Manual Chapter : Available Profiles

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Manual Chapter

Available Profiles

About the Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile

On certain F5 hardware platforms (namely B4450 blade models and TurboFlex-enabled iSeries platforms), you can deploy a load-balancing optimization feature known as an
Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile.
This profile enables specific hardware-acceleration features for high-performance load balancing, when you need the BIG-IP system to do mostly basic Round Robin load balancing only.
In this deployment, instead of using a traditional Fast L4 profile, you:
  • Activate the Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile.
  • Provision the Traffic Acceleration Module (TAM).
  • Create a Traffic Acceleration profile.
  • Create a Traffic Acceleration type of virtual server.
After you deploy this configuration, the BIG-IP system bases all load-balancing decisions on L4 elements such as source and destination IP addresses and ports.
Ultra Fast Layer 4 load balancing is a good choice for deploying into networks where a basic load-balancing function with optimized performance is emphasized over higher-layer functions such as payload inspection, Layer 7 header manipulation, iRules, SYN cookies (including global hardware DDoS protection), and connection mirroring, to name a few.
In general, this profile configuration provides a small subset of BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) features, such as:
  • Q in Q tunneling
  • NVGRE, VXLAN, Ether-IP and IPinIP Tunneling
  • Ultra Fast Layer 4 performance
The Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile is available only in BIG-IP software version 14.0 and later, and only on B4450 blade platforms and TurboFlex-enabled iSeries platforms.

Platform support

The Ultra Fast L4 CPS profile is supported only on TurboFlex-enabled platforms (and the VIPRION B4450 blade, which does not support TurboFlex):
  • BIG-IP i5000 Series
  • BIG-IP i7000 Series
  • BIG-IP i10000 Series
  • VIPRION B4450 blade

About setting up the Ultra Fast L4 CPS profile on iSeries platforms

You can use the Configuration utility to set up the Ultra Fast L4 CPS profile on your iSeries platform.

Enable the Ultra Fast L4 CPS TurboFlex Profile using the Configuration utility

You can use the Configuration utility to enable the Ultra Fast L4 CPS TurboFlex Profile on your system.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Resource Provisioning
    TurboFlex
    .
    This displays a list of active and available TurboFlex profiles.
  2. Click
    Enable Profile
    for the turboflex-ultrafast-layer4 profile.
  3. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Configuration
    Device
    General
    .
  4. Click
    Reboot
    .

Provision the Traffic Accelerator Module (TAM) using the Configuration utility

You can use the Configuration utility to provision the Traffic Accelerator Module (TAM) on your system.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Resource Provisioning
    .
  2. For the Traffic Accelerator Module, select the check box and select
    Minimum
    .
  3. Click
    Submit
    .

Create a Traffic Acceleration profile

You can create a Traffic Acceleration profile to manage Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Profiles
    Protocol
    Traffic Acceleration
    .
    The Traffic Acceleration screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a unique name for the profile.
  4. From the
    Parent Profile
    list, select the profile from which you want to inherit settings.
    The default profile is often used as the parent profile.
    The new profile inherits the values from the parent profile. If the parent is changed, the inherited values in the new profile also change.
  5. Select the
    Custom
    check box if you would like to change the settings for the profile.
  6. For the
    Idle Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds the connection can be idle before it is eligible for deletion.
    The default value is 300000 milliseconds (5 minutes). Use zero (0) to specify an indefinite idle timeout.
  7. If you would like to use Direct Server Return (or nPath routing):
    1. Select the
      DSR Mode
      check box.
    2. For the
      DSR Close Timeout
      setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a DSR connection waits before closing.
    For more information, see the "Configuring nPath Routing" section in the
    BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager: Implementations
    guide at
    support.f5.com
    .
  8. For the
    Time Wait Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a connection is in the TIME-WAIT state before closing.
    The default value is 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds). The range is from 0 to 600,000 milliseconds (10 minutes). A value of 0 implies indefinite.
    This setting is not available if you use DSR.
  9. For the
    TCP Handshake Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a connection waits for the TCP handshake to complete before the connection is eligible for deletion.
    The default value is 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds). A value of 0 implies indefinite.
    This setting is not available if you use DSR.
  10. Click
    Finished
    .
The custom Fast L4 profile appears in the list of Fast L4 profiles.

Create a pool

You can create a pool of servers that you can group together to receive and process traffic.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Pools
    .
    The Pools list screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Pool screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a name for the pool.
    Names must begin with a letter, and can contain only letters, numbers, and the underscore (_) character.
    The pool name is limited to 63 characters.
  4. Using the
    New Members
    setting, add each resource that you want to include in the pool:
    1. In the
      Node Name
      field, type a name for the node portion of the pool member.
    2. In the
      Address
      field, type an IP address.
    3. In the
      Service Port
      field, type a port number, or select a service name from the list.
    4. In the
      Priority
      field, type a priority number.
    5. Click
      Add
      .
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
  6. Repeat these steps for each pool you want to create.

Create a Traffic Acceleration virtual server

If you want the virtual server to perform source network address translation (SNAT), you must create a custom SNAT pool before you create the virtual server.
After you create a server pool, you create a Traffic Acceleration virtual server that references the Traffic Acceleration profile and the pool that you created.
The Traffic Acceleration virtual server can support only the one Traffic Acceleration profile.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Virtual Servers
    .
    The Virtual Server List screen opens.
  2. Click the
    Create
    button.
    The New Virtual Server screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a unique name for the virtual server.
  4. From the
    Type
    list, select
    Traffic Acceleration
    .
  5. In the
    Destination Address/Mask
    field, type the destination IP address in CIDR format.
    The supported format is address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, an IPv4 address/prefix is
    10.0.0.1
    or
    10.0.0.0/24
    , and an IPv6 address/prefix is
    ffe1::0020/64
    or
    2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64
    . When you use an IPv4 address without specifying a prefix, the BIG-IP system automatically uses a
    /32
    prefix.
    The IP address you type must be available and not in the loopback network.
  6. From the
    Service Port
    list, select one or all service ports.
  7. From the
    Protocol
    list, select
    TCP
    .
  8. From the
    Traffic Acceleration Profile
    list, select the Traffic Acceleration profile that you created previously.
  9. From the
    Source Address Translation
    list, do one of the following:
    • If you do not need SNAT functionality, retain the default value (
      None
      ).
    • If you want the virtual server to perform source network address translation, select
      SNAT
      , and from the
      SNAT Pool
      list, select the SNAT pool you created as a prerequisite.
  10. In the Resources area, from the
    Default Pool
    list, select the name of the pool that you created previously.
  11. Click
    Finished
    .
After you complete this task, the virtual server is configured to use the previously-enabled Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile, as well as the specified Traffic Acceleration profile.

About setting up the Ultra Fast L4 CPS profile on VIPRION B4450 blades

You can use the Configuration utility to set up the Ultra Fast L4 CPS profile on your VIPRION B4450 blade.
The VIPRION B4450 blade does not support TurboFlex, but has similar capabilities to TurboFlex-enabled platforms.

Provision the Traffic Accelerator Module (TAM) using the Configuration utility

You can use the Configuration utility to provision the Traffic Accelerator Module (TAM) on your system.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Resource Provisioning
    .
  2. For the Traffic Accelerator Module, select the check box and select
    Minimum
    .
  3. Click
    Submit
    .

Create a Traffic Acceleration profile

You can create a Traffic Acceleration profile to manage Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Profiles
    Protocol
    Traffic Acceleration
    .
    The Traffic Acceleration screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a unique name for the profile.
  4. From the
    Parent Profile
    list, select the profile from which you want to inherit settings.
    The default profile is often used as the parent profile.
    The new profile inherits the values from the parent profile. If the parent is changed, the inherited values in the new profile also change.
  5. Select the
    Custom
    check box if you would like to change the settings for the profile.
  6. For the
    Idle Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds the connection can be idle before it is eligible for deletion.
    The default value is 300000 milliseconds (5 minutes). Use zero (0) to specify an indefinite idle timeout.
  7. If you would like to use Direct Server Return (or nPath routing):
    1. Select the
      DSR Mode
      check box.
    2. For the
      DSR Close Timeout
      setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a DSR connection waits before closing.
    For more information, see the "Configuring nPath Routing" section in the
    BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager: Implementations
    guide at
    support.f5.com
    .
  8. For the
    Time Wait Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a connection is in the TIME-WAIT state before closing.
    The default value is 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds). The range is from 0 to 600,000 milliseconds (10 minutes). A value of 0 implies indefinite.
    This setting is not available if you use DSR.
  9. For the
    TCP Handshake Timeout
    setting, specify the number of milliseconds that a connection waits for the TCP handshake to complete before the connection is eligible for deletion.
    The default value is 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds). A value of 0 implies indefinite.
    This setting is not available if you use DSR.
  10. Click
    Finished
    .
The custom Fast L4 profile appears in the list of Fast L4 profiles.

Create a pool

You can create a pool of servers that you can group together to receive and process traffic.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Pools
    .
    The Pools list screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Pool screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a name for the pool.
    Names must begin with a letter, and can contain only letters, numbers, and the underscore (_) character.
    The pool name is limited to 63 characters.
  4. Using the
    New Members
    setting, add each resource that you want to include in the pool:
    1. In the
      Node Name
      field, type a name for the node portion of the pool member.
    2. In the
      Address
      field, type an IP address.
    3. In the
      Service Port
      field, type a port number, or select a service name from the list.
    4. In the
      Priority
      field, type a priority number.
    5. Click
      Add
      .
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
  6. Repeat these steps for each pool you want to create.

Create a Traffic Acceleration virtual server

If you want the virtual server to perform source network address translation (SNAT), you must create a custom SNAT pool before you create the virtual server.
After you create a server pool, you create a Traffic Acceleration virtual server that references the Traffic Acceleration profile and the pool that you created.
The Traffic Acceleration virtual server can support only the one Traffic Acceleration profile.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Virtual Servers
    .
    The Virtual Server List screen opens.
  2. Click the
    Create
    button.
    The New Virtual Server screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a unique name for the virtual server.
  4. From the
    Type
    list, select
    Traffic Acceleration
    .
  5. In the
    Destination Address/Mask
    field, type the destination IP address in CIDR format.
    The supported format is address/prefix, where the prefix length is in bits. For example, an IPv4 address/prefix is
    10.0.0.1
    or
    10.0.0.0/24
    , and an IPv6 address/prefix is
    ffe1::0020/64
    or
    2001:ed8:77b5:2:10:10:100:42/64
    . When you use an IPv4 address without specifying a prefix, the BIG-IP system automatically uses a
    /32
    prefix.
    The IP address you type must be available and not in the loopback network.
  6. From the
    Service Port
    list, select one or all service ports.
  7. From the
    Protocol
    list, select
    TCP
    .
  8. From the
    Traffic Acceleration Profile
    list, select the Traffic Acceleration profile that you created previously.
  9. From the
    Source Address Translation
    list, do one of the following:
    • If you do not need SNAT functionality, retain the default value (
      None
      ).
    • If you want the virtual server to perform source network address translation, select
      SNAT
      , and from the
      SNAT Pool
      list, select the SNAT pool you created as a prerequisite.
  10. In the Resources area, from the
    Default Pool
    list, select the name of the pool that you created previously.
  11. Click
    Finished
    .
After you complete this task, the virtual server is configured to use the previously-enabled Ultra Fast Layer 4 CPS profile, as well as the specified Traffic Acceleration profile.