Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking fundamentals — the 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 path from client to virtual server to pool member; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (addressing segregation-of-duties requirements in banking); licensing and module provisioning for LTM and AVR.
- TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh essentials; configuration backup and restore via UCS archives; an overview of hardware versus virtual editions and their respective roles in 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 application servers, and taking a UCS backup.
Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
- Networking fundamentals — TCP/UDP handshake and port concepts; HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and keep-alive functionality.
- Types of virtual servers; designing pools, nodes, and monitors; load-balancing algorithms; TCP/HTTP profiles and connection reuse; application of these concepts to internet-banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (importing keys/certs, chains, and 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 such as 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 a browser, apply a simple redirect iRule, and observe monitor-driven pool member failover.
High Availability & Operations
- Networking fundamentals — VLANs, routing, and ARP essentials; DNS resolution flow and record types; a recap of the TLS handshake.
- Device Service Clustering: establishing device trust, sync-failover groups, config synchronization, traffic groups, and floating IPs; analyzing failover behavior and client impact; high-availability design considerations for banking (dual-data center patterns, zero-downtime maintenance).
- Operations in 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; a brief outlook on automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as subsequent topics.
- Lab: Build an active/standby HA pair using the two per-trainee BIG-IP VEs, establish device trust and config sync, perform a forced failover during live traffic, configure remote syslog, review audit logs, and execute a final backup; course recap and Q&A.
Lab Environment
Each trainee is provided with a dedicated, isolated lab environment consisting of two BIG-IP Virtual Edition instances (enabling the Day 3 HA exercise) alongside shared backend web servers that simulate application tiers. Access is fully browser-based via a secured Guacamole gateway — trainees only need a web browser, with no requirement for VPN clients or local software installation, which simplifies participation from locked-down banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and validated prior to Day 1; by the end of Day 1, every trainee will have successfully established working traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
No previous F5 experience is necessary.
While basic TCP/IP knowledge is advantageous, it is not a prerequisite. Each day begins with concise networking primers (covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, and DNS/TLS) that contextualize the day’s F5 content, ensuring teams with mixed experience levels start from a common baseline.
Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support/operations staff within banking and financial institutions
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
