Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking refresher — OSI model (L2–L7), load balancers at L4/L7; mapping IP addressing and subnetting to BIG-IP self IPs and VLANs.
- TMM traffic-processing architecture; traffic flow from client to virtual server to pool member; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (essential for banking segregation-of-duties); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
- Navigating the TMUI and optimizing GUI workflows; tmsh fundamentals; managing configuration backups and restorations via UCS archives; comparing hardware and virtual editions to determine their fit within bank data centers.
- 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 performing a UCS backup.
Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
- Networking refresher — 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; application to internet-banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (importing keys/certs, chains, and cipher policies aligned with banking security standards); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use cases; introduction to iRules with simple read-only examples like redirects and header insertion.
- Lab — Construct an HTTPS virtual server with SSL offloading for a simulated banking portal, configure cookie persistence, verify the certificate chain in the browser, apply a simple redirect iRule, and observe monitor-driven pool member failover.
High Availability & Operations
- Networking refresher — VLANs, routing, and ARP essentials; DNS resolution flow and record types; recap of the TLS handshake.
- Device Service Clustering: establishing device trust, sync-failover groups, configuration synchronization, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behavior and client impact; HA design considerations for banking (dual-data-center patterns, zero-downtime maintenance).
- 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 fundamentals; brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as future topics.
- Lab: Build an active/standby HA pair using the two dedicated BIG-IP VEs, establish device trust and configuration sync, execute forced failover during live traffic, configure remote syslog, review audit logs, and perform a final backup; conclude with a 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 (to support the Day 3 HA exercise) alongside shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is fully browser-based via a secure Guacamole gateway, requiring only a web browser and no VPN client or local software installation, which simplifies participation from restricted banking workstations. The environment is pre-configured and verified before Day 1, ensuring every trainee completes Day 1 with functional traffic routing through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
Previous experience with F5 is not mandatory.
While foundational TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial, it is not a prerequisite. Each day begins with concise networking refresher modules (covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, DNS/TLS) tailored to that day’s F5 topics, ensuring mixed-experience teams reach a common baseline of understanding.
Target Audience: Network engineers, security specialists, and application support or operations personnel in banking and financial institutions
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
