F5 Networks,

F5 Networks, Inc. is a multinational American company that specializes in (ADN) technology that optimizes the delivery of network-based applications and the security, performance, availability of servers, data storage devices, and other network resources. F5 is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has development, manufacturing, and sales/marketing offices worldwide. F5 originally manufactured and sold some of the industry's first  products. In 2010 and 2011, F5 Networks was on list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies worldwide.The company was also rated one of the top ten best-performing stocks by S&P 500 in 2010.

F5 offers products in various segments of the (ADC) market. According to, in 2010 F5 had "a continued market-leading position" in the application delivery controller market and the advanced platform application delivery controller market. As of June 2011, Gartner cites the most significant competitors (in terms of market share) as Systems,  Systems, and F5 Networks, originally named F5 Labs, was established in 1996. The company name was inspired by the 1996 movie in which reference was made to the fastest and most powerful tornado on the F5.

F5's first product was a load balancer called BIG-IP. When a server went down or became overloaded, BIG-IP directed traffic away from that server to other servers that could handle the load. In June 1999, the company went public as F5 Networks and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (NASDAQ: FFIV). As it was in 1999, corporate focus in 2013 remains on providing network intelligence that enables customers to respond quickly to change, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and provide differentiated offerings that help increase revenue.

Through internal development and acquisitions, F5 extended its reach beyond load balancing, producing a range of integrated products for Application Delivery Networking. These products seek to improve the delivery of web-based applications by attempting to make them run faster and more securely.