In a previous article I wrote about selecting multiple network access resources when using the Edge Client. (https://devcentral.f5.com/articles/select-between-multiple-network-access-resources-with-the-edge-client) The previous article was... Read more

Ever wonder what iRules have to do with security? Check out these iRules! Enhance Protection from Targeted Attacks HashDos Defender – This iRule guards against Hash collision “HashDoS” attacks through HTTP POST Parameters. By enabling F5®... Read more

Toopher is a 2 Factor Authentication provider (https://www.toopher.com/) that can be configured to work with the F5 Access Policy Manager for authenticating users.  Please visit the Toopher website to find out more information about all the... Read more

The recent announcements that web browsers will be removing plugin support means that customers will no longer be able to provide Network Access resources to their end users via the APM web top.  Instead customers will require their end users... Read more

Introduction iRules are a powerful tool in the F5 administrators arsenal. They allow administrators to adapt and customize the F5 to their needs. They provide extensive power for security engineers as well. We’ve decided it’s time to revisi... Read more

Introduction iRules are a powerful tool in the F5 administrators arsenal. They allow administrators to adapt and customize the F5 to their needs.  They provide extensive power for security engineers as well. We’ve decided it’s tim... Read more

Every administrator that has designed and configured a policy on the Access Policy Manager (APM) module knows that a lot of time and effort goes into making sure your users will be able to get the access they need.  A problem that I have run... Read more

For the savants among us, calculating bits in and bits out over a delta from two snapshots of the interface counters is a walk in the park. For the rest of us, it's nice to have a tool to look at the current traffic load on an interface while... Read more

#devops Errors happen, but your users should never see them. Ever. Every once in a while things happen, like errors. They are as inevitable as winter in Wisconsin, rain in Seattle, and that today someone will post a picture of a cat that shows... Read more

I have an awesome job. I get to play with cool technology, with good people, at an awesome company, and actually don’t get in trouble for doing so. I get to blend writing and talking and blathering on endlessly to anyone that will listen with... Read more

iCall is BIG-IP's all new (as of BIG-IP version 11.4) event-based automation system for the control plane. Previously, I wrote up the iCall system overview, as well as an article on the use of a periodic handler for automating backups. This... Read more

#SDN #devops #API Your toaster is configurable, not programmable. Programmability is becoming as hyped as the technology trends with which it is associated: SDN, Devops, and even cloud. It's used to (incorrectly) describe everything fro... Read more

#webperf #ado You remember the service, not the plating (unless you're a foodie) One morning, while reading the Internet (yes, the entire Internet), I happened upon a rather snarky (and yes, I liked the tone and appreciated the honesty) blog... Read more

#cloud #infosec #devops Private cloud is about management, but not about hardware As with every technology, definitions almost immediately become muddled when it becomes apparent that the technology is going to "change the world." SDN i... Read more

#devops There is no back button on deployment. But there can be. It was nearly 10pm on a Saturday night. A handful of architects and developers sat around a cube, munching on cold pizza and chatting while waiting for the phone call that would... Read more

#webperf #fast #mobile Alternative title: Stop Blaming the Network I have a weakness for a particular Android game that shall remain nameless (to protect the innocent, of course). It frequently complains that I have "a poor networ... Read more

#devops API and application versioning becomes a requirement when dev is agile. Agile development methodologies advocate a rapid release cycle. Facebook, for example, noted last year that it pushes code live twice a day. Organizations may neve... Read more

SyntaxHighlighter.all(); Backing up the BIG-IP Configuration is something I've written about a couple times (here and here) previously. Well, third time's the charm, thanks to the new iCall feature in the 11.4 release. This time, I'v... Read more

#PaaS #devops The notion that PaaS exists solely "in the cloud" as a discrete environment of developer services is hampering the maturation of enterprise PaaS The three most common answers to "give me an example of PaaS" are... Read more

I review the top 5 questions being asked in booth 816 at #MSTechEd 2013. Azure, NVGRE and TMG all make the list. There is a surprise at #5 but not to those of us in the booth. :-) ps Related: TechEd2013 – Find F5 TechEd2013 – Network... Read more

Q: What do you think when you hear the word "network"?   Which is about what I expected - an emphasis on the lower layers (2-3) of the stack, some crossover at the transport layer (4) and diminishing mindshare at the higher layer... Read more

Ex·ten·si·ble (in programming): Said of a system (e.g., program, file format, programming language, protocol, etc.) designed to easily allow the addition of new features at a later date. (from Dictionary.com) Whenever I attend a F5... Read more

In my first article in this series, I discussed web scraping -- what it is, why people do it, and why it could be harmful.  My second article outlined the details of bot detection and how the ASM blocks against these pesky littl... Read more

#gluecon #devops Intelligent handling of requests whether for testing or migration or upgrades requires programmability in the network. Cory von Wallenstein, CTO of Dyn Inc, gave a great presentation at Glue 2013 on upgrading infrastructure. I... Read more

I've been writing iRules now for about eight years and have found many ways around success along the way. But I've also learned a few things as well, many of which save me a lot of time and frustration on the bigger and more complex... Read more