Augmenting the Power of F5 NGINXaaS for Azure with One-Click WAF Protection
As modern enterprises embrace cloud native strategies and microservices architectures, the need for seamless application performance and comprehensive security has never been greater. In this fast-evolving digital landscape, Application Delivery Controller as a Service (ADCaaS) is emerging as a game-changer—empowering organizations with the scalability, speed, and protection needed to thrive.
With cyber threats on the rise and cloud environments growing more complex, ADCaaS delivers both optimized performance and a vital security backbone for sensitive workloads. For forward-thinking organizations, ADCaaS isn’t just an option—it’s a strategic imperative for staying agile, resilient, and secure in the cloud.
As applications grow more complex, default Azure tools handle many needs, but not all. That’s where F5 NGINXaaS for Azure comes in. Co-developed by F5 and Microsoft and natively integrated into Azure, it delivers advanced application delivery, security, and observability right from the Azure Marketplace.
NGINXaaS for Azure is a next-level ADCaaS that provides a highly customizable platform to deliver and secure an organization’s applications running in Azure, improving performance, availability, and visibility at scale. Over the years, we’ve been continuing to innovate on this ADCaaS offering, and we’re pleased that F5 NGINX App Protect will soon be available as part of F5 NGINXaaS for Azure, providing an advanced, lightweight and high-performance web application firewall (WAF) that protects customers’ modern apps and APIs against advanced threats.
F5 NGINX App Protect will soon be available with F5 NGINXaaS for Azure, offering customers advanced protection from common threats such as the OWASP Top 10 and zero day attacks.
F5 NGINXaaS for Azure: A next-level ADCaaS solution
An ADCaaS offering native to the Azure cloud, F5 NGINXaaS for Azure is designed for teams who want powerful application delivery and security without the burden of managing infrastructure. Whether organizations are deploying APIs, microservices, or web apps, F5 NGINXaaS delivers the flexibility, scalability, and performance they need—minus the operational complexity. From foundational use cases to advanced workloads, it streamlines deployment and optimization so teams can instead focus on innovation, cutting costs, and keeping their most critical apps running smoothly.
F5 NGINXaaS for Azure goes beyond traditional tools, bringing together Layer 4-7 traffic management, scalability, observability, and advanced programmability into a unified, simplified platform. The service removes the need for IT teams to patch, upgrade, and maintain NGINX clusters, freeing them to concentrate on building an exceptional user experience. With instant scalability and deep configuration control, teams can handle everything from simple load balancing to advanced traffic control and API communications— all with just a few clicks.
Some core features include:
- Advanced Layer 7 and Layer 4 traffic management for optimized application performance.
- Session persistence and active health checks.
- Built-in rate limiting and IP-based access controls.
- Azure-native integration for monitoring and security.
- Dynamic modules for custom logic
Seamlessly bringing security and performance together
With NGINX App Protect built into F5 NGINXaaS for Azure, users will be able to secure, automate, and scale modern apps and APIs with a platform-agnostic WAF. NGINX App Protect delivers intelligent, lightweight protection exactly where an organization’s applications and APIs live. From blocking the OWASP Top 10 threats to securing REST and gRPC traffic, it empowers teams to defend modern workloads without added complexity.
NGINX App Protect is deeply integrated, automatically updated, and effortlessly managed through Azure. With dynamic scaling, simplified controls, and enterprise-grade reliability, the service turns an organization’s ADCaaS into a complete, cloud-native security solution that offers powerful, flexible, and adaptive security.
NGINX App Protect can be enabled easily with a single click across NGINXaaS for Azure deployments. Out of the box, it provides instant defense against the OWASP Top 10 and bot attacks, with configurable modes to match an organization’s risk tolerance—from relaxed monitoring to strict enforcement for sensitive apps.
Custom JSON-based policies let organizations shape protection to their app’s exact needs. And with built-in integration to Azure Log Analytics, teams gain deep observability across their security landscape. They can also obtain real-time traffic insights, uncover patterns, and act fast with powerful, KQL-driven analysis—not just blocking threats, but also understanding them.
Taking app delivery and security to the next level
F5 NGINXaaS for Azure takes application delivery and security to the next level, strengthening our F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform by providing critical functions as a service—one of multiple consumption models.
By unlocking advanced use cases powered by flexible programmability, enhanced customization, better scaling, improved observability, and now advanced WAF protection technologies through the addition of NGINX App Protect, F5 NGINXaaS for Azure offers a tailored ADCaaS solution that brings agility, security, flexibility, and reliability to an organization’s Azure-based applications.
Visit us in the Azure marketplace to get started! And if you’re going to the RSA Conference in San Francisco, be sure to see us in Booth N-4335.