F5 Networks has acquired LineRate Systems, a Colorado startup that’s developing technologies around what’s called software define networking. Terms of the deal were not disclosed and the acquisition is not expected to make a material impact on F5’s results, but F5 noted that the networking technologies will help “bring superior service agility, application intelligence, and programmability to software defined data centers.”
“As networks continue to become commoditized, it is the application layer services in an SDN that will provide organizations with the competitive advantage they need,” wrote F5’s Lori MacVittie in a blog post. “A programmable data path is required for organizations desiring to roll their own services and it must be scalable and fast; organizations are unwilling (and rightfully so) to sacrifice performance. LineRate Systems offers such a platform and its addition to the F5 portfolio expands F5’s continued leadership in application layer networking in both traditional and Application Layer SDN architectures.”
Started at the University of Colorado, LineRate had raised $5.4 million in venture capital financing as of last Spring.
It marks the latest acquisition by F5, which bought the intellectual property assets of Crescendo Networks in 2011 and acquired Traffic Systems last year.
Shares of F5 are down nearly 15 percent in the past year, with the company now boasting a market value of $8.2 billion.
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