Course Outline
BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
- Networking fundamentals—OSI model (L2–L7), L4/L7 load balancers; 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 members; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (addressing segregation of duties in banking); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
- TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh essentials; configuration backup and restore via UCS archives; comparison of hardware versus 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 traffic to backend application servers, and performing 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; applying these to internet banking and API traffic patterns.
- SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (key/certificate import, chains, cipher policy aligned with banking security baselines); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use; introduction to iRules with simple read-only examples (redirects, header insertion).
- Lab—Construct an HTTPS virtual server with SSL offloading 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 fundamentals—VLANs, routing, and ARP essentials; DNS resolution flow and record types; TLS handshake recap.
- Device Service Clustering: device trust, sync-failover groups, configuration sync, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behaviour and client experience; HA design considerations for banking (dual data centre patterns, maintenance without downtime).
- 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 future topics.
- Lab—Build an active/standby HA pair using the two per-trainee BIG-IP VEs, establish device trust and configuration sync, execute a 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 (to facilitate the Day 3 HA exercise) and shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is fully browser-based through a secured Guacamole gateway—trainees require only a web browser, with no need for a VPN client or local software installation, which simplifies participation from locked-down banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and validated before Day 1, ensuring every trainee completes the first day with working traffic through their own BIG-IP.
Requirements
No prior experience with F5 is necessary.
While basic TCP/IP knowledge is advantageous, it is not a strict prerequisite. Each day begins with brief networking primers (covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, and DNS/TLS) tailored to that day’s F5 content, ensuring that teams with varying levels of experience are brought to 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,
