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Array APV Series vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Array APV Series
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
17th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Array APV Series is 1.4%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 14.3%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)14.3%
Array APV Series1.4%
Other84.3%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

Gibert  Fidel - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Enhancing user experience through efficient application delivery control
The primary use case of Array APV Series is for load balancing of the applications and their web applications It provides a better user experience when accessing the clients' applications, making it much faster for users when they are using the applications. The most valuable feature is the…
edshyaa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at Stryker
Load balancing has improved traffic distribution and currently supports high availability upgrades
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) offers effective load balancing methods that help distribute traffic across our servers, whether we have two or several. This load balancing feature stands out as it is the fundamental work we do with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). While I recognize there are many features, such as iRules, which I have not explored yet, we primarily work on VIPs, pool members, and traffic distribution. The load balancing algorithms' flexibility makes them very useful for our team, enabling us to choose different servers and manage load effectively. We use various methods based on user or application requirements, making the algorithms set up by F5 in the backend quite helpful. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) positively impacts our organization primarily through its load balancing capabilities. We avoid traffic overload on individual servers by placing backend servers behind F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) VIP. This load balancing helps us manage traffic effectively. Since the configuration of the I-series, we have had smooth performance, and with the recent migration to the R-series, it is working faster than before, providing positive outcomes for our operations. Since moving to the R-series, I notice improved performance; it is user-friendly and handles traffic efficiently. The upgrading process is different as we create tenants and a main host. R-series has better CPU and memory, leading to higher throughput with minimal downtime, making it a significant improvement over the I-series.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the application delivery control, which includes server load balancing and global server load balancing."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the server load balancing. Something that sets this solution apart from other products is that the hardware has a much higher capacity than other vendors. That's the edge of Array Networks. Their technical support services are also very good."
"Anyone considering Array APV should not hesitate to use the Array Network because it's very light and easy to deploy and the user interface is very easy to understand."
"It also has an AVR feature: application, visibility, and recording. It's good for customers looking for what is actually happening in their network and where the latency is."
"It can determine if the system is going down, then route the traffic somewhere else."
"We always use technical support and the team helps us very well. They're able to effectively find and fix issues and they respond very quickly."
"F5 Big-IP Local Traffic Manager has better modular features especially LTM, which according to the clients, is very beneficial. Most of the users opt for a combination of big IP LTM and WAF which helps them to leverage application load balancing and enhance application security many-fold."
"The most valuable features of the solution are in the area of DDoS and WAF."
"The support from F5 BIG-IP LTM is good."
"If one server goes down, there is a seamless transition to the other one."
"The impact of SSL offloading on reducing server load and latency is very much positive because whatever traffic we receive, we encrypt at our F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) level, which has definitely reduced the additional load and SSL decryption load on the servers, so it has very much helped us and it is very smooth; it will not take much time and will not impact our regular traffic."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more granular reporting and monitoring features, and I believe our clients want to see them as well. Also, SD-WAN would be a good addition."
"Technical support should be better."
"I would like to see more granular reporting and monitoring features, and I believe our clients want to see them as well."
"The initial setup can be complex - it's quite flexible in terms of configuration, but the person configuring it needs to understand the application side, the network side, and the server."
"A lot of functions that are attributed to iRules can actually be simple profile changes. iRules do have a certain performance impact. Therefore, instead of writing simple iRules, they can create certain profiles for classes that will perform the same function."
"Technical support could be faster. It's something I'd like to see them work on in the future."
"The analytics should provide insight into latency across various traffic routes and virtual servers."
"If we decide to migrate to the cloud, I don't think that BIG-IP is a good solution and we probably won't use it."
"The solution is quite expensive if we compare it with the competition."
"I would like to see F-5 implement a regular routing like in other Linux-based devices. When we try and integrate in some complex networks, we have to use some additional routing scenarios from a Layer 3 perspective, then we have some problems."
"We would like to have integration into encryption and PKI integration with SafeNet. That is probably the key component in using External PKIs, letting people bring their PKIs with them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think the price for Array APV is very competitive, and some of our clients are very satisfied when it comes to the price."
"I am not aware of the exact cost of the product. However, it is expensive."
"It's not a cheap product, but there are no other replacements for what we do with it."
"The price of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is too high."
"This is a high-priced tool. We pay for its license yearly."
"It could be priced a little less, especially on the virtual side. It gets a bit expensive, but you get what you pay."
"It was probably a one-time purchase and then you have maintenance, but I don't have the details on that. We bought what they called the Best bundle at the time, which pretty much included all of the modules. There was probably no additional cost afterward."
"There are additional costs depending on what modules or what functionality is required."
"When we purchased additional licenses for our other locations, we received a discount of between 20% and 25%."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise86
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Array APV Series?
The pricing is rated at eight out of ten, indicating that it could be improved as the product is expensive.
What needs improvement with Array APV Series?
The solution is usually optimized for client services, and they would benefit from it being a perpetual license, where they only need to renew the support, such as hardware replacement and technica...
What is your primary use case for Array APV Series?
The primary use case of Array APV Series is for load balancing of the applications and their web applications.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could improve file upload speeds when opening cases and attaching files; sometimes, downloading files like QKView takes time, depending on size. I expect faste...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
My main use case for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is placing our applications on F5 and the backend servers on the pool. We also regularly renew SSL certificates before they expire, usuall...
 

Also Known As

APV Series
F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SoftLayer, Trapp Technology, eClinicalWorks, eMeetingsOnline, YourMembership.com, Cash Depot, Needham Bank, State Bank of India, Yahoo Japan Financial Exchange, TechProcess
Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Array APV Series vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.