Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking foundations — OSI model (Layers 2–7), positioning of load balancers at Layers 4 and 7; 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 (crucial for banking segregation-of-duties policies); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
- Navigating the TMUI and optimizing GUI workflows; essential tmsh commands; configuration backup and restoration using UCS archives; comparing hardware and virtual editions to determine suitability for bank data centers.
- Lab “Get Traffic Flowing” — Initial setup (VLANs, self IPs, routes), creation of nodes, pools, and health monitors, construction of the first virtual server, verification of traffic to backend servers, and capturing a UCS backup.
Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
- Networking foundations — TCP/UDP handshake 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; applying these concepts to internet-banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (importing keys/certificates, managing chains, and configuring cipher policies aligned with banking security standards); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use cases; introduction to iRules with basic read-only examples (redirects, header insertion).
- Lab — Construct an HTTPS virtual server with SSL offload for a simulated banking portal, configure cookie persistence, validate the certificate chain in a browser, apply a simple redirect iRule, and observe monitor-driven pool member failover.
High Availability & Operations
- Networking foundations — VLANs, routing, and ARP basics; DNS resolution processes and record types; TLS handshake review.
- Device Service Clustering: establishing device trust, configuring sync-failover groups, synchronizing configurations, and managing traffic groups and floating IPs; analyzing failover behavior and client impact; high-availability design considerations for banking (dual-datacenter patterns, zero-downtime maintenance).
- Operations for regulated environments: local and remote logging (syslog, SNMP), AVR traffic analytics, audit logging of administrative actions, upgrade and maintenance procedures, backup strategies, and disaster recovery fundamentals; a brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as future topics.
- Lab: Build an active/standby HA pair using the two per-trainee BIG-IP VEs, establish device trust and configuration sync, perform forced failover under live traffic, configure remote syslog, review audit logs, and perform a final backup; course summary and Q&A.
Lab Environment
Each trainee is provided with a dedicated, isolated lab environment consisting of two BIG-IP Virtual Edition instances (facilitating the Day 3 HA exercise) and shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is entirely browser-based through a secure Guacamole gateway, requiring only a web browser and no VPN client or local software installations, which simplifies participation from restricted banking workstations. The environment is pre-configured and verified before Day 1; by the end of Day 1, every trainee will have successfully routed traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
Prior experience with F5 products is not required.
While basic TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial, it is not a prerequisite. Each day begins with brief networking refresher sessions covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, and DNS/TLS, tailored to the day’s F5 content to ensure teams with varying experience levels start on the same footing.
Target Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support/operations staff working in banking and financial institutions.
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
