Case Study: Alibaba Group achieves secure, reliable, and fast global data centers with F5 Networks' BIG-IP solutions

Alibaba Builds a Secure, Reliable, and Fast Data Center Using F5 Application Delivery Networking Products

Alibaba Group, the world’s leading B2B e‑commerce company with multiple consumer portals (Taobao, Alipay, Alisoft, Koubei) and a global expansion plan, needed a rapidly scalable, secure, and highly available data center and CDN to support 24x7 worldwide traffic. To solve interconnectivity issues across Chinese ISPs and gain granular application‑layer control while meeting green IT goals, Alibaba turned to F5 Networks and its BIG‑IP portfolio (GTM and LTM).

F5 Networks deployed BIG‑IP GTM to globalize and accelerate Alibaba’s CDN (notably in North America, Japan, and Hong Kong) and BIG‑IP LTM for application acceleration and security on Alipay and Alisoft, supplemented by iRules for fine‑grained traffic control. The solution resolved interconnectivity problems, improved availability and content delivery speed, delivered a seamless user experience, and reduced server load and energy use—helping Alibaba meet its green IT objectives while ensuring fast, reliable, 24x7 service.

Alibaba Group

Wang Zhilei

Operations Director