F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager)

Course Summary

F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager) is a comprehensive course designed for network engineers, DevOps professionals, system administrators, and IT architects who want to master advanced load balancing, traffic management, and application delivery using the F5 BIG-IP LTM module.

This training focuses on the deployment, configuration, and optimization of BIG-IP LTM to ensure high availability, improved application performance, and intelligent traffic steering. Participants will gain the expertise to manage application traffic efficiently and securely across networks, data centers, or cloud environments using F5’s industry-leading Application Delivery Controller (ADC).

Whether you’re deploying enterprise-grade applications or preparing for F5 certification, this course provides real-world skills to optimize network and application performance with confidence.


Why Learn F5 LTM?

F5 BIG-IP LTM is a critical component in modern IT infrastructures, offering far more than traditional load balancing. It provides full control over application traffic, performance optimization, and integrated security — making it essential for ensuring the reliability and efficiency of digital services.

Mastering F5 LTM enables professionals to:

  • Ensure high availability of mission-critical applications

  • Distribute traffic based on advanced logic and performance metrics

  • Offload SSL processing and optimize throughput

  • Improve application speed and resilience

  • Monitor and troubleshoot traffic flows in real-time


Who Should Enroll

This course is ideal for:

  • Network and Security Engineers managing traffic flow across distributed systems

  • DevOps and SREs deploying scalable, fault-tolerant applications

  • System and Infrastructure Administrators responsible for performance and uptime

  • Cloud and Application Architects implementing load balancing solutions in hybrid environments

  • IT Professionals preparing for F5 certifications (e.g., F5-CA, F5-CTS: LTM)

  • Organizations deploying BIG-IP LTM for enterprise load balancing and traffic control


Key Course Benefits

  • Industry-Relevant: Aligns with real-world enterprise scenarios

  • Hands-On Practice: Lab-based training with configuration exercises

  • Performance-Focused: Learn how to improve uptime, speed, and scalability

  • Integrated Approach: Covers traffic management, monitoring, and SSL offloading

  • Certification Path: Builds the foundation for F5 LTM certification exams


Core Topics Covered

  • Overview of BIG-IP system architecture and modules

  • Virtual servers, pools, and nodes

  • Health monitors and failover mechanisms

  • Load balancing algorithms and traffic persistence

  • SSL termination and offloading

  • iRules for custom traffic manipulation

  • Application profiles and performance tuning

  • Logging, monitoring, and troubleshooting

  • Device management, HA setup, and backup strategies


Real-World Applications

With F5 LTM skills, you’ll be able to:

  • Load balance applications across on-premise and cloud environments

  • Secure web apps with SSL offloading and traffic encryption

  • Implement intelligent traffic steering using iRules and policies

  • Design scalable and resilient architectures with high availability

  • Reduce downtime and improve user experience across services


Conclusion

The F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager) course is your gateway to mastering application traffic control and load balancing in complex IT environments. With deep technical insights and hands-on training, this course ensures you’re ready to deploy, secure, and scale applications using the powerful capabilities of BIG-IP LTM.

Gain the confidence and skills to architect high-performance application delivery infrastructures — essential for modern enterprise networks.

F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager) Syllabus

Modules

Section 1:
Architect an application Cognitive Complexity

Objective 1.01
Given an expected traffic volume, determine the appropriate SNAT configuration U/A
Examples Explain when SNAT is required
Describe the benefit of using SNAT pools

Objective 1.02
Given a scenario, determine the minimum profiles for an application U/A Examples
Explain security options available for the application
Explain how to use LTM as a service proxy
Describe how a given service is deployed on an LTM

Objective 1.03
Given an application configuration, determine which functions can be offloaded to the LTM device
U/A
Examples Explain how to offload HTTP servers for SSL compression and caching
Objective 1.04 Given an application configuration, determine which functions can be
offloaded to the LTM device
U/A
Examples Explain how to create an HTTP configuration to handle an HTTP server error

Objective 1.05
Given an application configuration, determine the appropriate profile and persistence options
A/E
Examples
Explain how to create an HTTP configuration for mobile clients
Explain how to create an HTTP configuration to optimize WAN connectivity
Determine when connection mirroring is required

Objective 1.06
Explain the steps necessary to configure AVR U/A
Examples Explain the steps necessary to configure the AVR
Explain how to create an AVR profile and options

Objective 1.07
Given a set of reporting requirements, determine the AVR metrics and entities to collect
U/A
Examples
Explain the sizing implications of AVR on the LTM device
Explain the logging and notifications options of AVR
Explain the uses of the collected metrics and entities

Objective 1.08
Given a scenario, determine the appropriate monitor type and parameters to use

Objective 1.09
Given a set of parameters, predict an outcome of a monitor status on other LTM device objects
A/E
Examples Determine the effect of a monitor on the virtual server status
Determine the effect of active versus inline monitors on the application status or on the LTM device

Objective 1.10
Given a set of SSL requirements, determine the appropriate profile options to create or modify in the SSL profile
U/A
Examples Describe the difference between client and server SSL profiles
Describe the difference between client and server SSL processing

Objective 1.11
Given a set of application requirements, describe the steps necessary to configure SSL
U/A
Examples Describe the process to update expired SSL certificates
Describe the steps to incorporate client authentication to the SSL process

Objective 1.12
Given a set of application requirements, determine the appropriate virtual server type to use
U/A
Examples Describe the process to update expired SSL certificates
Describe the steps to incorporate client authentication to the SSL process

Objective 1.13
Given a set of application requirements, determine the appropriate virtual server configuration settings
U/A
Examples
Describe which steps are necessary to complete prior to creating the virtual server
Describe the security options when creating a virtual server (i.e., VLAN limitation, route domains, packet filters, iRules)

Objective 1.14
Explain the matching order of multiple virtual servers U/A

Objective 1.15
Given a scenario, determine the appropriate load balancing method(s) U/A Examples
Identify the behavior of the application to be load balanced
Differentiate different load balancing methods
Explain how to perform outbound load balancing
Explain CARP persistence