Case Study: Pandora achieves massive scalability and superior uptime to serve tens of millions with F5 Networks

Pandora Scales to Serve Tens of Millions of Internet Radio Users with F5 Solution

Pandora, the leading internet radio service, faced a rapid‑growth scaling challenge: deliver uninterrupted, low‑latency streaming to tens of millions of listeners and support 100+ application server nodes without complex workarounds. After experiencing capacity and failover issues with its prior ADCs, Pandora turned to F5 Networks, initially deploying F5 BIG‑IP systems and later upgrading to F5 VIPRION chassis to meet projected growth and enable future SSL offload.

F5 Networks implemented BIG‑IP devices, VIPRION blades and BIG‑IP GTM across Pandora’s data centers, enabling smooth in‑chassis scale‑out, automated health checks for zero‑hiccup maintenance, and easy configuration integration. The result: Pandora scaled to serve more than 62 million users with industry‑leading reliability and performance (Apica reported 99.98% availability and a 3.4‑second average response time), reduced operational complexity, and confident headroom for continued growth.

Pandora

James Kelty

Director of Network Engineering