Difference between External and Internal Data Groups

Question

I am doing redirects for our CMS change and would be interested to know the difference between internal and external Data Groups.  If i am needing to do &gt;1000 redirects is one better to use than the other. I am specifically interested in performance issues.  It looks like i can input redirects 1 by 1 into an internal DG but i can import a completed file into an external DG. Is there any other difference between these two methods of using a DG?&nbsp;
Steven Albercht
University of Colorado Denver&nbsp;

hannes_rapp_162 · Answer

If performance is your main concern, go for string-type internal data group
To ease your work, take the source file, run some search &amp; replace functions. Make it comply with format of internal data group as expressed in /config/bigip.conf file. Once ready, proceed by merging it to your config with tmsh load sys conf merge from-file /var/tmp/your-data-group.txt. Create one dummy data group first if you need reference of compliant format.
Rgds,

hannes_rapp · Answer

If performance is your main concern, go for string-type internal data group
To ease your work, take the source file, run some search &amp; replace functions. Make it comply with format of internal data group as expressed in /config/bigip.conf file. Once ready, proceed by merging it to your config with tmsh load sys conf merge from-file /var/tmp/your-data-group.txt. Create one dummy data group first if you need reference of compliant format.
Rgds,

steve_albrecht · Answer

Thanks for the answer. I do have a follow up question. Is there a difference between creating and editing an internal data group in the gui and using the tmsh load sys conf merge from-file?&nbsp;
Steve Albrecht&nbsp;

steve_albrecht · Answer

Thanks for the answer. I do have a follow up question. Is there a difference between creating and editing an internal data group in the gui and using the tmsh load sys conf merge from-file?&nbsp;
Steve Albrecht&nbsp;

hannes_rapp · Answer

The difference is the speed at which you get your work done.&nbsp;
If you do it in GUI, expect 2 hours minimum. If you have a good grasp on Vi or Nano, you can get it done in 5-15 minutes. If you wanted to do 25 redirects instead of 1K+, I would not have recommended this.&nbsp;

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Difference between External and Internal Data Groups

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