastructure is a key opportunity for telecom providers to create value for their customers,” said Ash Bhalgat, Senior Director of AI Networking and Security Solutions, Ecosystem and Marketing at NVIDIA. “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.”

Availability

General availability for F5 BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs is anticipated for June 2025. For additional information, please visit F5 at the NVIDIA GTC event taking place March 17–21 in San Jose, California, read the companion blog, and contact F5.

About F5
F5 is a multicloud application security and delivery company committed to bringing a better digital world to life. F5 partners with the world’s largest, most advanced organizations to secure every app—on premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. F5 enables businesses to continuously stay ahead of threats while delivering exceptional, secure digital experiences for their customers. For more information, go to f5.com. (NASDAQ: FFIV)

You can also follow @F5 on X or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn about F5, its partners, and technologies. F5, BIG-IP, and BIG-IP Next are trademarks, service marks, or tradenames of F5, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. The use of the terms “partner,” “partners,” “partnership,” or “partnering” in this press release does not imply that a joint venture exists between F5 and any other company.

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding potential benefits and availability of F5 BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions running on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs. Each customer’s unique environment, objectives, and constraints could impact potential benefits, while surrounding factors could affect availability timing.

Source: F5, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250303873497/en/

Jenna Becker

F5

(415) 857-2864

j.becker@f5.com

Holly Lancaster

WE Communications

(415) 547-7054

hluka@we-worldwide.com

Source: F5, Inc.

FAQ

When will F5's BIG-IP Next CNFs on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs be available?

General availability is anticipated for June 2025.

What are the main benefits of F5's FFIV new edge AI solution with NVIDIA?

The solution optimizes computing resources, reduces power consumption per Gbps, lowers operating expenses, and provides enhanced security with minimal latency.

How does F5 FFIV integrate with NVIDIA BlueField DPUs?

F5 uses NVIDIA's DOCA software framework, providing APIs, libraries, and tools to integrate with BlueField DPUs for hardware acceleration.

What key AI applications will F5 FFIV's edge solution support?

The solution supports autonomous vehicles, fraud detection, NLP tools, AR/VR experiences, healthcare devices, and manufacturing robotics.

What security features does F5 FFIV's new edge solution provide?

The solution includes edge firewall, DNS protection, DDoS protection, and multi-tenancy isolation capabilities.