Course Outline
Day 1 — 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.
• Theory 1: TMM traffic-processing architecture; client to virtual server to pool member traffic flow; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (crucial for banking segregation-of-duties); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
• Theory 2: TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh essentials; configuration backup and restore using UCS archives; overview of hardware vs. virtual editions and their placement in bank data centers.
• Lab (3 hours) — “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.
Day 2 — Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
• Networking foundations: TCP/UDP handshakes and port concepts; HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and keep-alive mechanisms.
• Theory 1: 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.
• Theory 2: 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 (redirects, header insertion).
• Lab (3 hours): Build 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.
Day 3 — High Availability & Operations
• Networking foundations: VLANs, routing, and ARP essentials; DNS resolution flow and record types; TLS handshake recap.
• Theory 1: Device Service Clustering: device trust, sync-failover groups, config sync, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behavior and client experience; HA design considerations for banking (dual-data center patterns, maintenance without downtime).
• Theory 2: Operations in regulated environments: local and remote logging (syslog, SNMP), AVR traffic analytics, audit logging of administrative changes, upgrade and maintenance procedures, backup strategy, and disaster recovery basics; brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as future topics.
• Lab (3 hours): 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, take 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 HA exercise) plus 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, which simplifies participation from locked-down banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and validated before Day 1, ensuring every trainee finishes Day 1 with working traffic through their own BIG-IP.
Requirements
No prior experience with F5 is necessary.
While basic TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial, it is not strictly required. Each day begins with brief networking primers (OSI model, TCP/HTTP, DNS/TLS) tailored to the day's F5 content, helping teams with mixed experience levels reach a common baseline.
Target Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support and operations staff in banking and financial institutions.
Testimonials (1)
communication, knowledge from experience, solve problems,
