Our primary use case for this solution is as an alternative for ADT. We work with standard enterprise customers because this product is not affordable for the SME, it's not a cheap solution. We are partners with F5 and I'm a pre-sales and technical executive.
Senior solution architect at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Very dependable and stable in its market category
Pros and Cons
- "iRule feature is useful."
- "Reporting could be improved and configuration made easier."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the iRule.
What needs improvement?
The reporting could be improved and I'd also like to see the UI adjusted to make configuration easier. There are some things in the F5 configuration that are complicated.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for 16 years in total, continuously for the last seven years.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
November 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: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I think this solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
Compared to other solutions, the technical support is not very user friendly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously worked with Fortinet which is a much more reasonably priced solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is somewhat more complex than you would find in other solutions. Implementation can be completed in a couple of days but in terms of the configuration firewall of the product, for any application it will take a minimum of 15 days and up to a month.
What other advice do I have?
If a company wants a good solution and has the money for it, I would recommend F5.
I would rate this solution an eight out of 10.
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
Associate Systems Engineer at Frontline Education
You can manipulate the iRules, so you can send traffic to different avenues
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is being able to manipulate the iRules, so you can send traffic to different avenues."
- "The auto logout feature after three minutes is terrible. I wish they would make that longer, since it is not a feature that we can change."
What is our primary use case?
We use it as a load balancer.
How has it helped my organization?
We have always used it and never had any issues with it.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is being able to manipulate the iRules, so you can send traffic to different avenues.
What needs improvement?
The auto logout feature after three minutes is terrible. I wish they would make that longer, since it is not a feature that we can change.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It contributes to our traffic by about fifty percent. That's why we love it. We have never had any issues.
We put a lot of stress on our F5 on-premise. We have support, which is great. It is a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have over 12 applications that we use it for with about 300 servers which are connected up using this load balancer.
We're a big company. We do like the on-premise version. However, we are looking into AWS servers to help us scale for larger avenues as well.
How is customer service and technical support?
We reached out to the technical support a few times, and they are great. They are a ten out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The integration and configuration are great. When I need to make changes, I have been fine.
We are currently using the Terraform Infrastructure as Code. Therefore, we are using the F5 provider to create new nodes, pools, and purchase servers, and the integration has been seamless for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are going to the AWS Marketplace because purchasing there is simple to do. We are looking for the ease it provides. We have tried other providers, but it wasn't as good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate anything else.
What other advice do I have?
Take advantage of it and use it.
We use the on-premise version of this product. We are looking into moving over to the AWS version.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
November 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: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Security Consultant at Westcon-Comstor
Good load balancing capability and the proxy features give you full control over your traffic
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the proxy."
- "If they made it easier for engineers to get F5 training then it would be better."
What is our primary use case?
We are a solution provider and this is one of the products that we implement for our clients.
Some of our clients use it as a load balancer. It can also be used as a web application firewall to protect your web-based applications from attacks.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the proxy. It is set up as a reverse proxy in front of the server. This feature allows me to do anything with the traffic, such as inspecting it. Most other solutions don't provide you with this capability.
This solution allows you to write scripts that can run on F5 devices. These scripts can be used to monitor traffic and look for keywords, and then perform a corresponding action such as blocking or allowing the request, or giving the user an error.
Big IP supports load balancing from network layer four up to layer seven.
What needs improvement?
More training should be available to customers. There is a guide that is available on the internet, but the training is not as good as others, such as Cisco. While F5 does have a big market share, it is not easy to find a well-training F5 engineer. If they made it easier for engineers to get F5 training then it would be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with F5 BIG-IP for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product is very stable. I have seen some instability with newly released versions, so I normally wait for a stable release before I upgrade an older one.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have often been in touch with technical support and most of the time they are good. The response time is usually about one hour, although if it is a priority one issue then they will respond within 40 minutes at the maximum.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. If the analysis is already complete then it should only take five or ten minutes to deploy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When you purchase the virtual edition or the hardware, it comes with the base license. There are additional costs depending on what modules or what functionality is required.
What other advice do I have?
I consider F5 to be my network within my network because the traffic has to go through it. This includes things like the load balancer.
My advice for anybody who is implementing this solution is to learn and understand the architecture of the device. It will do very well for you if you understand it.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Distributor
Head of IT Infrastructure and Security Operations at United Arab Bank
Very stable and scalable with the application firewall a valuable feature
Pros and Cons
- "Good application firewall."
- "It's a very expensive solution."
What is our primary use case?
We mainly use this solution for application delivery and application security - the product is used on a daily basis. We are partners of F5 and I'm the head of IT infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
The application firewall is a very good feature.
What needs improvement?
The policies management could be improved, that's why I'm doing a comparison of other solutions. This is also a very expensive solution.
I'd like to see external loading included as part of the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable overall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
Deployment time depends on the size of the organization. In some places it takes a week or two; in others it can take three months. There is very little maintenance required but if necessary we do it ourselves. We do upgrades ourselves and maybe rely on technical support once a year.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Everything is included in the license fee but it's a very expensive solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of 10. If it were less expensive I'd rate it higher.
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
Senior Network and Security Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
It's like a Swiss Army knife, and you can scale it horizontally or vertically as much as you want
Pros and Cons
- "BIG-IP can do anything. It's like a Swiss Army knife."
- "BIG-IP LTM is taking a long time to mature in cloud environments. They plan to improve cloud integration in the next version, but it isn't out yet. It's essential because more companies are moving to the cloud these days and using things like Kubernetes or microservices. F5 needs to improve in that direction, and they are."
What is our primary use case?
BIG-IP has multiple uses, including VPN, application firewall, and load balancing.
What is most valuable?
BIG-IP can do anything. It's like a Swiss Army knife.
What needs improvement?
BIG-IP LTM is taking a long time to mature in cloud environments. They plan to improve cloud integration in the next version, but it isn't out yet. It's essential because more companies are moving to the cloud these days and using things like Kubernetes or microservices. F5 needs to improve in that direction, and they are.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used BIG-IP for about 15 years
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
BIG-IP LTM's hardware is stable, and the operating system is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
BIG-IP can scale horizontally or vertically because it's a blade system. If you need more hardware on the same appliance, you can put blades on it. They are a bit expensive but work fine. You can create a cluster if you want to scale horizontally and put any hardware you need on it. You can scale as much as you want.
How are customer service and support?
I rate F5 support seven out of 10. The response time is okay, but sometimes you have to explain your issue to multiple support engineers before it gets resolved. It's a common issue with most tech support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
Setting up BIG-IP LTM was complicated in the beginning, but it has gotten easier over time. The deployment time varies depending on your environment. You have to connect and activate the license, but the operating system and modules are pre-installed. The basic setup takes only an hour, but you might need to do some additional configuration.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
BIG-IP LTM is somewhat pricey for a small company with a limited budget.
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:
Deputy manager at Oculin Tech
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
Associate CSA at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Knowledgeable support, great stability, and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis. It is very user-friendly."
- "My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for internal traffic management and traffic load balancing. Its version is up to date.
What is most valuable?
Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis. It is very user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability has been great. I haven't had any issues with it in terms of downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable, especially in the cloud. On-prem, it may need additional licensing or an additional appliance. That depends on how large and what the use case is specifically for the customer.
How are customer service and support?
I'd evaluate their tech support as a five out of five. They are very knowledgeable. They have the answers, and if they don't, they're able to escalate and point us to the correct people or provide the correct literature.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I was not a part of the initial deployment or rollout. There are three people who are managing it and deploying it. They are system admins.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a little pricey. I wish the pricing was cheaper, but I wish the pricing was cheaper for everything.
What other advice do I have?
Make sure that you know how much traffic you're going to have coming through because that can affect whether you need a big box or a small box.
I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network & Telecom Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
A stable solution with useful web application firewall and load balancing features
Pros and Cons
- "It is stable."
- "Its scalability and deployment should be better. It should be more scalable, and it should be easier to deploy."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for web application firewall and load balancing features. We have its latest version.
What is most valuable?
It is stable.
What needs improvement?
Its scalability and deployment should be better. It should be more scalable, and it should be easier to deploy.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a couple of months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is not scalable. We have about 2,000 users in our organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't have any experience with their technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't use any other product.
How was the initial setup?
It is neither easy nor complex. It needs experience. Fortinet is easier to deploy than this.
What about the implementation team?
I did it myself. We have an IT team of 60 people.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. We plan to keep using it.
I would rate F5 BIG-IP an eight out of ten.
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.
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: November 2024
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