28254 - F5 Removal and Replacement

Tender description

As a result of the news that F5's source code has been compromised the requirement is to remove all dependence on F5 solutions from the estate of IT relied upon by PCC. In Scope: Functional Requirements Design and implement a solution that has, at minimum, feature parity with those enabled on the existing F5 solution. This includes Layer 4-7 application load balancing, SSL offloading and re-encryption and Network Address Translation. The solution must support High Availability architecture within a VMware virtualised environment, The solution must be actively supported by the Vendor with provision of functional and security based patches. The Vendor must also provide comprehensive and accurate documentation. The solution must provide reliable means to integrate with existing monitoring systems. Any additional functionality that further enhances the security posture of the organisation is considered advantageous. License management should be simple and scalable to ensure that the solution meets current need and can adapt to future requirements. Technical Requirements The existing F5 solution provides Layer 4 and/or Layer 7 load balancing for a public-facing and internal applications including websites, Exchange, Active Directory Federation Services and SQL servers. Template based configuration, supplied by the Vendor for well-known applications (such as Exchange), is preferred for consistency operational best practice. Customisation of operational elements such as load-balancing algorithms and health-checking options is essential. SSL offloading and resigning is essential. Network throughput of the appliance must meet the current need with ability to scale in future if required.