Day 1: BIG-IP F5 Overview & System Fundamentals
Objective: Understand BIG-IP’s role in application delivery and become familiar with its core components.
Session 1: Introduction to Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs)
What is BIG-IP F5?
Use cases: Load balancing, security, acceleration
Licensing and BIG-IP modules (LTM, DNS, ASM, APM, etc.)
Session 2: BIG-IP System Architecture
TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel)
Configuration objects: nodes, pools, virtual servers
TMOS overview and key processes
Session 3: Initial Setup & Configuration
Lab: Accessing the system (GUI, CLI, SSH)
Network configuration (interfaces, VLANs, self IPs)
Device licensing and provisioning modules
Day 2: Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Essentials
Objective: Learn to configure LTM for intelligent traffic distribution and high availability.
Session 1: Virtual Servers, Pools, and Nodes
Understanding traffic flow
Health monitors and availability
Persistence and load balancing methods
Session 2: Profiles and iRules
TCP/HTTP profiles and optimization
SSL offloading and re-encryption
Writing and applying basic iRules
Session 3: SNATs, NATs, and Routing
Source Network Address Translation (SNAT)
Default gateway and routing logic
VLAN groups and traffic segmentation
Day 3: DNS (GTM) & High Availability
Objective: Explore DNS services and implement high availability in F5 environments.
Session 1: BIG-IP DNS (formerly GTM) Overview
Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB)
DNS zones, listeners, and wide IPs
Intelligent DNS resolution based on geolocation, latency
Session 2: Device Clustering and Sync-Failover
HA setup: Active/standby pairs
ConfigSync and failover groups
Manual vs. auto sync modes
Session 3: Upgrades and Backups
Software lifecycle and image management
UCS and SCF backups
Upgrade best practices
Lab Exercise: Set up DNS services and test failover scenarios
Day 4: Security, Access, and Application Protection (Optional ASM/APM Intro)
Objective: Introduce BIG-IP’s security features and modules for application and access control.
Session 1: Application Security Manager (ASM) Basics
Web Application Firewall (WAF) concepts
Policies, learning modes, signatures
Logging and attack reporting
Session 2: Access Policy Manager (APM) Intro
Identity and access control
SSL VPN configuration
Visual policy editor
Session 3: Secure Configuration Best Practices
User authentication and RBAC
System hardening tips
Integration with external security tools
Day 5: Troubleshooting, Logging & Capstone Project
Objective: Build confidence in real-world F5 management, diagnostics, and hands-on configuration.
Session 1: Troubleshooting Tools and Logs
tcpdump and packet capture
Log locations and analytics
GUI tools: Statistics, analytics, and dashboards
Session 2: Advanced Diagnostics
Common issues: failed health checks, SSL issues, routing loops
Support tools: QKView, iHealth
Configuration review and validation
Session 3: Capstone Project
Design and deploy a full application delivery scenario
Configure virtual servers, pools, monitors, profiles
