F5 Outlines 2009 DevCentral iRules Contest

F5 Networks announced that it will hold its third DevCentral iRules contest, recognizing business solutions created using the F5 iRules customizable scripting language.

According to company officials, previous iRules contests have highlighted customer and reseller-developed solutions to address a range of IT challenges including user authentication, application proxies, spam avoidance, web application security, application performance optimization, and more.

F5 noted the "iRule. Do You?" contest is sponsored by F5's DevCentral, an Application Delivery Networking community for IT professionals. The contest gives application architects, developers, systems engineers, and other network and security professionals the opportunity to showcase their iRules expertise.

iRules enable enterprises, service providers, and e-businesses to offload costly application functions that were previously performed within the applications themselves.

The contest, which began August 12, at 4 a.m. PT, will remain open for entries through 5 p.m. PT, September 30, the company noted. On October 28, prizes for the iRules contest will be awarded to the top three entries in both customer and F5-affiliated reseller categories. Additional honorable mention finalists will also be acknowledged at that time.

"iRules give F5 users the necessary flexibility to customize their application delivery environments for optimal IT agility," said Zeus Kerravala, SVP of Enterprise Research at Yankee Group. "DevCentral has grown nearly four-fold since the previous iRules contest, and I'm pleased to once again be serving as a judge. I anticipate some great entries this year, and look forward to seeing how users are innovating and collaborating with the international F5 community to get the most from their technology investments."

"The DevCentral community is truly unique, comprised of a diverse mix of application, network, systems, and security professionals from around the world," said Jeff Browning, Director of Product Management at F5. "It's quite remarkable to see the elegant and practical iRules solutions developed and shared by users. This contest is a great opportunity to highlight these solutions and the smart, forward-thinking contributors that create them. We anticipate a large number of entries and-by involving the entire community in the judging process-we look forward to a fantastic, community-centered contest packed with some of the best iRules ever created."

Complete contest details, or to submit one or more iRules:

http://devcentral.f5.com.

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