How do Data Collection Device zones work?

There are two ways to use Data Collection Device (DCD) zones to control how data is stored for your managed BIG-IP devices.

• You can use zones to optimize statistics traffic routing. By assigning DCDs to a zone and then assigning managed BIG-IP devices to that zone, you control which DCDs collect statistic traffic for each device.
• DCD zone awareness factors into how the DCD cluster performs during Disaster Recovery scenarios. The role zones play in these scenarios is discussed in the ../common-elements/../../GlobalShared/chapter-title-files/managing-disaster-recovery-scenarios-with-two-data-centers.md article on support.f5.com.

To specify which DCDs collect statistics traffic for a BIG-IP device, you perform two tasks:

• Log in to each DCD that should collect data for this BIG-IP device and assign them to the correct zone.
• Log in to the BIG-IQ CM and assign the BIG-IP to the zone to which those DCDs are assigned.