Everything you need to know about F5 Load Balancer Certifications

F5 Networks Inc., was founded on February 26, 1996 by Jeff Hussey. F5 is a globally renowned company specializing in Application Delivery Network and Application Networks. F5 is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It has development, manufacturing, and sales/marketing offices all over the world. The company’s earnings are healthily growing over the years with a revenue of USD 2161.407 million in 2018. As per 2018, the number of employees registered are 4409. F5 networks Inc., also provides F5 Certifications which from the administrator to the expert level. They have a huge basket of products and services as stated below:

Solutions:

• Automation and Orchestration
• Traffic management
• Service Providers
• App Security
• Cloud

Application Services:

• Automation, Orchestration and Management
• Application and Infrastructure Security
• Traffic Management

Deployment Options

• Managed Services and Cloud Services
• Cloud Software and Hardware

F5 provides various certifications on various levels. Let’s have a look at them.

F5 Certification Levels Overview

F5 Certified Sales Professional (F5-SP)

F5 Certified Technology Specialists (F5-CTS)

• F5 CTS LTM Requirements

• F5 CTS BIG-IP DNS Requirements

• F5 CTS ASM Requirements

• F5 CTS APM Requirements

F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE)

F5 Certification Levels Detailed Description

F5 Certified Sales Professional (F5-SP)
Exam 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals
Exam 101 is a compulsory exam required to become an F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator. It provides knowledge and skills for day to day management of Application Delivery Networks (ADNs). The candidate gets an understanding of F5 Product and Technologies Fundamentals and Protocols. It is a pre-requisite for Exam 201 – TMOS Administration. He/she can perform the following tasks:

• Analyze the Open System Interconnection (OSI), Model
• Knowledge about components of TMOS
• Comprehend the full application proxy
• Basic- Uses/methods of HTTP

Exam 201 – TMOS Administration
This exam is the second exam to become an F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator. The candidate can perform basic troubleshooting of TMOS-based devices to provide accurate and appropriate to senior engineers. It is a pre-requisite for Exam 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals. He/she can perform the following tasks:

• Locate the incorporation of iRules within QKViews
• Make use of QKViews troubleshooting tools
• Facilitate a virtual server

F5 Certified Technology Specialists (F5-CTS)
Exam 301a LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup and Deploy
This exam is mandatory to become an F5 Certified Technology Specialist. This certification provides knowledge about Virtual Private Network (VPN), Secure Sockets Layer(SSL). They can implement this onto symmetric and asymmetric acceleration and can draw insights to accommodate BIG-IP LTM into existing networks. They can configure, implement, maintain, optimize and troubleshoot BIG_IP LTM product features and enhance the effectiveness of the Application Delivery Network. They understand the principles of BIG-IP LTM and can integrate BIG_IP LTM with other products and platforms. It is necessary to appear for Exam is 201 – TMOS Administration before appearing for Exam 301a. Also, Exam 301a is a prerequisite for Exam 301b LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot. The candidate can perform the following task:

• Choose and configure the most relevant load balancing (LB) methods based on servers capabilities and application requirements
• Design and Configure a BIG-IP LTM to process applications which are highly available and redundant environment to meet customer needs.
• Determine the usage of Secure Network Address Translation (SNAT)
• Create application-specific monitors

Exam 301b LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot
This exam qualifies the candidates to configure, implement, maintain and troubleshoot advanced F5 product features. They help to enhance the effectiveness of an Application Delivery Network (ADN). The help the candidates possess knowledge about SSL based VPN Implementation and can draw insights to accommodate BIG-IP LTM into existing networks. The certified candidates understand the working of OSI Layer 7. They can configure, implement, maintain, optimize and troubleshoot BIG_IP LTM product features and enhance the effectiveness of the Application Delivery Network. They understand the principles of BIG-IP LTM and can integrate BIG_IP LTM with other products and platforms. The pre-requisite for Exam 301b is Exam 301a LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup and Deploy. The candidate can perform the following tasks:

• Choose and configure the most relevant load balancing (LB) methods based on servers capabilities and application requirements
• Design and Configure a BIG-IP LTM to process applications which are highly available and redundant environment to meet customer needs.
• Determine the usage of Secure Network Address Translation(SNAT)
• Create application-specific monitors

Exam 302–BIG-IP DNS Specialist
This certification helps candidates to possess knowledge about the concepts and high-tech standards required by application delivery engineers and architects working on BIG-IP DNS. The candidates learn to operate the Domain Name System (DNS) Protocol. They are also taught to deploy and test configurations and troubleshoot misconfigurations. You need to appear for exam 201 TMOS Administration before applying for this exam. Post-certification, the candidates, can perform the following tasks:

• Usage of ZoneRunner to manage DNS Records on BIG-IP DNS
• Configure and Troubleshoot DNS
• Perform configuration for deployments
• Explain DNS Query Process

Exam 303–BIG-IP ASM Specialist
This certification entitles you to be an F5 Certified Technology Specialist or an Application Security Manager. This certification proves that you can design, implement and maintain BIG-IP ASM typical as well as advanced features. The candidates can explain the working of BIG-IP ASM with web applications. The candidates understand the underlying principles of BIG-IP ASM and can draw on that insight to integrate BIG-IP ASM with other platforms and products. You need to appear for exam 201 TMOS Administration before applying for this exam.  Post Certification the candidate can perform the following tasks:

• Understand the interrelation between BIG-IP ASM and the network architecture.
• Identify the location to integrate BIG-IP ASM into the data flow
• Configure and implement application-specific BIG-IP ASM deployment model
• Configure a BIG-IP ASM to secure applications
• Customize a BIG-IP ASM policy for a web application.

Exam 304–BIG-IP APM Specialist
This exam entitles you to be An Access Policy Manager or the F5 Specialist. The certification provides skills necessary for management of application delivery networks which incorporate technologies based on TMOS Operating System. The BIG-IP APM Specialist provides authentication mechanisms to provide security and access management for different applications. They can configure, implement, troubleshoot, and maintain BIG-IP APM in application environments. Post-certification the candidate can:

• Configure and understand BIG-IP LTM + BIG-IP APM, Portal Access, Application Access, Network Access. 
• Define and configure different types of authentication, authorization, and accounting resources (AAA)
• Configure Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) federation—service provider (SP), identity provider (IdP)
• Identify and explain authentication tokens, cookies, and methods
• Define Layer 4 (L4) and L7 access control lists (ACLs) 
• Configure and apply a single sign-on (SSO) profile

Exam 401–F5 Certified Security Solution Expert
A Certified Security Solution Expert possesses the skills to understand business requirements regarding security and high-tech requirements. They can design security solutions leveraging BIG-IP LTM, BIG-IP DNS, BIG-IP ASM, BIG-IP APM, BIG-IP AFM, BIG-IQ modules, IP Intelligence (IPI), WebSafe, and MobileSafe. They analyse high-tech requirements to convert them into security requirements and apply and modify security infrastructures. The pre-requisites for this exam are:

• Exam 101–Application Delivery Fundamentals
• Exam 201–TMOS Administration
• Exam 301a–BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy
• Exam 301b–BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot
• Exam 302–BIG-IP DNS Specialist
• Exam 303–BIG-IP ASM Specialist
• Exam 304–BIG-IP APM Specialist

Exam 401–F5 Certified Security Solution Expert
The F5 Certified Security Expert has the skills to discover business requirements regarding security and high-tech requirements. They can design security solutions leveraging BIG-IP LTM, BIG-IP DNS, BIG-IP ASM, BIG-IP APM, BIG-IP AFM, BIG-IQ modules, IP Intelligence (IPI), WebSafe, and MobileSafe. They analyse professionals requirements to convert them into security requirements and apply and modify security infrastructures. The pre-requisites for this exam are:

• Exam 101–Application Delivery Fundamentals
• Exam 201–TMOS Administration
• Exam 301a–BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy
• Exam 301b–BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot
• Exam 302–BIG-IP DNS Specialist
• Exam 303–BIG-IP ASM Specialist
• Exam 304–BIG-IP APM Specialist

F5 Certifications focus is on huge network environments. So the candidate can look up to positions such as network specialist, network engineer, systems engineer, network administrator, architect and consultant. These certifications will not only help you in expanding your knowledge and skill base but will also give you a better hike in salary packages. Candidates can also take up Free Training Courses by F5.