VIPRION Platform

The VIPRION system is a chassis device with up to eight blades, it is designed to meet the needs of large, enterprise networking environments that normally require multiple BIG-IP systems to process large volumes of application traffic.

The blades work together as a powerful system to process...
VIPRION Platform

GTM is now BIG-IP DNS

GTM name change to BIG-IP DNS
In the BIG-IP 12.0 release, F5 has changed the name of Global Traffic Manager (GTM) to BIG-IP DNS to more fully convey the breadth of the product offering with its functionality. BIG-IP DNS reinforces our mission to solve DNS availability problems at hyperscale ...
GTM is now BIG-IP DNS

New in Version 12

BIG-IP 12.0 release includes many integrated enhancements to F5’s security and access solutions, such as:

Reliable Access in All Types of IT Environments with SSO
Superior Protection with the Largest DDoS Vector Spectrum and Increased Attack Visibility
Improved SSL Capabilities for C...
New in Version 12

How to run EUD (End User Diagnostics)

The End User Diagnostics (EUD) software is a set of tests that report on various components in the hardware unit. The EUD is pre-installed on each BIG-IP system. When you open a support case with F5 Support and they suspect there is a hardware problem with the platform they will likely ask for...
How to run EUD (End User Diagnostics)

What is iHealth?

iHealth (ihealth.f5.com) is freely available to customers running BIG-IP version 10.x and later or Enterprise Manager version 2.x and later. It enables you to verify operation of your BIG-IP system and ensure your hardware and software function at peak efficiency by providing information...
What is iHealth?

BIG-IP LTM: Creating a Virtual Server

In this article we will describe how to configure a basic (really basic) Virtual Server in a BIG-IP system running the LTM (Local Traffic Manager) module. LTM is the product F5 Networks offers for Load Balancing, but remember there are a few others modules available for different purposes....
BIG-IP LTM: Creating a Virtual Server

BIG-IP: Configuring VLANs and self-ip addresses

In this article we will describe how to configure VLANs and self-ip addresses on a BIG-IP system. A virtual local area network (VLAN) is a logical subset of hosts on a local area network (LAN) that operate in the same IP address space. You can create the VLANs on the BIG-IP system and assign...
BIG-IP: Configuring VLANs and self-ip addresses

Configuring BIG-IP – Setup Utility

This is the continuation of the previous article Configuring management IP address on the BIG-IP system in the Configuring BIG-IP series. After we have configured the management IP address on the system, we should be able to connect to the GUI via https and run the ‘Setup Utility’....
Configuring BIG-IP – Setup Utility

Configuring BIG-IP management IP address

In this article we will describe how to configure the management IP address in a brand new BIG-IP system or a BIG-IP Virtual Edition after it has been deployed.
If you are working with a Hardware appliance (BIG-IP system), the first step after powering it up would be to connect a serial console ...
Configuring BIG-IP management IP address

TMOS, TMM, MCPD and SOD

TMOS (Traffic Management Operating System), TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel), MCPD (Master Control Program Daemon) and SOD.
In the previous article of the “F5 Networks terminology” series we have discussed the BIG-IP System and some of the modules that can be provisioned in the platform. In t...
TMOS, TMM, MCPD and SOD

F5 Networks BIG-IP. What is it?

BIG-IP 4200v

F5 Networks BIG-IP

This is the first article in the “F5 Networks Terminology” series, where you will learn the terminology and basic concepts related to the F5 Networks’ products and modules.

According to the official definition from F5 Networks, a BIG-IP® system is a set of application delivery products that work together to ensure high availability, improved performance, application security, and access control. Usually people associate F5 Networks with “Load Balancer”, but the company provides different modules, the one related to Load balancing is LTM (Local Traffic Manager), however there are other modules with different functions as GTM (Global Load Balancing), ASM (Application Security Manager), APM (Access Policy Manager) and others. We can think of the BIG-IP system as the logical container of these modules. Although, not officially stated, usually the BIG-IP system also refers to the hardware type, i.e. BIG-IP 4200. F5 Networks also provides a chassis based hardware called VIPRION which can run the same modules that run on a BIG-IP system. To add to the mix, some people also confuse BIG-IP with the operating system, although the basis of the BIG-IP system from a software perspective is the Traffic Management Operation System® (TMOS). TMOS is a real-time, event-driven operating system designed specifically for application delivery networking. On top of TMOS runs the independent modules mentioned before.

When you configure a brand new BIG-IP system (or VIPRION), you will be able to select what modules you want to activate in the platform (provided you have the license). This is what is called “Resource Provisioning”. The modules you can provision on a BIG-IP system (or VIPRION) are:

BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager

Also refer as LTM, it is the first product the company created. It started its life as a Load Balancer but it has evolved into a powerful Application Delivery Controller.

BIG-IP Global Traffic Manager

GTM provides intelligent traffic management to your globally available network resources. When you use LTM, you usually load balance resources within a datacenter or to servers which are logically close to the BIG-IP system. GTM extends this idea and allows a company to load balance traffic among datacenters, which is known as Global Server Load Balancing.

BIG-IP Application Security Manager

ASM for short, is a Web Application Firewall. Application Security Manager protects Web applications from both generalized and targeted application layer attacks including buffer overflow, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and parameter tampering.

BIG-IP Protocol Security Module

PSM for short extends the idea of ASM but to protocols different to HTTP/HTTPS. It provides security checks for other traffic like FTP and SMTP.

BIG-IP Access Policy Manager

APM was created as a replacement of the Firepass product, which was a SSL VPN solution. Although APM provides SSL VPN functionality, it has evolved as a flexible, high-performance access and security solution. With Access Policy Manager, you can manage access to networks and applications by implementing security policies in the network. Policies are set to allow access based on context, including user identity and group membership.

BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager

Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) is a combination of the retired modules known as WebAccelerator and WOM (Wan Optimization Module). It overcomes network, protocol, and application issues to help you meet application performance, data replication, and disaster recovery requirements.

The modules mentioned above are what we would say the main products in the BIG-IP family. There are a few others, less known as CGN (Carrier Grade NAT) and PEM (Policy Enforcement Manager) but are products specifically designed for Service Providers, so we won’t get into them yet.

Last but not least, you also need to know F5 Networks do provide a few others products which are not part of the BIG-IP system. For example, Traffix (Signaling Delivery Controller) for Service Providers and LineRate (Low cost and high-volume lightweight virtual load balancer).

We hope this article helps you to understand the BIG-IP family and all the cool stuff you can do with it.

F5 Networks BIG-IP. What is it?