We use the solution for web application firewalls and VPNs. It could be your VPN concentrator, intelligent DNS, and load balancing.
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Used for for web application firewalls and it has DoS layer 7 protection
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
For public clouds like AWS in Azure, the solution can use AutoDiscovery to discover the members of the virtual machines in AWS and Azure based on their tagging mechanism. This way, when you add a new virtual machine, it will automatically be added to the Virtual Edition's post.
It has a web application firewall (WAF) module. It has to get web application security. It has DoS layer 7 protection, which not many vendors have. The solution also automatically builds the thresholds for DoS attacks so that you don't have to configure the DoS manually. You enable it with basic settings, and it's using machine learning to learn the baseline and detect DoS attacks.
What needs improvement?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is a heavy system that needs a lot of CPU, memory, and hard disk. Also, the solution's center management is not very well managed.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for seven to eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has been much more stable over the last few years because it's an old product, and its bugs were fixed.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good for a complex product like F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is easy because most bugs are fixed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price.
What other advice do I have?
We have deployed the solution on VMware, private cloud, and public cloud. F5 is going to release a new product, BIG-IP Next, which will be a new implementation of BIG-IP with many more features. BIG-IP Next is going to be more cloud-friendly because it's going to be based on containers.
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition has a scripting module. If something is not in the default functionality, you could always make a script that will solve your issue. Even if it's something that would take a week, you'll still be able to write a script to solve your custom use case. Most vendors don't have such scripting functionality.
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is worth it, but it's a complex solution that has many functions. Users may have to do some learning instead of using it straight away. The learning material is publicly available to learn, but it will take time.
The solution's integration is straightforward because it integrates well with others like Splunk. The solution's security functionality is one of the best for the on-premises device. Nowadays, the solution has integration with shared security.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Handles traffic spikes effectively and allows configuration of policy profiles across multiple layers for enhanced security
What is our primary use case?
We use it for two applications.
I've also used the Virtual Edition in the network core alongside the hardware appliances. I don't think there's any issue with either. Both seem to be working well simultaneously.
How has it helped my organization?
It's easy to integrate with others. I've integrated it with McAfee Solutions, Aruba NAC, and the EMS tool from Micro Focus.
It's easily manageable with various solutions.
What is most valuable?
I like the virtualization aspect, similar to what you get with cloud services or VMware.
What needs improvement?
I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC.
We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool.
So, Network Interface Connectors (NICs) need to be improved. More NICs would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for three months. I use the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues with scalability. Virtual Edition handles traffic spikes.
The main difference between the Virtual Edition and the hardware is that you run the F5 image on VMware or any other cloud platform. In my experience, I haven't faced any issues with scalability or manageability due to virtualization. It's been good.
In our IT department, no one uses the Virtual Edition for F5. However, our customers use the Virtual Edition.
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using the hardware initially because it was too expensive for our client. That's why they wanted to go with the BIG-IP Virtual Edition.
How was the initial setup?
There weren't any major issues with the deployment, but it wasn't completely seamless.
Virtual Edition required some additional work compared to hardware, like provisioning and sizing tasks.
However, once configured, it's easy to scale by increasing the VM size.
VM size adjustments weren't difficult, but it's not as straightforward as hardware deployment.
The deployment time depends on the configuration. It might take one day or one hour, depending on the number of applications that need to be configured.
What about the implementation team?
My company is a system integrator.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a yearly-based license. I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We had Redware and Palo Alto.
We had limitations in Redware with the number of virtual servers and tools. F5 doesn't have those limitations.
Plus, for security, we can configure policy profiles across layers 3, 4, 7, and even 2. F5 also has persistence and separate mechanisms for things like server acceleration.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend using this solution. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Has limitations on RAM and code but investment is less than a physical device
What is most valuable?
The tool's investment is less than a physical device.
What needs improvement?
The tool has limitations with respect to code and RAM.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for four to five months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is not as stable as a physical device. It has dependencies on the physical server as well.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is expensive. They offer advanced service only when you purchase a full solution.
How was the initial setup?
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition's deployment is complex. The deployment timeline can vary between 4 days to one week.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product a seven out of ten.
F5 is multipurpose platform for security solution
What do you like best about the product?
F5 as WAF is user friendly with multiple feature added with adding add on modules. Mitigating vulnerability is simple and processing time of application traffic is less compared to others.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing point of dislike still while using it.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
F5 can handle big time traffic and process and check for any threat in it.
F5 Advanced WAF
What do you like best about the product?
The simplicity of configuration is very good.the signature-based protection module is also very advanced.the web API is easy to understand and deploy in production newtwork.
What do you dislike about the product?
The interface could be better.more documentation should be available on best practices.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Protecting web applications in very secured manner.complete end to end security need, monitoring and protection against vary array of web based attacks. Mitigating security vulnerabilities.
WAF included great features with LTM for critical application like HR and other apps
What do you like best about the product?
LTM with WAF I also worked on GTM device which offers complete secure perform for DNS resolution.
What do you dislike about the product?
Every feature is great there is no doubts about F5 features which offer L4 to L7 security.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Analyzing threats and applying security policy in one click
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