F5 - Load balancing certification?

Hi Everyone,
Does anyone here have any certificates from F5? It looks like they specialize in cloud and various web security applications. I think they do something with network load balancing. I was thinking about looking into them. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

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AwesomeGarrett

It's my study day off. You got a link for this, I'm feeling too lazy to search google.

MTciscoguy

My only question is how is a certification from a group, that very few have even heard of going to enhance your career goals? Learning about load balancing is already part of what anybody that plays with IT learns.

Node Man

Valid questions guys. Here is a link:

https://f5.com/

The reason i would get a cert with them is because experience with F5 load balancing is a prerequsite for a job im interested in. And I want to stand out.

AwesomeGarrett

I would say it's underated. It's not going to get you a job on it's own, more like the cherry on top depending on the environment.

MTciscoguy

The only thing I am wondering, is if a bunch of IT guys really have not heard of it, why is an employer going to be any different? You list 3 certs under your name, and you should have learned load balancing by taking and passing those courses? Hell, I am not trying to discourage you, I am just wondering if it is really important?

JustFred

Quite a few companies i have come in contact with use F5, personally i would probably learn about Netscalers, the knowledge gained there can be applied when you have to work with F5 and A10.

pevangel

They do have certifications but I don't know if you have to work for a partner or reseller to access their materials. I suggest finishing your CCNP since that would have a bigger impact than having an F5 certification with no experience.

F5 is pretty well known here in the DMV. We are considering them for one of our cloud service offerings. It's not quite the same and is a lot more complicated than the load balancing you learn from networking studies.

joelsfood

F5 has a good portion of the load balancer market. That being said, I've never seen a job posting asking for their certification, just for F5 experience.

Zartanasaurus

MTciscoguy wrote: »

The only thing I am wondering, is if a bunch of IT guys really have not heard of it, why is an employer going to be any different? You list 3 certs under your name, and you should have learned load balancing by taking and passing those courses? Hell, I am not trying to discourage you, I am just wondering if it is really important?

You've never heard of F5? They are the Cisco of load balancers. If you're looking to pad your resume with relevant data center certs, F5 is a good choice as is Netscaler.

MTciscoguy

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

You've never heard of F5? They are the Cisco of load balancers. If you're looking to pad your resume with relevant data center certs, F5 is a good choice as is Netscaler.

No, I have never heard of them, not a big deal, there are lots of things in this world I have never heard of. I asked around yesterday after reading this and none of the HR managers I am friends with in my area have ever heard of them either, so I guess I am not the only one.

networker050184

F5 is definitely something good to have on your resume. I've never seen anyone with a cert from them, but it's definitely good experience to have. We have a hard time finding support people with F5 or Netscaler back grounds.

networker050184

MTciscoguy wrote: »

No, I have never heard of them, not a big deal, there are lots of things in this world I have never heard of. I asked around yesterday after reading this and none of the HR managers I am friends with in my area have ever heard of them either, so I guess I am not the only one.

Well then what load balancers are they aware of? If none thay probably explains it.

MTciscoguy

networker050184 wrote: »

Well then what load balancers are they aware of? If none thay probably explains it.

I have said what I have said on this thread, only speaking for myself, now done. I will go and read up on their products.

Node Man

Thanks for all the good info everyone. F5 is a preferred skill for a job that I am interested in. After I finished CCNP I will pursue F5, along with a bunch of other certificates like Juniper, Linux +, Python, etc. But I will start collecting training materials for F5 now.

ande0255

I have seen this a lot as well on job postings, F5 load balancer experience required, is the purpose of the device literally to act as an intermediary network device that performs load balancing of traffic? I have no idea, what it is, seems like maybe studying for a cert or something might be a good idea.

Zartanasaurus

ande0255 wrote: »

I have seen this a lot as well on job postings, F5 load balancer experience required, is the purpose of the device literally to act as an intermediary network device that performs load balancing of traffic? I have no idea, what it is, seems like maybe studying for a cert or something might be a good idea.

That's the basic job of a load balancer. Does a lot more than that of course. It has deep insight into the HTTP protocol and can perform actions based on the content and rewrite its contents as well.

networker050184

It's not necessarily for load balancing network traffic in the way a router is. It's more so for application balancing in server farms or global traffic manipulation with DNS etc.

I usually send guys here first. https://f5.com/resources/white-papers/load-balancing-101-nuts-and-bolts

ande0255

That is a really interesting read from what I glazed over, thanks for the link, I'll have to check that out in off work hours.

robS

Everyone I worked for on f5 kit moved to stingrays. Which apparently are now called steelapp and have been sold to brocade.