Manual Chapter : Creating Protected Objects in Shared Security

Applies To:

  • BIG-IQ Centralized Management

    7.1.0

Updated Date: 07/07/2026

Creating Protected Objects in Shared Security

With the Shared Security feature of BIG-IQ Centralized Management, you can create and configure protected objects from the Protected Objects dashboard. This includes Netflow servers and virtual servers. By assigning appropriate protections to network devices and applications servers, you can prevent attackers from exhausting network resources and impacting application availability.

To create a Netflow protected server, you must have a BIG-IP device on your managed network, running version 14.0 or later. To successfully complete the creation process, you must configure a unique Traffic Matching Criteria.

You create a new Netflow protected server to represent and delineate the backend servers that are being protected from attacks. The Netflow server is hosted on one of the managed BIG-IP devices, and mitigates traffic according to specific metadata. This is done by establishing specific traffic matching criteria that focuses on specific traffic characteristics.

  1. Go to Configuration > SECURITY > Shared Security > DoS Protection > Protected Objects.

    The screen displays a list of all DoS protected objects managed by your BIG-IP devices.

  2. Click Create and select Netflow Protected Server.

    The screen displays the configuration properties for a Netflow server, where the Name, Device, and Traffic Matching Criteria are required.

  3. Create a unique Traffic Matching Criteria object for the Netflow server, in the Traffic Matching Criteria setting, click Add.

    Ensure that you are not replicating all fields for a criteria, on a selected device.

    Note: If you already have an unassigned Traffic Matching Criteria object for the intended device, you can proceed to the next step.

    1. Type a Name for the criteria.

    2. From the Device list, select a device.

      The VLANs available forthe device you selected are displayed in the bottom half of the screen.

    3. For Destination Address and Destination Port, type the optional destination address and port where traffic is being sent.

      Using Netflow data, the system matches traffic being sent to this destination IP address and port.

    4. For Protocol, select the protocol you want the Netflow protected server to match: TCP, UDP, or All Protocols.

    5. For Source Address and Source Port, type the optional source address and port from which traffic is being sent.

      Using Netflow data, the system matches traffic being sent from this IP address and port.

    6. Add the available VLAN(s) to the Selected list from the Available list.

    7. Click Save & Close.

  4. Type a unique Namefor the Netflow server.

  5. From Device, select the host BIG-IP device for the Netflow server.

    Ensure that your selection includes a Traffic Management Criteria that is not currently assigned to a Netflow server on the same device.

  6. From Traffic Matching Criteria, select the criteria for your Netfflow server.

  7. In the Throughput Capacity (Mbps) field, type the maximum allowable throughput in megabits per second for the Netflow server, or select Infinite for no limit.

    The allowed values for this field are between 10-106.

  8. In the Packet Capacity (pps) setting, specify the maximum packets per second for the Netflow server, or select Infinite for no limit.

    The allowed values for this setting are between 10-1010.

  9. For Connection Capacity (cps), specify the maximum connections per second for the Netflow server, or select Infinite for no limit.

    The allowed values for this field are between 10-1010.

  10. Click Save & Close.

The new Netflow protected server is added to the protected objects list.

You must deploy the new protected object to enable changes and services to the BIG-IP device. See Deploy protected objects in Shared Security.

Before you attempt to create a protected virtual server, ensure that you have created a DoS profile, or any other protection profile you would like to attach to the new virtual server.

You create a new protected virtual server in shared security to manage the Shared Security configuration of the new virtual server.

  1. Go to Configuration > SECURITY > Shared Security > DoS Protection > Protected Objects.

    The screen displays a list of all DoS protected objects managed by your BIG-IP devices.

  2. Click Create and select Virtual Server.

    The screen displays the configuration properties for a virtual server.

  3. Type a unique Name for the virtual server.

  4. From the Device list, select the host BIG-IP device.

    The available DoS profiles, SSH Profiles, IP Intelligence profiles, and Logging profiles now correspond with the device selection, under the Protection Settings area of this screen.

  5. From the Protection Settings area, select the Protection Profile, Eviction Policy, or IP Intelligence you want to add to the new virtual server.

  6. For Throughput Capacity (Mbps) field, select Infinite for no limit, or click the other button and type the maximum allowable throughput in megabits per second for the virtual server.

    The allowed values for this field are between 10-106.

  7. Click Save & Close.

This adds the new protected virtual server to the Protected Objects list.

You must deploy the new protected object to enable changes and services to the BIG-IP device. See Deploy protected objects in shared security.

Once you configure or edit a protected object in Shared Security, you need to deploy that object on the device so it can manage traffic.

  1. Go to Deployment > EVALUATE & DEPLOY > Shared Security.

  2. In the Deployments area at the bottom of the screen, click the Create button.

  3. Type a Namefor the deployment.

  4. To skip the evaluation process, in the Method setting, select Deploy immediately.

    If you choose to evaluate your deployment update, you must deploy the evaluation manually, once it is complete.

  5. In the Target Device(s) area, select the device (or devices) on which you configured your shared security objects, and add them to the Selected box.

  6. Click Create.

This deploys changes to the BIG-IP device’s Shared Security, once the deployment process is complete.