CDG
Apr 11, 2016Nimbostratus
iAPPs or not
I would like to ear about the pros and cons of using IAPP template? Should I use iapp template or not?
Like almost everything in the IT world, it will depend on the current scenario and application.
Some time ago I used an iApp to deploy a complex Web Application based on ASPX-IIS-MSSQL. The application has changed so much in a year and when we try to upgrade from version 11.2 to 11.3 we had problems and had to set up the configuration from scratch. In some cases this approach is more scalable and simple to modify.
Things can not go as expected if you want to do a change that is not in the options inside the iApp and you try to deploy that change outside the iApp (Typically not recomended by F5). You always have the option of reprogramming the iApp (If you have some programming skills or you like this programming world, you can do incredible things with iApps), but for most systems admins, this would make the things more difficult instead of simplify the daily administration/operation tasks.
On the other hand, I have several success stories with VMware Horizon, Microsoft Exchange, Lync, where I used the iApp as it comes from the factory and the application has been ready in minutes. And you say wow. It really works!
As a general rule, the more specific changes we need, more work will have with the iApp. And if the application is from VMware, Microsoft, etc. and you have the typical scenario, definitely use an iApp will be the best option (A must do!).
:-)