PeerSpot user
Network Security Engineer at Data Consult
Real User
One box with many features including LTM, ASM, and GTM
Pros and Cons
    • "They need to develop the reporting tools further."

    What is our primary use case?

    F5 delivers a full range of solutions that simplify service providers’ security architectures while mitigating threats. The full proxy architecture of F5 solutions also allows service providers to attain extensive visibility and control throughout layers 4 through 7. This enables granular control of all connections, more extensive security functionality, and comprehensive end-to-end protection against DDoS and other attacks. F5 solutions protect targeted network elements, the DNS infrastructure, devices, and applications with features that include application health monitoring, a robust web application firewall, web access controls, TCP optimization, web acceleration, L7 DDoS protection, and broad SSL support, including SSL inspection and offload.

    How has it helped my organization?

    I installed F5 on the DMZ zone of the firewall. The traffic will come to the virtual server of the F5. F5 will decrypt the traffic and offload the traffic to the firewall as clear.
    This way, we can mitigate many attacks from the F5 and from the firewall.

    What is most valuable?

    Protection of published website. When using ASM, we can have a layer 7 protection in order to prevent the website from attacks.

    What needs improvement?

    F5 should improve or develop the reporting tools further.
    They should improve the management policies on the BOX.

    Buyer's Guide
    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
    March 2024
    Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Three to five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    They have one box and you can implement many features with it like LTM, ASM, GTM. So it is scalable. And they have a virtual edition and an appliance edition.

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support is a seven out of 10. They provide quick solutions and they reply to us very fast.

    How was the initial setup?

    Straightforward.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It's fair, it's not too expensive. Maybe just a little high.

    What other advice do I have?

    It's a good product to use. It has many features so can use it to secure your environment. I'm satisfied with the product.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Co-Founder and CEO at PT Eugenea Kreasi Utama
    Real User
    Good performance, stable, powerful, and has good responsive support
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of this solution is IP Intelligence."
    • "The deployment could be simplified."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am a reseller. We provide solutions to our clients.

    We use F5 for various applications as our firewall.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of this solution is IP Intelligence.

    It is very powerful and has good performance. It meets our requirements.

    The features included are more than enough.

    What needs improvement?

    The deployment could be simplified. From a technical perspective, it is complex.

    The pricing could be reduced. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) since 2020.

    We are using 1G-V Virtual Edition.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable solution. We don't have any issues with the stability of the F5 product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have approximately 115 people in our organization who use this solution.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have no issues with the technical support. They are good and provide professional service.

    F5 is very fast to respond. Our team contacted technical support via email about issues, and after one hour they call us to resolve them.

    Overall, F5 support is very good.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I was using Akamai from 2017 until 2020 when we started using F5.

    When comparing F5 with Akamai, F5 is more powerful and has more intelligence. It also has the ability to update its software very rapidly.

    Akamai is slow to respond, they can take up to four or five hours to respond to a complaint.

    We use Microsoft in my office for our operational daily activity.

    How was the initial setup?

    The deployment is complex. Technically, it is very complex.

    It took us four, or maybe five weeks to deploy.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did not use an integrator or consultant. We have a team in our organization.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    F5 is expensive. Reasonable in comparison, but it should be cheaper.

    What other advice do I have?

    This solution is focused on segment customers. I would recommend it to Telco companies, as well as for banking and customers who need to protect their applications, and websites. 

    The F5 support is very responsive.

    I would rate  F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) an eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
    March 2024
    Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Security Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Reliable, versatile, and essential for ensuring the availability and performance of our applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "The value and impact of using F5 BIG-IP LTM for application delivery control in our organization are significant."
    • "One area for improvement with F5 BIG-IP LTM could be its pricing, which some may find on the higher side."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use F5 BIG-IP LTM to balance the load across multiple servers hosting a website or web application, ensuring none get overwhelmed. It is handy for ensuring that services like my email server or database stay available and responsive, even if one server goes down. Plus, it is not just for web traffic; it can manage traffic for any TCP or UDP-based service, like FTP or SIP.

    What is most valuable?

    The value and impact of using F5 BIG-IP LTM for application delivery control in our organization are significant. It ensures the availability, stability, and reliability of our applications, ultimately contributing to smooth operations and enhanced user experience.

    What needs improvement?

    One area for improvement with F5 BIG-IP LTM could be its pricing, which some may find on the higher side. Lowering costs could make the solution more accessible to a wider range of organizations.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager for about six years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is a stable solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP LTM is a scalable solution, especially when deployed as a virtual machine. You can increase resources and licenses as needed, providing flexibility for growth. However, with physical appliances, scalability may be limited by hardware and license constraints.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support is excellent.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setting up F5 BIG-IP LTM is generally straightforward. In a Windows environment, initial setup might take around thirty minutes, with additional time depending on specific needs and applications. The deployment process involves configuring nodes and tools for each server and application and setting up load balancing. Additional features like compression and caching profiles can be configured as needed. Once configured, it is typically self-loading, making ongoing management easier.

    What was our ROI?

    The initial investment in F5 BIG-IP LTM has been worthwhile for our organization.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The licensing cost for F5 BIG-IP LTM is typically on a yearly basis, with options for one-year or three-year terms. It is quite expensive.

    What other advice do I have?

    In our organization, we use F5 BIG-IP LTM for local balancing and traffic management. It helps us evenly distribute incoming traffic across our servers, ensuring our applications like Tobe and DNS run smoothly. Plus, it handles traffic for other services, like STV, effectively managing our network flow.

    F5 BIG-IP LTM has been crucial in enhancing application delivery and optimizing network traffic. Its robust features ensure that applications are delivered efficiently and reliably. From load balancing to SSL offloading, it handles tasks seamlessly, making applications run smoothly.

    The features of F5 BIG-IP LTM that are most crucial for ensuring high availability, performance, and application optimization are its load balancing capabilities, SSL offloading, and traffic acceleration through compression.

    The security capabilities of F5 BIG-IP LTM, such as SSL offloading and firewall services, are extremely valuable to us. 

    As a system administrator, I find the F5 BIG-IP LTM interface very user-friendly and intuitive. It simplifies complex tasks, making management easier. Compared to other vendors, it stands out for its ease of use. Plus, its analytics features streamline monitoring and decision-making.

    My advice to new users is that if you are considering using F5 BIG-IP LTM for application delivery control and firewall capabilities, I would advise starting with a clear understanding of your organization's needs and objectives. Evaluate how F5 BIG-IP LTM aligns with your requirements, considering factors like scalability, performance, and security features. Additionally, explore alternative solutions like F5 ASM or FortiWeb to ensure you choose the best fit for your specific use case.

    Overall, I would rate F5 BIG-IP LTM as a nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
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    PeerSpot user
    Abduh  Rumfot - PeerSpot reviewer
    It Security Consultant at juke
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Useful application policy and rule making, highly scalable, and reliable
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP LTM is it helps our delivery team to make policies and rules for application."
    • "The user interface of F5 BIG-IP LTM is old and could improve."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using F5 BIG-IP LTM for our application which is a reverse proxy. We use it for availability, and to process the application because it is used in the financial industry.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP LTM is it helps our delivery team to make policies and rules for application.

    What needs improvement?

    The user interface of F5 BIG-IP LTM is old and could improve.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for approximately five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I rate the stability of F5 BIG-IP LTM a nine out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of F5 BIG-IP LTM is good.

    This solution is best suited for medium to large-sized businesses in the finance and telecommunications industries.

    I rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP LTM a nine out of ten.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support from F5 BIG-IP LTM is not good.

    I rate the support from F5 BIG-IP LTM a five out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup of F5 BIG-IP LTM is simple because our project is not complicated. The implementation took approximately three days.

    I rate the initial setup of F5 BIG-IP LTM a seven out of ten.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of F5 BIG-IP LTM could improve.

    I rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP LTM a ten out of ten.

    What other advice do I have?

    This is a good solution, but it is expensive. I would recommend this solution to others.

    I rate F5 BIG-IP LTM an eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Solution Architect at Softcell Technologies Limited
    Real User
    Top 10
    Is a stable product from a stable company that is focusing more on security
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is a stable product from a stable company. Recently, they have been more focused on security as well."
    • "Right now, there are a lot of products within F5's portfolio. They acquired a couple of companies like NGINX and Volterra. Some features and technologies overlapped when this acquisition occurred. They need to refine it and come up with a single, proper solution. F5 should focus more on zero trust network access (ZTNA).They should be more focused on that framework because the industry is moving towards that. Everyone is talking about SASE and zero trust."

    What is most valuable?

    It is a stable product from a stable company. Recently, they have been more focused on security as well.

    What needs improvement?

    Right now, there are a lot of products within F5's portfolio. They acquired a couple of companies like NGINX and Volterra. Some features and technologies overlapped when this acquisition occurred. They need to refine it and come up with a single, proper solution.
    F5 should focus more on zero trust network access (ZTNA).They should be more focused on that framework because the industry is moving towards that. Everyone is talking about SASE and zero trust.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've worked with this solution for about two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    In my experience, I have received excellent support from F5 for any technical issues that I or my customers have faced. I have had no issues with technical support.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is easy.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price is little bit on higher side, compared to the cost of NGINX.

    What other advice do I have?

    If you are a partner, then I would recommend that you go through the partner portal videos because they have very good training videos that help you to learn the product and technology when it comes to implementation. It helps a lot with implementation, and they have detailed documentation that explains the implementation process step by step. Once you go through that, you'll definitely have a clear understanding of the implementation process. Without that, it may be a little bit tricky for you to complete the implementation in a smooth manner.

    I would rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) at eight on a scale from one to ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Lead Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Is stable, scalable, and easy to install
    Pros and Cons
    • "Currently, it's distributing the load perfectly, as per my understanding of our requirements."
    • "I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud."

    What is most valuable?

    As an IT developer, mostly I use load balancing for the traffic. Currently, it's distributing the load perfectly, as per my understanding of our requirements.

    It's definitely scalable and is stable as well.

    The initial setup is not complex, and the technical support is fine.

    What needs improvement?

    I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud.

    So, I think they should improve in terms of security because nowadays, most organizations try to build their infrastructure on public cloud.

    More documentation should be uploaded because very limited documentation is available on the internet. It will also help us to understand the system before purchasing the product.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using this solution for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's a stable solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's definitely scalable. It's a distributed architecture and micro services, so it's scalable. In fact, we are planning to increase usage and scale horizontally.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I don't have any issues with respect to technical support; it has been fine.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is not complex. 

    What other advice do I have?

    If you have your own data center, then you can use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). I don't see any issues because they have been in the industry for a long time, and F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is very stable.

    I would rate this solution at eight on a scale from one to ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Sr. SAP Portfolio Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Capable of handling huge workloads, good stability, and good scalability
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the greatest things about F5 Load Balancer is that it provides additional capability for handling huge workloads and routing them to an SAP or non-SAP application. It is capable of supporting a large amount of user workload and application connectivity workload. This was the main reason why we chose F5."
    • "It is a hardware load balancer, and its installation procedure is more complex than a software load balancer. There are pros and cons of using hardware load balancing. You have to have specific hardware deployed in your data center to activate this load balancer. They never came up with any software-based load balancing solution. It is all hardware-based."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for load balancing any kind of HTTP and HTTPS traffic coming from users or other systems.

    What is most valuable?

    One of the greatest things about F5 Load Balancer is that it provides additional capability for handling huge workloads and routing them to an SAP or non-SAP application. It is capable of supporting a large amount of user workload and application connectivity workload. This was the main reason why we chose F5.

    What needs improvement?

    It is a hardware load balancer, and its installation procedure is more complex than a software load balancer. There are pros and cons of using hardware load balancing. You have to have specific hardware deployed in your data center to activate this load balancer. They never came up with any software-based load balancing solution. It is all hardware-based.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for a couple of years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Its stability is good.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable. We have around 2,000 plus users.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Their technical support is fine. 

    How was the initial setup?

    It is a hardware load balancer, so its installation procedure is more complex than a software load balancer. You need specific hardware to install this load balancer.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We had evaluated a few SAP solutions, but we found F5 to be more suitable at that time.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution. We have been using it for such a long time, and we are quite happy with it as an organization. It is awesome, and we plan to keep using it till we are on-prem. It has been good for our on-prem setup. 

    I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. I am quite satisfied with this solution.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    DevOps Manager at TaxACT
    Real User
    The integration and configuration into the AWS environment was pretty good. However, we are ending up with a whole bunch of ghosted IPs.
    Pros and Cons
    • "The detail that you have available when setting up iRules."
    • "Where we are finding the AWS version helpful is when we are trying to scale up new environments. AWS Marketplace helps here a lot."
    • "For integration with other AWS environments, we do some tie-ins with some autoscaling groups. This has been challenging for us. We have had issues, where when autoscaling groups scale up, there are some instances which are not showing up in the proper size. Then, those IPs would get registered with F5, but never get released. Therefore, we are ending up with a whole bunch of ghosted IPs."
    • "The management interface is unclear, complex, and not concise. I would like a better user interface."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for low balancing.

    It has been in our environment for four to five years, but I have only been using it for a little over a year.

    What is most valuable?

    • The detail that you have available when setting up iRules. 
    • How the traffic routing works in F5.

    What needs improvement?

    The management process seems a bit difficult. 

    The management interface is unclear, complex, and not concise. I would like a better user interface.

    For integration with other AWS environments, we do some tie-ins with some autoscaling groups. This has been challenging for us. We have had issues, where when autoscaling groups scale up, there are some instances which are not showing up in the proper size. Then, those IPs would get registered with F5, but never get released. Therefore, we are ending up with a whole bunch of ghosted IPs. However, this is more an implementation detail than an F5 detail.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    One to three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable. I have no concerns regarding stability for F5.

    We are seasonal, so we go from low to high volumes. F5 has never been a concern of ours for stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We run an Active-Active version of two instances, so scalability between the on-premise and AWS versions hasn't been a huge issue for us. Where we are finding the AWS version helpful is when we are trying to scale up new environments. AWS Marketplace helps here a lot.

    How is customer service and technical support?

    We have support agreements in place, but they are managed by the infrastructure team. I do not contact the technical support, they do.

    How was the initial setup?

    The integration and configuration into the AWS environment was pretty good.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    The product was already in place when I came onboard.

    My preference is to use AWS natively, but there are some issues around session management and so on, which have prevented us from using it. While a lot of these issues have been solved, a lot of our applications are tied to the F5 infrastructure.

    What other advice do I have?

    Always use the Automatic Synching between F5. Don't try to use the API to do the synching. This is where we went wrong. We were trying to push the nodes to F5 individually instead of letting F5 handle the synchronization process, and it doesn't work.

    We were previously using the on-premise version, but now we are using the AWS version. They are about the same as far as functionality.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: March 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.