F5 Configuring BIG-IP LTM: Local Traffic Manager
Course Overview
A web server stops responding at the busiest hour of the day. If nothing sits between users and that server, they see errors until someone notices. With BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager in front, a health monitor marks the server down, and new connections go to the pool members that are still healthy. This F5 BIG-IP LTM training teaches you to design that behavior deliberately.
The course is F5’s Configuring BIG-IP LTM: Local Traffic Manager, and availability runs through most of it. You learn how monitor types differ, how to customize an HTTP monitor so it checks real page content, and why monitoring a path is not the same as monitoring a device. Manual resume keeps a repaired server out of rotation until an administrator is ready to return it.
Load balancing design matters just as much. Priority group activation holds a group of servers in reserve and brings them in only when active members drop below a threshold. A fallback host gives users a sensible destination when an entire pool is down. Where a data center has more than one upstream link, path load balancing spreads traffic across gateways so losing one link doesn’t cut off the site.
You also cover persistence, SNATs, forwarding virtual servers, and TCP and HTTP profiles, all of which affect how traffic recovers when something breaks. Later chapters add iRules, local traffic policies, and LTM settings that help absorb SYN floods and other volumetric attacks.
The course opens with BIG-IP setup, licensing, and provisioning, then reviews nodes, pools, and virtual servers in the Configuration utility and TMSH. One point is worth knowing up front. Failover between two BIG-IP devices, using sync-failover device groups, is taught in Administering BIG-IP, the prerequisite course. Here, high availability is handled at the application and pool level, which is where many real outages start.
Course Objectives
After completing the course, participants can:
- Monitor application health at layers 3, 4, and 7, and customize HTTP and application check monitors.
- Configure priority group activation, fallback hosts, and manual resume to control how pools behave during failures.
- Apply path load balancing and forwarding virtual servers to route traffic through multiple gateways.
- Create a working BIG-IP baseline with licensing, provisioning, network settings, and a configuration archive.
- Choose suitable load balancing methods and explain member versus node load balancing.
- Customize session handling with cookie, SSL, universal, and destination address affinity persistence.
- Configure SNAT pools, SNAT listeners, and VIP bounceback handling.
- Tune TCP, HTTP, and OneConnect profiles, and enable compression and caching.
- Protect applications from SYN floods and common HTTP threats using iRules, local traffic policies, and LTM settings.
Prior Knowledge
Students must complete one of the following F5 prerequisites before attending this course:
- Administering BIG-IP (instructor-led training)
- F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator
- Administering BIG-IP Equivalency Assessment
The following free Self-Directed Training (SDT) courses, although optional, are helpful for any student with limited BIG-IP administration and configuration experience:
- Getting Started with BIG-IP
- Getting Started with Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
General network technology knowledge and experience are recommended before attending any F5 Global Training Services instructor-led course, including OSI model encapsulation, routing and switching, Ethernet and ARP, TCP/IP concepts, IP addressing and subnetting, NAT and private IP addressing, NAT and private IP addressing, default gateway, network firewalls, and LAN vs. WAN.
Prospective students should have a basic understanding of BIG-IP local traffic concepts, including virtual servers, pools, health monitors, and profiles. Familiarity with web application delivery, the TCP and HTTP protocols, and TLS/SSL is also suggested.
Target Audience
- F5 BIG-IP administrators: Go beyond day-one administration into the LTM features used in production.
- Network engineers: Understand how SNATs, VLANs, and route domains fit BIG-IP into your network.
- Application delivery engineers: Get precise control over persistence, profiles, and traffic customization.
- Load balancing specialists: Compare load balancing methods and monitor designs in detail.
- Systems and server administrators: See how BIG-IP decides whether your servers receive traffic.
- Data center and infrastructure specialists: Plan how LTM sits within multi-tier, multi-site designs.
- Network operations staff: Read statistics and monitor status to diagnose problems faster.
- DevOps and platform engineers: Use TMSH, iRules, and local traffic policies to automate and customize delivery.
- Teams planning a BIG-IP LTM deployment: Learn the design decisions before they become production problems.
Course Content
4 modules · 12 topics01Module 1: Building on Local Traffic Basics3 topics
- Load Balancing Local Traffic
- Processing Traffic with Different Virtual Server Types
- Processing Traffic with Source Network Address Translation (SNAT)
02Module 2: Monitoring Application Delivery Health3 topics
- Managing Local Traffic Monitors
- Expanding Local Traffic Monitor Scope and Functionality
- Customizing Content Check and Application Check Monitors
03Module 4: Modifying Local Traffic Behavior with Profiles and Persistence4 topics
- Modifying Local Traffic Behavior with Profiles
- Optimizing TCP Network Traffic
- Working with Services Profiles
- Working with Persistence Profiles
04Module 4: Additional BIG-IP Deployment Options2 topics
- Customizing Application Delivery with Local Traffic iRules
- Customizing Application Delivery with Local Traffic Policies
Schedule Dates
4 upcoming batches| Batch Dates | Duration | Batch Options | Language | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 December 2026 - 23 December 2026 | 3 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 22 March 2027 - 24 March 2027 | 3 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 28 June 2027 - 30 June 2027 | 3 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic | |
| 04 October 2027 - 06 October 2027 | 3 Days | 4 hours & 8 hours | English / Arabic |
Can’t find a suitable date? Request a schedule that fits your team.
Request More InformationWhy F5 BIG-IP LTM Training in Saudi Arabia Matters
Vision 2030 has moved a large share of government, banking, and telecom services online, and each of those services depends on traffic reaching a healthy server every time. That is the core of this F5 BIG-IP LTM training in Saudi Arabia. Engineers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam who manage BIG-IP for banks, energy companies, and public agencies need to know how monitors, persistence, and SNATs behave under real load, not just how to complete the setup screens. The course’s chapter on securing application delivery with LTM also complements the wider security work many Saudi organizations do under the National Cybersecurity Authority’s Essential Cybersecurity Controls. Our F5 LTM course for Riyadh and Jeddah teams builds on the Administering BIG-IP course, and you can compare it with our other F5 BIG-IP training options. If you’re planning BIG-IP load balancing training for a whole team, download the detailed LTM course outline or speak with our training advisors about the right starting point.
FAQs
What does the Configuring BIG-IP LTM course teach?
It teaches you to configure and manage BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager as it is commonly deployed in production networks. The course is F5’s official LTM class and follows Administering BIG-IP. It covers load balancing, persistence, health monitors, virtual server types, SNATs, profiles, VLANs, route domains, iRules, and local traffic policies, with hands-on labs in each area.
How does BIG-IP LTM keep an application online, and where does the course cover this?
LTM keeps applications online by sending traffic only to servers that pass their health checks. The course covers this in its chapters on monitoring and load balancing, including custom HTTP monitors, priority group activation, fallback hosts, and manual resume. Persistence, SNAT, and profile chapters then show how sessions and connections behave when a server leaves or rejoins a pool.
Is this course suitable for my role?
It suits you if you configure or support BIG-IP LTM in any capacity. F5 aims it at system and network administrators responsible for installing, configuring, and administering LTM. Application delivery engineers, network operations staff, and DevOps engineers who change BIG-IP settings will also benefit, especially in organizations running high-traffic customer-facing services.
Which hands-on abilities will I build?
You will build the ability to design pools and monitors that handle failure gracefully. In labs, you configure load balancing methods, monitors at several layers, persistence profiles, SNAT pools, and TCP and HTTP profiles. You also write iRules and local traffic policies, then confirm each change through local traffic statistics, the Configuration utility, and TMSH.
Will I be F5 certified after the course?
No. Training alone does not grant F5 certification. To become certified, you must pass the relevant F5 exams separately. F5 Certified Administrator, BIG-IP requires five exams: F5CAB1 to F5CAB5. The F5 Certified Technology Specialist, BIG-IP LTM requires exams 301a and 301b, with the administrator certification as a prerequisite. The course content relates to LTM topics but is not tied to one exam.
Why are health monitoring and persistence so important for busy applications?
They protect users from failures they should never see. A health monitor removes a failing server before it returns errors to customers. Persistence keeps a user on the same server when the application stores session data locally. Combined with sensible load balancing, these settings mean one server failure affects capacity rather than causing a visible outage.
How might this course support my career in Saudi Arabia?
It builds practical, in-depth LTM skills that are directly useful in organizations running BIG-IP in production. Stronger configuration and troubleshooting skills can help you take on more responsibility for application delivery. The course does not guarantee a job, promotion, or salary change. Those outcomes depend on your experience and your employer’s needs.
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