Course Outline
Day 1 — BIG-IP Architecture & Platform Management
• Networking fundamentals — OSI model (L2–L7) and load balancers at L4/L7; mapping IP addressing and subnetting to BIG-IP self IPs and VLANs.
• Theory 1 — TMM traffic processing architecture; traffic path from client to virtual server to pool member; device modes, administrative partitions, and role-based access control (aligned with banking segregation-of-duties policies); licensing and module provisioning (LTM, AVR).
• Theory 2 — TMUI navigation and efficient GUI workflows; tmsh basics; configuration backup and restore using UCS archives; comparison of hardware versus virtual editions and their placement in bank data centers.
• Lab (3 hours) — “Establishing Traffic Flow” — 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 execution of a UCS backup.
Day 2 — Core Load Balancing & SSL/TLS
• Networking fundamentals — TCP/UDP handshake and port concepts; HTTP methods, headers, status codes, and keep-alive mechanisms.
• Theory 1 — Virtual server types; design of pools, nodes, and monitors; load-balancing algorithms; TCP/HTTP profiles and connection reuse; application of these concepts to internet banking and API traffic patterns.
• Theory 2 — SSL/TLS offloading and certificate management (key/certificate import, chains, cipher policy, aligned with banking security standards); persistence methods (cookie, source-address) and their appropriate use cases; introduction to iRules with simple read-only examples (redirects, header insertion).
• Lab (3 hours) — 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.
Day 3 — High Availability & Operations
• Networking fundamentals — VLANs, routing, and ARP basics; DNS resolution flow and record types; TLS handshake review.
• Theory 1 — Device Service Clustering: device trust, sync-failover groups, config synchronization, traffic groups, and floating IPs; failover behavior and client impact; high-availability 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 analysis, audit logging of administrative changes, upgrade and maintenance procedures, backup strategies, and disaster recovery fundamentals; brief overview of automation (iControl REST) and WAF (ASM/Advanced WAF) as advanced topics.
• Lab (3 hours) — Configure 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 summary and Q&A.
Lab Environment
Each trainee is provided with a dedicated, isolated lab environment: two BIG-IP Virtual Edition instances (to facilitate the Day 3 high-availability exercise) along with shared backend web servers simulating application tiers. Access is fully browser-based via a secure Guacamole gateway — trainees require only a web browser, with no need for VPN clients or local software installation, simplifying access from restricted banking workstations. The environment is pre-built and verified prior to Day 1; by the end of Day 1, every trainee will have established working traffic through their own BIG-IP instance.
Requirements
Prior experience with F5 is not necessary.
While foundational TCP/IP knowledge is beneficial, it is not strictly required. Each day begins with concise networking refresher sessions (covering the OSI model, TCP/HTTP, DNS/TLS) tailored to the day’s F5 topics, ensuring that teams with varied experience levels reach a common knowledge baseline.
Target Audience: Network engineers, security specialists, and application support or operations staff working in banking or financial institutions.
Testimonials (1)
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