F5 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

What You’ll Learn

Begin your journey by exploring what application delivery means in a modern IT environment. You’ll discover how applications function across distributed systems and how application performance and availability are affected by network architecture. Learn about the evolution of application delivery, how ADCs improve the user experience, and where F5 fits into the overall ecosystem of enterprise technology.

This module lays the foundation by introducing key terms and explaining the importance of secure and optimized delivery in cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments.

Course Overview

As organizations rapidly shift toward digital-first operations, ensuring the seamless, secure, and efficient delivery of applications is critical. Businesses rely heavily on robust application delivery infrastructures to maintain uptime, support user demand, and deliver fast, reliable services across global networks. F5 Networks is a leader in this space, offering industry-standard solutions that empower IT teams to optimize, manage, and secure application traffic effectively.

The F5 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals course provides a solid entry point into the world of application delivery technologies, focusing on how F5 solutions address real-world challenges in networking, load balancing, traffic control, and cybersecurity. Whether you’re aiming to strengthen your current skills, earn F5 certifications, or enter the field of application delivery, this course equips you with the theoretical understanding and hands-on experience necessary to succeed.

Through structured lessons, real-world examples, configuration labs, and practice tests, you’ll learn how to work with F5’s BIG-IP platform, explore core concepts behind application delivery controllers (ADCs), and build the confidence to deploy secure, scalable, and high-performing application environments.

As businesses adopt hybrid cloud strategies and move critical applications closer to users and edge locations, the need for consistent and intelligent traffic management becomes more pressing. Application Delivery Controllers like those from F5 are vital to ensuring not only availability and performance but also security. This course will help you understand how F5 solutions provide a centralized, policy-driven approach to managing application traffic, helping IT teams enforce compliance, accelerate content delivery, and protect against evolving threats.

The course is ideal for individuals working in enterprise IT, managed service providers, government networks, or any infrastructure supporting web applications at scale. It is equally beneficial for DevOps professionals looking to integrate application delivery within their automation pipelines, and security teams wanting to leverage application-level defense mechanisms.

One of the core advantages of this course is its balance of concept and execution. You'll not only explore why application delivery is essential and how F5 fits into the equation but also gain step-by-step knowledge on how to perform key configurations. From setting up a basic load balancer to configuring SSL offloading and web application firewalls, the course emphasizes a hands-on approach to learning.

You will work with simulation environments and configuration walkthroughs to reinforce what you learn in the theory modules. Topics such as persistence, SSL termination, TCP optimization, application health monitoring, and high availability setups are covered in a practical and applicable way. Whether you're learning how to set up a virtual server, create traffic policies, or troubleshoot application failures, the course gives you the practical skills that translate directly to real-world IT operations.

By the end of this course, you’ll have more than just familiarity with F5 terminology and tools. You’ll be able to confidently contribute to conversations around architecture decisions, troubleshoot performance and delivery issues, and lead implementation tasks in your organization or team. You will also be prepared to sit for the F5 101 certification exam, the first step in a broader F5 certification pathway that includes advanced design and deployment roles.

This course doesn’t just prepare you for a test—it prepares you for the evolving demands of modern IT environments. As more organizations transition to microservices, containerized apps, and cloud-native deployments, understanding the role of application delivery becomes even more critical. With F5’s integrations into Kubernetes environments, API gateways, and modern CI/CD systems, your knowledge from this course will stay relevant as technology trends continue to shift.

Whether you are looking to expand your current skill set, change your career direction, or improve your value in the job market, this course lays the groundwork for long-term success in the field of application delivery. The knowledge gained here will be applicable across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments—giving you the flexibility to work in any IT setup.

Enroll in F5 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals today to build your technical foundation, develop real-world skills, and gain a critical edge in today’s technology-driven world.

Understanding F5 BIG-IP Architecture

A critical part of mastering application delivery is understanding the core platform that powers it. At the heart of F5’s technology stack is the BIG-IP system—an advanced and flexible platform designed to deliver and secure applications across complex IT environments. The BIG-IP architecture is engineered for high performance, scalability, and adaptability, making it suitable for everything from small-scale deployments to enterprise-grade, mission-critical infrastructure.

BIG-IP is a software-based application delivery controller (ADC) that can run on purpose-built hardware, in virtual environments, or in the cloud. Its modular design allows organizations to deploy only the functionalities they need, while still maintaining a centralized control plane for efficient management. At its core, BIG-IP provides traffic management, but its true power lies in the additional modules that extend its capabilities far beyond simple load balancing.

One of the foundational elements of BIG-IP is the Traffic Management Operating System (TMOS). TMOS is the proprietary operating system developed by F5, which provides a unified and secure environment for managing traffic, running services, and enabling high availability. TMOS abstracts complex networking functions and provides a powerful traffic management engine that operates across layers 2 through 7 of the OSI model. This gives administrators deep control over how traffic is processed, optimized, secured, and delivered.

The platform is composed of several key modules, each focused on solving specific operational and security challenges. These modules can be licensed and deployed independently or combined for a more integrated solution:

• Local Traffic Manager (LTM):
  This is the core module that handles intelligent load balancing, traffic steering, health monitoring, and SSL offloading. LTM ensures high availability of applications by distributing traffic based on performance, server health, and defined policies. It supports advanced routing, application persistence, and deep visibility into session-level data.
  
  

• Global Traffic Manager (GTM), now called DNS:
  GTM is responsible for global server load balancing across data centers or cloud regions. It uses DNS-based redirection, health checks, and geolocation awareness to direct users to the most optimal data center. This is especially useful for enterprises operating in multiple regions with distributed infrastructure.
  
  

• Application Security Manager (ASM):
  ASM is a web application firewall (WAF) that protects applications from threats like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), bot attacks, and OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities. ASM uses signature-based detection, behavioral learning, and customizable security policies to shield web applications from known and unknown threats.
  
  

• Access Policy Manager (APM):
  APM provides secure access control for users and devices. It supports Single Sign-On (SSO), identity federation, VPN access, and policy-based access enforcement. This module is widely used in environments requiring centralized identity integration with services like Active Directory, LDAP, SAML, and OAuth.
  
  

• Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):
  AFM is a high-performance, full-proxy network firewall designed to protect the data center from DDoS attacks, IP threats, and protocol-based exploits. It offers granular control over access policies and works seamlessly with other BIG-IP modules for holistic protection.
  
  

• SSL Orchestrator (SSLO):
  This module enables secure inspection of SSL/TLS traffic by decrypting, steering, and re-encrypting traffic through various security inspection devices. It is especially valuable in zero-trust environments where encrypted threats need to be intercepted and scanned without degrading performance.

These modules are not standalone tools—they are designed to work in synergy. For example, combining LTM and ASM allows organizations to not only distribute traffic intelligently but also to inspect and secure the traffic being processed. Similarly, integrating APM with GTM enhances user access decisions based on geographic or identity-aware policies.

Another powerful feature of the BIG-IP platform is iRules, a scripting language that allows administrators to write custom logic for traffic manipulation. With iRules, traffic can be redirected, modified, filtered, or analyzed in real time. This level of programmability makes BIG-IP one of the most flexible traffic management platforms in the market.

BIG-IP also supports iApps, which are application templates that simplify the deployment of complex applications by bundling configuration settings, policies, and monitoring into reusable packages. This greatly reduces the time and complexity involved in deploying business-critical services like Microsoft Exchange, SAP, and Oracle.

The architecture supports both hardware-based appliances—using custom-built F5 devices with high throughput—as well as virtual editions (VE) that run on VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, or in public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. This flexibility enables organizations to scale their application delivery infrastructure without being locked into a specific environment.

High availability is also a fundamental feature of the BIG-IP architecture. The system supports device clustering, state synchronization, and automatic failover mechanisms that ensure services remain online even if one or more nodes go down. Administrators can set up active-standby or active-active configurations, replicating session and configuration data across devices to maintain continuity.

In summary, the F5 BIG-IP platform is not just a single product—it is a suite of interconnected technologies that together provide comprehensive control over how applications are delivered and protected. Understanding its modular architecture and how these components interact allows IT professionals to build scalable, secure, and intelligent application delivery infrastructures.

As you progress through this course, you will explore how to deploy and manage each of these modules, examine the technical considerations for choosing the right combination for your environment, and apply your knowledge through hands-on labs and configuration scenarios.

Networking Fundamentals for F5

A strong grasp of networking is essential for working with F5 technologies. This section reviews critical networking concepts and protocols including IP addressing, TCP/UDP, HTTP/HTTPS, DNS, and SSL/TLS. You’ll also study how routing, subnetting, NAT, and firewalling interact with application delivery.

Discover how F5 technologies rely on these fundamentals to intelligently route, encrypt, and manage application traffic. By reinforcing your networking knowledge, you’ll be better prepared to configure, troubleshoot, and optimize BIG-IP systems.

Configuring and Managing BIG-IP Systems

With a solid foundation in place, this module takes you into practical F5 configurations. You’ll learn how to install and set up BIG-IP systems, navigate both the web-based interface and CLI, and create configurations for virtual servers, pools, and nodes. Explore how to manage SSL certificates, create traffic profiles, apply monitors, and interpret logs.

Hands-on exercises reinforce how to apply configuration settings, fine-tune traffic flows, and secure applications using basic F5 tools and best practices.

Load Balancing Strategies

Load balancing plays a crucial role in application delivery. In this module, you will examine how different load balancing algorithms distribute traffic across servers to maximize performance and availability. Learn the differences between round-robin, least connections, and ratio-based methods. Gain an understanding of session persistence, health checks, and fallback mechanisms.

This section also includes configuration scenarios that show how to apply load balancing strategies to different types of applications and traffic loads in production environments.

Enhancing Application Security

Security is tightly integrated into F5’s platform, and this course explores the various security tools and features available to administrators. Learn how to perform SSL offloading, use ASM to block malicious traffic, configure IP reputation filters, and apply DoS protection mechanisms.

Study how F5 technologies mitigate OWASP Top 10 threats and explore how to define custom security rules. Security is covered not only from a configuration standpoint but also from a policy and risk management perspective.

Performance Optimization and Monitoring

Ensuring fast, responsive applications requires proactive monitoring and performance tuning. In this section, you’ll explore the different performance optimization features within BIG-IP. Learn how to use analytics tools, enable caching, configure compression, and minimize latency.

You will also learn how to set up alerts, analyze real-time traffic, monitor system health, and identify patterns that may indicate poor performance or developing issues. This skill set will be critical in maintaining high service quality over time.

High Availability and Failover

Mission-critical applications require always-on infrastructure. This module introduces you to high availability (HA) features within the BIG-IP environment. Learn how to create HA pairs, implement active-standby and active-active configurations, and sync configurations between devices.

Explore device groups, failover conditions, and the role of traffic groups. With hands-on exercises, you’ll practice configuring automatic failover to maintain service continuity even in case of device failure or network outage.

Real-World Labs and Practical Scenarios

To ensure learners can apply what they’ve learned, the course includes labs that replicate real-world environments. These scenarios provide opportunities to configure BIG-IP systems, troubleshoot common issues, and apply best practices across load balancing, security, and traffic management use cases.

Each lab is designed to simulate typical IT operations and challenges, helping you build problem-solving skills in a controlled setting.

Preparing for F5 Certification

The final section of the course is dedicated to certification preparation. Learn about the F5 certification track, with a focus on the 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals exam. Get guidance on exam structure, key topic areas, question formats, and study strategies.

By the end of the course, you will have the knowledge, practical experience, and confidence to take the certification exam and begin advancing through the F5 certification pathway.

Why Take This Course?

This course was created for individuals seeking real, practical knowledge in application delivery using F5 technologies. Whether you want to strengthen your technical expertise, enhance your job prospects, or prepare for certification, the course offers an all-in-one learning solution.

Here’s what makes this course valuable:

• A complete introduction to F5 BIG-IP and its modules
  
  

• Practical labs that simulate real-world usage
  
  

• Lifetime access and learning at your own pace
  
  

• Aligned with certification goals and career growth
  
  

• Clear explanations that make complex topics accessible

Who Is This Course Designed For?

This course is suitable for a wide range of learners with various levels of experience:

Network Engineers and Administrators
Gain hands-on skills with BIG-IP systems and understand how to configure and manage traffic to ensure maximum uptime and network reliability.

System Administrators
Learn to integrate F5 solutions into enterprise environments and optimize performance while reducing infrastructure complexity.

IT Managers and Decision-Makers
Understand how F5 solutions support business goals and learn to evaluate application delivery strategies and oversee deployments.

Aspiring F5 Certified Professionals
If you’re on the path to certification, this course prepares you with structured content aligned to the F5 101 exam.

Developers and DevOps Engineers
Explore how to incorporate application delivery into CI/CD workflows and ensure performance and security during application deployments.

Cybersecurity Analysts
Study F5’s role in application protection and learn to implement defensive configurations using ASM, SSL, and other security features.

Students and Entry-Level IT Professionals
Start your career with a clear understanding of application delivery concepts and gain hands-on experience that employers are looking for.

IT Teams and Consultants
Improve service offerings and internal capabilities by training teams on the latest F5 technologies and industry best practices.

Key Course Features

• 6 practice tests (360 total questions)
  
  

• Real-world labs and simulation environments
  
  

• Access on mobile and desktop devices
  
  

• Full lifetime access to all content
  
  

• 30-day money-back guarantee
  
  

• Affordable pricing with periodic discounts