Centralized policies have strengthened application security and streamline load balancing
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is application delivery and security, primarily for load balancing and Layer 7 (application-layer) protection of web applications.
We use it to distribute traffic across multiple backend servers to ensure high availability, performance optimization, and zero single point of failure. On the security side, we use it to protect applications from common web threats such as SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), CSRF, brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks, bot traffic, malicious scanners, and Layer 7 DDoS floods.
Additionally, we leverage BIG-IP VE for:
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SSL/TLS offloading and inspection to reduce server load
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Persistence/session management (cookie / source IP) for stable user sessions
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Health monitoring to automatically detect failures and route traffic to healthy nodes
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Traffic visibility and logging for troubleshooting, compliance, and faster incident response
Overall, it has been a reliable solution for improving application uptime, security posture, and user experience in production environments.
How has it helped my organization?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition has had a very positive impact on our organization by improving application delivery, availability, and overall service stability. It has helped us ensure high uptime by distributing traffic across multiple servers and automatically routing users to healthy backend resources through effective health monitoring.
It also enhanced application performance through optimized load balancing and SSL offloading, which reduced server load and improved response times for end users. From an operational perspective, it has saved significant time for our team by providing better traffic visibility, faster troubleshooting, and centralized control, which reduced downtime and improved incident response.
Overall, BIG-IP VE has strengthened our application environment by delivering reliable performance, better availability, and faster service delivery with improved efficiency.
What is most valuable?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition’s best features are load balancing, high availability, and Layer 7 security. It keeps applications running smoothly by distributing traffic, provides failover to avoid downtime, and protects web apps from attacks like SQL injection, XSS, bots, and brute-force attempts. On top of that, the monitoring and visibility are very helpful. It makes troubleshooting faster and saves a lot of time for the operations team. Overall, it’s a reliable solution that improves performance, security, and availability at the same time.
What needs improvement?
I believe F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved in terms of pricing and licensing transparency.
However, customers who purchase through authorized partners may receive better pricing and licensing options, as it largely depends on the partner’s capability and commercial offering.
From a pricing perspective, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is somewhat high compared to others, and the licensing is provided as annual-based licenses rather than perpetual licenses.
There are some issue we are faced we are getting clear kb article
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for the last 3.5 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes, it is very stable solution you can as so far on your own requirement
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is highly scalable. You can scale it by increasing CPU/RAM resources, adding more backend pool members, and deploying additional VE instances in HA or clustered designs. It works well for growing traffic demands as long as proper sizing and licensing are planned.
How are customer service and support?
yes we are supporting customer in deployment and providing technical services to all our customers
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before using F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition, we were using Citrix NetScaler.
How was the initial setup?
it's less complex from others
What about the implementation team?
Yes, we used a local reseller and system integrator for the deployment, and the overall experience was very good. They supported us with licensing, sizing recommendations, and end-to-end implementation, and ensured a smooth rollout with proper configuration and post-deployment support.
What was our ROI?
Yes, we have seen a positive ROI with F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. It improved application uptime and availability through load balancing and health monitoring, which reduced service outages. It also saved operational time by enabling faster troubleshooting and centralized traffic control, and reduced backend server load through SSL offloading, resulting in better performance with fewer escalations and less downtime.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing and licensing for F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition are generally on the higher side compared to other ADC solutions. Setup cost mainly depends on the required modules and sizing. Licensing is mostly subscription-based (annual/term), and if the evaluation license expires, some LTM features can be disabled, so license monitoring is important.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Citrix ADC (NetScaler) before choosing F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. Both are strong ADC solutions for load balancing and application delivery, but we found some key differences.
F5 BIG-IP VE vs Citrix ADC (NetScaler) – Pros & Cons
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Very strong LTM load balancing and traffic management
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Mature Layer 7 security and policy control (especially with iRules and security profiles)
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Excellent stability and performance in enterprise environments
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Strong monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting visibility
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Better flexibility for advanced customization and complex use cases
❌ F5 BIG-IP VE – Cons
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Licensing and pricing can be higher compared to alternatives
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Requires skilled resources for advanced configurations (iRules, policies, security tuning)
✅ Citrix ADC – Pros
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Good load balancing and application optimization
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Often seen as cost-effective depending on licensing and bundles
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Works well in environments heavily based on Citrix virtualization / VDI
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Strong GUI-based configuration for standard use cases
❌ Citrix ADC – Cons
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Advanced customization and troubleshooting can be less flexible compared to F5
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Some enterprises find F5 more stable for high-complexity deployments
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Security/policy tuning may require more effort depending on the environment
Summary
Overall, we selected F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition because it provided better application availability, stronger traffic control, and more reliable performance for our production requirements.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition 9/10 overall.
Advice: Plan the sizing and licensing properly, deploy it in HA (Active/Standby) for high availability, and monitor license validity (especially EV licenses) to avoid any service impact. If configured correctly, it delivers excellent load balancing, application availability, and Layer 7 security.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Secure and reliable
What do you like best about the product?
It's stable, quality solution for a secure connection to your business network. The user interface is intuitive and not so complicated. But most of the time you'll need the integrator's help to set the policy as required
What do you dislike about the product?
The policy is a bit complex to understand at first you'll need guidance in your first steps but once you practiced a few times it'll be simpler
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Secure virtual connection for remote business users, secure external connection for vendors and costumers
ADC by F5
What do you like best about the product?
It is compatible with almost all platforms like VMware, Hyper-V, KVM etc. It is also compatible with cloud environments - AWS, Azure, and Google. At first glance it may seem difficult to implement, integrate and further use, but it has a fairly intuitive interface and after a little training, it is quite easy to implement and further use. Due to the fact that the system is modular, it is possible to use its capabilities and adapt it to specific requirements.
What do you dislike about the product?
The price of licenses and continuous maintenance is not pleasing to the heart. While this product is an important cybersecurity tool for businesses of any size, it may not be affordable for small and medium-sized organizations.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Load Balancing and Traffic Management is the main future for me which solves the issue of distribution network traffic across multiple servers
Maximizing Network Efficiency and Security
What do you like best about the product?
It excels in its robust load balancing capabilities and comprehensive security features, ensuring efficient traffic management and protection against web-based threats. It has many features to highlight. Traffic Management,Security, Access and Authorization, Performance Optimization,Programmability, and Cloud-Ready are some it's key features.
What do you dislike about the product?
It is complex and challenging to set up, and its higher cost may be a significant barrier for smaller organizations or those with limited IT budgets. However, organizations with specialized IT personnel or access to F5 support and training, implementation can be managed effectively
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It addresses critical network challenges like uneven traffic distribution and security vulnerabilities, providing efficient load balancing and robust security measures. This benefits users by enhancing network performance and reliability, while also safeguarding against potential cyber threats.
TRUE POLICY MANAGER IN WAF INDUSTRY
What do you like best about the product?
We can easily integrate with existing F5 device
What do you dislike about the product?
Reporting functionalities are very limited
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Policy pushing across F5 ASM Devices
Indeed it was good experience to deploy F5 VE in Cloud, great flexibility!
What do you like best about the product?
F5 VE in Azure deployment experience illustrated Flexibility and scalability!
What do you dislike about the product?
different approaches for HA and failover configuration in the cloud
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
F5 VE is used to solve problems wherein application hardcoding to route via LBs, no direct server to server communications. cascading flows via LB
