Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking foundations — OSI model (L2–L7), L4/L7 load balancers; mapping IP addressing and subnetting to BIG-IP self IPs and VLANs.
- TMM traffic-processing architecture; understanding traffic flow from client to virtual server to pool member; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (aligned with banking segregation-of-duties requirements); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
- TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh essentials; configuration backup and restore using UCS archives; overview of hardware versus virtual editions and their suitability for bank datacenters.
- Lab “Get Traffic Flowing” — initial setup (VLANs, self IPs, routes), creating nodes, pools, and health monitors, building the first virtual server, verifying traffic to backend application servers, and taking a UCS backup.
Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
- Networking foundations — TCP/UDP handshakes and port concepts; HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and keep-alive mechanisms.
- Virtual server types; designing pools, nodes, and monitors; load-balancing algorithms; TCP/HTTP profiles and connection reuse; application to internet banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (key/certificate import, chains, cipher policies aligned with banking security baselines); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use cases; introduction to iRules with simple read-only examples (redirects, header insertion).
- Lab — Build an HTTPS virtual server with SSL offloading for a simulated banking portal, configure cookie persistence, validate the certificate chain in the browser, apply a simple redirect iRule, and observe monitor-driven pool member failover.
High Availability & Operations
- Networking foundations — VLANs, routing, and ARP essentials; DNS resolution flows and record types; TLS handshake recap.
- Device Service Clustering: device trust, sync-failover groups, config sync, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behavior and client experience; high availability design considerations for banking (dual-datacenter patterns, maintenance without downtime).
- Operations for regulated environments: local and remote logging (syslog, SNMP), AVR traffic analytics, audit logging of administrative changes, upgrade and maintenance procedures, backup strategies, and disaster-recovery basics; brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as follow-on topics.
- Lab: Build an active/standby high availability pair using the two per-trainee BIG-IP VEs, establish device trust and config sync, execute forced failover during live traffic, configure remote syslog, review audit logs, and perform a final backup; course recap and Q&A.
Lab Environment
Each trainee receives a dedicated, isolated lab environment consisting of two BIG-IP Virtual Edition instances (enabling the Day 3 high availability exercise) plus shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is entirely browser-based via a secured Guacamole gateway — trainees only need a web browser, with no VPN client or local software installation required, simplifying participation from locked-down banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and validated before Day 1; by the end of Day 1, every trainee will have established working traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
No prior F5 experience is necessary.
Basic TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial but not a prerequisite. Each day begins with concise networking primers (OSI model, TCP/HTTP, DNS/TLS) contextualized to the day’s F5 content, ensuring mixed-experience teams reach a common technical baseline.
Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support and operations staff in banking and financial institutions
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
