Course Details

This two-day course gives network administrators, network operators, and network engineers a functional understanding of the BIG-IP v11 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.

Course Prerequisites

Students should understand:

• TCP/IP Addressing and Routing including:
  • The Address Resolution Protocol
  • Direct and Indirect Routing
  • TCP Handshakes
• Common elements of and differences between WAN and LAN components

In addition, students should be proficient in:

• Basic PC operation and application skills, including Linux and Windows OS
• Basic Web browser operation (Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are used in class)

Course Goals

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:

• Set up, Start/restart, license, and provision the BIG-IP systemout-of-the-box
• Use the Configuration utility and TMOS Shell (tmsh) to configure and manage BIG-IP resources such as virtual servers, pools, pool members, nodes, profiles, and monitors;
• Create, restore from, and manage BIG-IP archives;
• View resource status, availability, and statistical information and use this information to determine how the BIG-IP system is currently processing traffic
• Describe the role of profiles in modifying traffic behavior including SSL offload and persistence;
• Perform basic troubleshooting and problem determination activities including using informational and diagnostic tools such as logs, SNMP traps/alerts, statistics, and iHealth, researching known issues and solutions on AskF5, submitting a problem ticket to F5 Technical Support, and viewing traffic flow using tcpdump;
• Understand and manage disk space, software versions, boot locations, and user roles;
• Provide administrative multi-tenancy on a single BIG-IP system through use of partitions
• Use an iApp to deploy an application service;
• Describe the role of Enterprise Manager and BIG-IQ in BIG-IP system administration and operation
• Describe the role of iRules in customizing traffic behavior

Course Agenda

Topics covered in this course include:

• Setting Up the BIG-IP System
• Traffic Processing with Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
• Using NATs and SNATs
• Using the Traffic Management Shell (TMSH)
• Monitoring Application Health
• Modifying Traffic Behavior with Profiles
• Modifying Traffic Behavior with Persistence
• Deploying Application Services with iApps
• Troubleshooting the BIG-IP System
• Administering the BIG-IP System
• Customizing Application Delivery with iRules