Manual Chapter :
BIG-IQ Application Service Sizing Guidelines
Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0
BIG-IQ Application Service Sizing Guidelines
BIG-IQ application service sizing overview
This document describes the official, supported scale envelope for
BIG-IQ device v8.x in relation to application services. Given the variability of F5
customers' configurations, it is very challenging for F5 to test all permutations that
analytics and statistics gathering can bring; each customer environment is different and
unique. The following content provides guidance on certain maximum numbers as well as
guidance on averages. This is a baseline that we feel can assist BIG-IP and BIG-IQ users in
sizing their environment correctly. The values provided for BIG-IQ Virtual Edition are
heavily dependent on infrastructure beyond F5's control; for example, host CPU speed, host
memory, networking, storage for virtual machines, dedicated CPU allocation for virtual
machines, the load on the infrastructure, and so on.
BIG-IQ guidance configuration for scaled environments
For large, scaled environments, F5 recommends the
following environment/topology:
- 2 BIG-IQ console machines configured in an HA pair; each having the following resources:
- a BIG-IQ Virtual Machine with at least 16 CPUs, 64 GB RAM, and 500 GB disk space.
- 5 or more (up to 20) BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices (DCD); each having the following resources:
- a BIG-IQ Virtual Machine with at least 8 CPUs, 32 GB RAM, and 500 GB disk space
The BIG-IQ data collection devices are configured to record analytics
statistics for the BIG-IP devices being discovered.
For optimum performance, F5 makes
the following maximum round trip latency recommendations:
For connections between these
components |
Round trip latency cannot exceed |
|---|---|
between any two DCD or BIG-IQ devices in a DCD
cluster |
75 ms. |
between the BIG-IQ CM and the BIG-IP devices it
manages |
250 ms. |
between the managed BIG-IP devices and the DCDs
that collect their data |
250 ms. |
For more information about sizing for specific environments,
refer to the related links (below). You can also use the
F5
Networks BIG-IQ DCD Sizing Tools
, available on downloads.f5.com
. Scale guidance configuration for BIG-IQ specific objects
Total number of BIG-IP ISO images (full releases and
hot fixes) |
Limited by local storage availability (disk
space/Shared partition size) only |
|---|---|
Total maximum number of local BIG-IQ users (see
table note 1) |
100 per Centralized Management cluster |
Total maximum number of local BIG-IQ user
groups |
25 per Centralized Management cluster |
Total maximum number of BIG-IQ DCDs |
20 per BIG-IQ deployment |
- Table note 1
- Local users are not the same as remote users. For example, a remote user might need to integrate with an LDAP and/or Radius server.
Scale guidance configuration for BIG-IQ managed
applications
It is very challenging for F5 to test all permutations
that analytics and statistics gathering can bring, each customer environment is different and
unique. The following is just a sample that was tested in the F5 lab, numbers can vary wildly
from one environment to another. Because running additional application services requires more
resources, please make sure to turn on application services gradually. This does not imply
hard limits on any of the numbers, those were chosen only as a representative configuration
for this particular test. Your scale limits may vary per your own configuration. Please look
at all documentation (including the
Legacy Applications
Analytics
article link at the bottom of this page). Also, work with your F5
representative before enabling and using any system in a production environment. The following is a list of some of the more important
limiting factors that can appear on any deployment, and what needs to be accounted for:
- Retaining more than the default 10 hours of raw data specific to analytics may impact performance. (Note that this is the granular drill line of 10 hours and not the overall graph availability. More resources (CPU/memory/disk space) are consumed when you retain more raw data. Any such increase needs to be done gradually. Please refer to theConfiguring Statistics Collectionlink at the bottom of this page.
- The number of data collection devices (DCDs) in a specific environment. (Maximum tested is 20).
- The amount of traffic coming from the BIG-IP devices to the DCDs.
- The storage size of each DCD.
- The type of events that are ingested (for example WAF events can have a higher impact than analytics).
Type | No of Applications Tested | Tested Limits (representative configuration) | Operational (see table note 3) |
|---|---|---|---|
Application Services (see table note 1) | 1000 (see table note 2) | 40 BIG-IP devices/clusters per BIG-IQ device (across all
applications) 5,000 ADC virtual servers per BIG- IQ device (across all
applications) 5,000 pool members per BIG- IQ device (across all
applications) - this number was reduced due to the automated script
limitation. 5,000 pool members per BIG-IQ device (across all
applications) 25 applications per single BIG-IP 125 virtual servers per single BIG-IP 125 pools per single BIG-IP 125 pool members per single BIG-IP 5 virtual servers per single application 5 pools per single application 1 pool member per single application | Applications should be evenly spread on the number of
BIG-IP devices/clusters 200 virtual servers in a single refresh operation 13.7 Kbps writes for traffic to ElasticSearch 100 application services created via API in a single
call Table note 4 specifies maximum round trip latency
recommendations. |
- Table note 1
- Application Services can be new, created applications (greenfield) or legacy applications
- Table note 2
- Tested with 1000 application services for a specific analytics scenario (see the exact numbers in the columns above). The limits listed here reflect the tested system only. That system deployed one BIG-IQ device with 8 CPUs, 32GB RAM, and 500 GB of disk space. Statistics were gathered by Five BIG-IQ DCDs, each with 8 CPUs, 32GB RAM, and 500 GB of disk space.Production environments will likely require additional CPU, memory, and disk space resources (for example, 16 CPUs and 64 GB RAM). You will need to perform sizing tests that reflect your environment, amount of traffic, etcetera. There can be multiple limiting factors in a production environment, for example retaining more than the default (granular) 10 hours of raw data specific to analytics. See the list above for additional limiting factors.
- Table note 3
- Tested average performance numbers are for specific operations at the specified scale only.
- Table note 4
- For optimum performance, F5 makes the following maximum round trip latency recommendations:For connections between these componentsRound trip latency cannot exceedbetween any two DCD or BIG-IQ devices in a DCD cluster75 ms.between the BIG-IQ CM and the BIG-IP devices it manages250 ms.between the managed BIG-IP devices and the DCDs that collect their data250 ms.
