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Design and Conception Engineer at SFR
Real User
Inadequate virtual machine support, but stable and secure
Pros and Cons
  • "In my team, we work in a very agile environment and the solutions from BIG-IP, including BIG-IP WAF, suit us well when developing and serving our applications."
  • "There are some aspects of F5 BIG-IP that could be improved, the main one being virtual machine support. We have seen that even with the virtual editions, there are some things that we would like to do that are currently not possible with virtual machines."

What is our primary use case?

Our engineers use various products from the F5 BIG-IP range when creating application solutions. Primarily, we make use of F5 BIG-IP's ASM (Application Security Manager) and WAF (Web Application Firewall). For most of our applications, we require that our servers, and server-related software, are hosted in virtual machine environments.

How has it helped my organization?

In my team, we work in a very agile environment and the solutions from BIG-IP, including BIG-IP WAF, suit us well when developing and serving our applications.

What is most valuable?

I am happy with most of the features made available to us through BIG-IP's software and I enjoy using the interfaces (dashboards, etc.). 

What needs improvement?

There are some aspects of F5 BIG-IP that could be improved, the main one being virtual machine support. We have seen that even with the virtual editions, there are some things that we would like to do that are currently not possible with virtual machines.

We have seen some problems mainly with F5 BIG-IP ASM, and so I think the virtual editions of the ASM could be improved.

Another negative aspect is the cost, as it can be expensive.

Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using F5 BIG-IP for five years now. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

As far as I can tell, it's a stable and secure solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Although BIG-IP's solutions are scalable for most purposes, it's not always scalable for certain scenarios, in my opinion. From an API perspective, though, it is quite scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We have used F5 BIG-IP's technical support and it is very good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. Very, very easy. Especially for the web guys. 

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

F5 BIG-IP can be expensive, although there are trial versions available which are helpful to find out if the solution is right for your company.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have been considering using Nginx as an alternative or complementary solution to our application delivery and security needs, but we have not pursued this option further at this point.

For the most part, we are looking for a solution that has better support for virtual machines, and Nginx is one alternative we have looked at because of its good virtual machine support. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate F5 BIG-IP a five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
MahesaPutra - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales at Efficient IT Systems Ltd
Reseller
Valuable combination of ADC and WAN available
Pros and Cons
  • "The combination of ADC and WAN is the most valuable feature."
  • "There is room for improvement in the user interface."

What is our primary use case?

The use case for F5 includes ADC, WAF (Web Application Firewall), network firewall, and CGNAT in one platform.

What is most valuable?

The combination of ADC and WAN is the most valuable feature. 

What needs improvement?

F5 is a bit expensive in comparison. Moreover, there is room for improvement in the user interface. It can be more user-friendly. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. I would rate it a ten out of ten. There are over 50 users in our organization using the solution. Mostly the manager and the person in charge use this solution, but we usually work with the security and network teams as well.

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support team is quite good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite complex. It took us around one to two months to deploy the solution. 

What about the implementation team?

For the deployment process, we have to perform an assessment because it's quite complex. There are a lot of parameters that need to be counted before redeployment. So, an assessment is recommended before the deployment process.

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

We use the yearly-based license. I have personally not seen any additional costs. 

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend it. I would advise them to check their requirements thoroughly in order to load balancing and also to protect their data.

Overall, I would rate the F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager a ten out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
MahesaPutra - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales at Efficient IT Systems Ltd
Reseller
With good technical support in place, the tool also ensures stability and allows for scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
  • "The solution's initial setup process was quite complex. I"

What is our primary use case?

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) has EC, WAF, firewall, network firewall, and CGNAT in one platform.

What is most valuable?

I like the combination of ADC and WAN in the solution. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could be a bit better in regards to the pricing.

What needs improvement?

Kemp Loadmaster is cheaper compared to F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Also, the solution's UI needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution's scalability is good. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. Around 50-100 of our customers use the solution.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup process was quite complex. It took around a month to two for the deployment process.

Regarding the deployment process, we have to do an assessment first because it's very complex. There are so many parameters that we have to count the deployments. So, an assessment could be better before the deployment process. We have a manager and a person in charge of technical maintenance, but we usually talk to security and work with the network team.

What was our ROI?

Though I have not seen a return on investment, I can say that it is a good solution.

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

Our company pays for the licensing cost on a yearly basis. Also, there are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

What other advice do I have?

Before choosing the solution, I suggest others check their requirements to ensure work and protect your data. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
UmeshKumar2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Excellent application security and data collection
Pros and Cons
  • "LTM's most valuable features include application security, data collection, and parameter-level rules."
  • "LTM would be improved with the inclusion of signature-based blocking."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use LTM to protect applications.

What is most valuable?

LTM's most valuable features include application security, data collection, and parameter-level rules. 

What needs improvement?

LTM would be improved with the inclusion of signature-based blocking. In the next release, LTM should include the ability to configure account details and access user logs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using LTM for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

LTM is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

LTM is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward, so long as you have some understanding of the solution, and it should take around forty-five minutes. However, if you're unfamiliar with LTM, it will take longer.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend LTM to other users and give it a rating of nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
UzochikwaEnunwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise architect at Kyndryl
Real User
Improves the resilience and quality of the application but needs more data granularity
Pros and Cons
  • "F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) improves the resilience and quality of the application itself, the speed and the user experience for the application. The data that the users need from the application is actually acquired faster. So, it provides faster data acquisition."
  • "It would be good to have better traffic and better data. It would be nice to have more granularity to see packets in terms of the header details, the analytics, etc. It would be nice if that was also part of it and to have analytics added to the traffic."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for server management and application traffic, that is, to load balance between traffic for applications coming from their service. Users coming in are then able to have their traffic go to the service that has the suitable resources or adequate resources.

What is most valuable?

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) improves the resilience and quality of the application itself, the speed and the user experience for the application. The data that the users need from the application is actually acquired faster. So, it provides faster data acquisition.

It also provides lower latency.

What needs improvement?

It would be good to have better traffic and better data. It would be nice to have more granularity to see packets in terms of the header details, the analytics, etc. It would be nice if that was also part of it and to have analytics added to the traffic.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is pretty stable. It's one of the most stable products that I know, when it comes to load balancing and traffic.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. We have thousands of users.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is top notch.

How was the initial setup?

It is pretty easy to set up.

Because there were other parties involved, the deployment took us about a week. Normally, it takes a couple of hours.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise you to go for it because it's one of the top three solutions in my opinion. I would rate it at seven 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
Hilman Gunawan - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at PT Nusantara Compnet Integrator
Real User
Has good support and valuable load balancing features
Pros and Cons
    • "To improve the product, they could add more load balancing solutions in Kubernetes."

    What is our primary use case?

    Currently, we use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager as our traffic management solution. As a consultant, it is project-based with my clients rather than hands-on. Our clients use the solution to load balance their current application server in the DMZ and also in the data center.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of the F5 BIG-IP LTM solution is load balancing.

    What needs improvement?

    To improve the product, they could add more load balancing solutions in Kubernetes.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP LTM for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP is a stable solution. It is quite mature and does not have many concerns.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is good. We use it for active and passive, and we also do some TCMP.

    How are customer service and support?

    I would rate technical support a four out of five. Their support is quite good, however, they could be a bit more responsive and react faster to requests.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

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

    The biggest concern for my clients is the pricing.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Before choosing F5 BIG-IP, we compared the product with other vendors. We chose F5 BIG because of its technical support as well as its documentation. Their knowledge base is easy to read and access to information is available on their website. It is a complete product for an ADC solution. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate the solution an eight out of ten and recommend this solution to users that are looking to use it.

    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: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Md. Robiul Awoul - PeerSpot reviewer
    Deputy manager at Oculin Tech
    Real User
    Top 20
    Helpful support, reliable, but implementation could be easier
    Pros and Cons
    • "I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to be stable."
    • "There are not very many areas for improvement, but the price is high."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for the web application firewall and a load balancing system. We are using it in a government project.

    What needs improvement?

    There are not very many areas for improvement, but the price is high.

    For how long have I used the solution?

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

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to be stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is a scalable solution.

    We have approximately nine people using this solution in my organization.

    How are customer service and support?

    We have only opened up two support tickets with the support and on both occasions, they provided a good service.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup of the F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) was complex and could be made easier. The full process took approximately three weeks.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used consultants for the implementation of the solution. 

    We have 10 to 12 managers supporting this solution.

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

    The price of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is too high.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) a seven 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
    PeerSpot user
    Lead Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Vendor
    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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    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: June 2025
    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.