Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking fundamentals — OSI model (L2–L7), L4/L7 load balancing concepts; 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 (addressing segregation-of-duties requirements in banking); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
- TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh essentials; configuration backup and restoration using UCS archives; comparison of hardware vs. virtual editions and their suitability for bank data centres.
- Lab "Get Traffic Flowing" — initial setup (VLANs, self IPs, routes), creating nodes, pools, and health monitors, building the first virtual server, verifying backend traffic, 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 mechanisms.
- Virtual server types; pool, node, and monitor design; load-balancing algorithms; TCP/HTTP profiles and connection reuse; application to internet-banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offload and certificate management (key/cert import, chains, cipher policy aligned with banking security baselines); 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 offload 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; recap of TLS handshake.
- Device Service Clustering: establishing device trust, sync-failover groups, config sync, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behaviour and client experience; HA design considerations for banking, including dual-datacentre patterns and 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 basics; brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as advanced topics.
- Lab: Build an active/standby HA 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 is provided with a dedicated, isolated lab environment consisting of two BIG-IP Virtual Edition instances (for the Day 3 HA exercise) and shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is entirely browser-based via a secured Guacamole gateway, requiring only a web browser and eliminating the need for VPN clients or local software installations. This setup simplifies participation from restricted banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and validated before Day 1, ensuring every trainee completes the first day with functioning traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
Previous experience with F5 is not required.
While basic TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial, it is not assumed. Each day begins with brief networking primers covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, and DNS/TLS, tailored to that day's F5 topics to ensure a consistent baseline for teams with varying experience levels.
Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support or operations staff working in banking and financial institutions.
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
