5 Reasons You Should Join Me at NGINX Conf
It's always interesting when you bring two different circles of friends together. Maybe one is your gaming circle and another is your parent circle. They don't always intersect, but at some point you may find yourself in a situation where you're all at the same event and you get to introduce them to each other.
That's kind of what it's been like for the past few months as we bring together NGINX and F5 friends. Sure, customers and communities knew about each other, but they didn't necessarily know each other. This September, in Seattle, NGINX will be hosting its annual conference. I'm already booked to go and you should (very seriously) consider attending, too.
Two Communities - One Common Cause
The enterprise operates, on average, hundreds of applications. Those applications are not just supporting the business -- in many cases they are the business. It's also likely they're one of the more than 400 million apps currently running on NGINX.
But in the same manner that I often have to explain that F5 is more than "that load balancing company," I now often need to explain that NGINX is more than “that web server company.” NGINX boasts a broad set of application services that begins with a web server, includes a multi-language app server, extends to APIs, offers load balancing and reverse proxy functions and offers the critical component for bridging the gap between traditional and modern architectures: its Ingress controller for Kubernetes. They've got app and app service infrastructure, all under the same roof.
Together, we're totally invested in the delivery of applications, whether you need an F5 or an NGINX solution -- or both.
At NGINX Conf this year, the focus is on empowering developers, operators, and architects looking to modernize their apps and infrastructure. NGINX Conf is chock full of sessions and training to help accelerate their transformation to modern ops, infrastructure, and apps. More than half of all speakers are customer-users. That means a lot of practical sessions on how NGINX is being applied to solve real challenges in real organizations.
There's no better time for NetOps than now to head to NGINX Conf and immerse in some training on how to support those modern apps developers and operators are throwing over the wall.
- Glimpse into the Future
You can preview the latest features in the NGINX open source lineup -- web server, load balancer, reverse proxy, and content cache. Igor and the team from Moscow that work tirelessly on core NGINX open source will be available and open for questions.
You can hear from F5 CEO François Locoh-Donou on how F5 and NGINX are coming together to advance application delivery so you can succeed in the app economy. Microservices and modern delivery and deployment methodologies are breaking up the network; attending Conf will give you a glimpse of what the future holds for F5 and for your own data center networks.
- Discounted Training
If you're an F5 customer who has attended Agility in the past -- and maybe one who has attended Lab days for hands-on training and exploration -- then you're already familiar with this kind of conference. Whether you want to explore the technical or the architectural, the theoretical or the practical, there are sessions and content for you at NGINX Conf.
- Community
The term community is tossed about a lot these days, but NGINX Conf really is about bringing together two different communities -- open source and enterprise users of NGINX. Being able to network and collaborate or chat over snacks and drinks at one of the many social events will offer opportunities to expand on technical, architectural, and operational ideas. It's a great way to take advantage of critical sources of knowledge and expertise in application delivery.
- Gain Insights on App Architectures
On average, one in five (20%) of new applications are being developed using cloud-native architectures. At Conf, you'll get insight into capabilities from NGINX that help simplify the supporting infrastructure required to manage the microservices that comprise these modern apps. Knowing is half the battle, and you can arm yourself with that knowledge by attending Conf.
- Influence the Future
Both F5 and NGINX embrace a core value of "obsessing over customer needs." Conf is a way to make your voice heard regarding the future of NGINX (and thus F5) with respect to application delivery. You can meet with the NGINX leadership team and offer feedback on tools and capabilities that you want to see in the application delivery path.
The cool thing about NGINX Conf is that it has something for everyone. If you want to get hands-on, there are training sessions on everything NGINX. If you want vision and future product direction, there are keynotes and sessions that will offer you both. If you want to explore, you can do that too. Sessions on NGINX's approach to delivering and operating a fast, flexible microservices architecture are on the docket.
You can delve into NGINX's API management architecture and find out how to simultaneously reduce complexity and realize better performance. Or you can learn more about the NGINX Kubernetes Ingress Controller and how it can help you support modern (cloud-native) apps without disrupting traditional ones.
NGINX is going to play a significant role in the future of F5 and in the continuing evolution of application services in every operational environment. This conference is a great way to get more familiar with NGINX and its offerings as well as hang out with its incredible community.
NGINX Conf is happening Sept 9-12, with Sept 9 and 12 dedicated to technical training. It's at the Sheraton Grand Seattle and you can dig into the agenda and register here.