Course Outline
Day 1 — BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
• Networking basics — OSI model (L2–L7), load balancers at L4/L7; mapping IP addressing and subnetting to BIG-IP self IPs and VLANs.
• Theory 1 — TMM traffic processing architecture; the path of traffic from client → virtual server → pool member; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (addressing segregation-of-duties needs in banking); licensing and module setup (LTM, AVR).
• Theory 2 — Navigating TMUI and efficient GUI workflows; key tmsh commands; configuration backup and restore using UCS archives; comparison of hardware vs. virtual editions and their placement in bank data centers.
• Lab (3 h) — “Establish Traffic Flow” — initial configuration (VLANs, self IPs, routes), creating nodes, pools, and health monitors, building a first virtual server, verifying traffic to backend application servers, and performing a UCS backup.
Day 2 — Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
• Networking basics — TCP/UDP handshake and port concepts; HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and keep-alive.
• Theory 1 — Types of virtual servers; design of 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 offloading and certificate management (key/certificate import, chains, cipher policies — aligned with standard banking security baselines); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use; introduction to iRules using simple read-only examples (redirects, header insertion).
• Lab (3 h) — Create an HTTPS virtual server with SSL offloading for a simulated banking portal, set up cookie persistence, verify the certificate chain in a browser, apply a basic redirect iRule, and observe monitor-driven pool member failover.
Day 3 — High Availability & Operations
• Networking basics — VLANs, routing, and ARP fundamentals; DNS resolution process and record types; TLS handshake review.
• Theory 1 — Device Service Clustering: device trust, sync-failover groups, configuration synchronization, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behavior and client impact; high-availability design considerations for banking (dual-datacenter 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 strategies, and disaster recovery basics; brief preview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as future topics.
• Lab (3 h) — Create an active/standby high-availability pair using the two BIG-IP VEs assigned per trainee, establish device trust and configuration sync, perform a forced failover during live traffic, configure remote syslog, review audit logs, and complete a final backup; 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 (enabling the Day 3 high-availability exercise) and shared backend web servers simulating application layers. Access is fully browser-based through a secure Guacamole gateway — trainees only need a web browser, with no VPN client or local software installation required, facilitating participation from restricted banking workstations. The environment is pre-configured and tested before Day 1; by the end of Day 1, every trainee will have established working traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
No previous experience with F5 is necessary.
While a basic understanding of TCP/IP is beneficial, it is not mandatory. Each day begins with concise networking refreshers (OSI model, TCP/HTTP, DNS/TLS) tailored to the day's F5 topics, ensuring that teams with varied backgrounds reach a common knowledge baseline.
Audience: Network engineers, security engineers, and application support and operations staff within banking or financial organizations
Testimonials (1)
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