F5 Networks Administering BIG-IP

This course gives network administrators, network operators, and network engineers a functional understanding of the BIG-IP system as it is commonly deployed in an application delivery network. The course introduces students to the BIG-IP system, its configuration objects, how it processes traffic, and how typical administrative and operational activities are performed. The course includes lecture, hands-on labs, interactive demonstrations, and discussions.

Lesson 1 : Setting Up the BIG-IP System

• Introducing the BIG-IP System
• Initially Setting Up the BIG-IP System 
• Configuring the Management Interface 
• Activating the Software License 
• Provisioning Modules and Resources 
• Importing a Device Certificate 
• Specifying BIG-IP Platform Properties 
• Configuring the Network 
• Configuring Network Time Protocol (NTP) Servers 
• Configuring Domain Name System (DNS) Settings 
• Configuring High Availability Options 
• Archiving the BIG-IP Configuration 
• Leveraging F5 Support Resources and Tools

Lesson 2 : Traffic Processing Building Blocks

• Identifying BIG-IP Traffic Processing Objects 
• Configuring Virtual Servers and Pools 
• Load Balancing Traffic 
• Viewing Module Statistics and Logs 
• Using the Traffic Management Shell (TMSH) 
• Understanding the TMSH Hierarchical Structure 
• Navigating the TMSH Hierarchy 
• Managing BIG-IP Configuration State and Files 
• BIG-IP System Configuration State 
• Loading and Saving the System Configuration 
• Shutting Down and Restarting the BIG-IP System 
• Saving and Replicating Configuration Data (UCS and SCF)

Lesson 3 : Using NATs and SNATs

• Address Translation on the BIG-IP System 
• Mapping IP Addresses with NATs 
• Solving Routing Issues with SNATs 
• Configuring SNAT Auto Map on a Virtual Server 
• Monitoring for and Mitigating Port Exhaustion

Lesson 4 : Monitoring Application Health

• Introducing Monitors 
• Types of Monitors 
• Monitor Interval and Timeout Settings 
• Configuring Monitors 
• Assigning Monitors to Resources 
• Managing Pool, Pool Member, and Node Status 
• Using the Network Map

Lesson 5 : Modifying Traffic Behavior with Profiles

• Introducing Profiles 
• Understanding Profile Types and Dependencies 
• Configuring and Assigning Profiles 
• Introducing SSL Offload and SSL Re-Encryption 
• Managing Object State

Lesson 6 : Modifying Traffic Behavior with Persistence

• Understanding the Need for Persistence 
• Introducing Source Address Affinity Persistence 
• Managing Object State

Lesson 7 : Administering the BIG-IP System

• Configuring Logging 
• Legacy Remote Logging 
• Introducing High Speed Logging (HSL) 
• High-Speed Logging Filters 
• HSL Configuration Objects 
• Configuring High Speed Logging 
• Using TCPDUMP on the BIG-IP System 
• Leveraging the BIG-IP iHealth System 
• Viewing BIG-IP System Statistics 
• Defining User Roles and Administrative Partitions 
• Leveraging vCMP

Lesson 8 : Configuring High Availability

• Introducing Device Service Clustering (DSC) 
• Preparing to Deploy a DSC Configuration 
• Configuring DSC Communication Settings 
• Establishing Device Trust 
• Establishing a Sync-Failover Device Group 
• Synchronizing Configuration Data 
• Exploring Traffic Group Behavior 
• Understanding Failover Managers and Triggers 
• Achieving Stateful Failover with Mirroring

OSI model, TCP/IP addressing and routing, WAN, LAN environments, and server redundancy concepts

This course is intended for network administrators, operators, and engineers responsible for managing the normal day-to-day operation and administration of a BIG-IP application delivery network. This course presents the prerequisite knowledge for many other of F5’s BIG-IP instructor-led training courses.