Manual Chapter :
Getting Started with BIG-IQ Virtual Edition
Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 7.0.0, 6.1.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.0
Getting Started with BIG-IQ Virtual Edition
What is BIG-IQ Virtual Edition?
BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) is a version of F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management that runs as a
virtual machine
on specifically-supported hypervisors. BIG-IQ VE emulates a hardware-based BIG-IQ system running a VE-compatible version of BIG-IQ software.BIG-IQ VE compatibility with VMware ESXi
VMware ESXi
The BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) software includes support for a growing
list of public and private cloud platforms. For a list of the supported platforms, refer to
the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition Supported Platforms
matrix.
This BIG-IQ version only supports the
Hypervisors
identified in this
guide. Installation attempts on unsupported platforms might not be successful. Hypervisor guest definition requirements
The
vSphere
virtual machine guest environment for the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE), at minimum, must include:- 4 virtual CPUsThe amount of reserved CPU must match the amount of CPU allocated to the virtual machine.
- 16 GB RAM .The amount of reserved RAM must match the amount of RAM allocated to the virtual machine.
- 1 VMXNET3 virtual network adapter
- 1 virtual network adapter
- At least 128GB disk
If you do not supply at least the minimum virtual configuration limits, it produces unexpected results.
The resources required for a BIG-IQ virtual machine depend to some degree on what you intend to do with it. Refer to
Determine the resources required for deployment
on support.f5.com
for details.There are also some maximum configuration limits to consider for deploying a BIG-IQ VE virtual machine, such as:
- CPU reservation can be up to 100 percent of the defined virtual machine hardware. For example, if the hypervisor has a 3 GHz core speed, the reservation of a virtual machine with 2 CPUs can be only 6 GHz or less.
- To achieve optimum performance limits, all allocated CPU and RAM must be reserved, and virtual disks should be deployed Thick (allocated up front).
Determine the resources required for deployment
The CPU, RAM, and disk space requirements for the devices in your
BIG-IQ deployment are determined by a number of factors, including:
- How many BIG-IP devices your BIG-IQ deployment manages, and which services are provisioned on the managed BIG-IP devices?
- Does your BIG-IQ deployment collect statistics data from your managed BIG-IP devices??
- Does your BIG-IQ deployment collect alerts and events data, from the managed BIG-IP devices?
When you deploy the BIG-IQ software, you can choose
95 GB or 500 GB of disk space. If you choose 500 GB, only 95 GB of the 500 GB is
allocated initially. You must allocate extra disk space beyond 95 GB before you can use
it. Usually, the extra storage space is for DCDs. However, there are also situations in
which BIG-IQ devices can use the extra space. For example, you might want to store a large
number of UCS backups. Or, your business needs might require you to store multiple versions
of the BIG-IQ software so you can upgrade back and forth between BIG-IQ versions.
Deployment type |
Device Type |
CPU |
RAM |
Disk Space |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BIG-IQ deployment with statistics
collection enabled, as well as alerts and events. |
BIG-IQ |
8 See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
32 GB See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
Generally, 95 GB; or 500GB if extra space is
needed. |
DCD |
8 |
32 GB |
Initially, 500 GB. VE disk space can be extended
further as needed. |
|
BIG-IQ deployment with alerts and
events enabled. |
BIG-IQ |
4 See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
16 GB See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
Generally, 95 GB; or 500GB if extra space is
needed. |
DCD |
4 See When do the DCDs need additional
resources? |
16 GB See When do the DCDs need additional
resources? |
Initially, 500 GB. VE disk space can be extended
further as needed. |
|
BIG-IQ deployment without statistics collection,
alerts, or events. |
BIG-IQ |
4 or 8 See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
16, 32, or 64 GB See When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional
resources? |
Generally, 95 GB; or 500GB if extra space is
needed. |
CPU and RAM pairings other than those listed
above have not been tested.
When do the BIG-IQ devices need additional resources?
When the number of managed BIG-IP devices in your BIG-IQ deployment
exceeds the specified thresholds, F5 recommends that you allocate 8 CPUs and either 32
or 64 GB of RAM to your BIG-IQ devices.
The following table lists the threshold for each BIG-IP service. For
example, if your BIG-IQ deployment manages more than 32 BIG-IP devices provisioned with
Access, allocate additional resources to your BIG-IQ devices.
A BIG-IQ managing devices... |
Needs 32 GB to manage more than: |
|---|---|
provisioned with Access |
32 devices |
provisioned with ADC |
80 devices |
provisioned with ASM |
40 devices |
provisioned with DNS |
100 devices |
provisioned with FPS |
50 devices |
deployed in a VMware service scaling
group |
100 devices |
deployed in an AWS or Azure service scaling
group |
50 devices |
This is a rough approximation. Depending on the number of
objects on each BIG-IP device. When your managed BIG-IP devices are provisioned with
multiple modules, the RAM requirement increases.
When do the DCDs need additional resources?
For a broader consideration of the factors that can impact the CPU,
RAM, and disk space requirements for DCD devices, refer to the
BIG-IQ Centralized Management DCD Sizing Guide
.For work flows that describe how to manage your disk space, refer to
the
BIG-IQ Centralized Management: Data Collection Device
Disk Space Management Guide
on support.f5.com
. 
