Applies To:
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F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender
- 12.1.0
Summary:
This release note documents the version 12.1.0 release of F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender.
Contents:
- Platform support
- Browser support
- User documentation for this release
- New in 12.1.0
- Known issues
- Contacting F5 Networks
- Legal notices
Platform support
This version of F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender is supported on the following platforms.
| Platform name | Platform ID |
|---|---|
F5-BIG-DDOS Virtual Edition (VE):
|
Z100 |
DDoS Hybrid Defender requires the appropriate DDoS license. It enables one module flag mod_dos. That is the only module that can be active on the system.
Browser support
DDoS Hybrid Defender supports these browsers and versions:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.x
- Mozilla Firefox 27.x
- Google Chrome 32.x
User documentation for this release
For installation and setup instructions, refer to F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender: Setup. You can find this, and additional documentation that is relevant to this release, on the F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender 12.1.0 Knowledge Center page.
New in 12.1.0
F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender
This release introduces DDoS Hybrid Defender, a hybrid DDoS solution that offers comprehensive protection, high availability, and is easy to deploy and manage. It guards against aggressive volumetric and targeted DDoS attacks, includes hardware-assisted DDoS mitigation, and optionally, connects with Silverline, a cloud-based scrubbing service. DDoS Hybrid Defender defends the application infrastructure with a multi-layered defense that combines DDoS protection, Layer 3-Layer 7 and hardware-assisted DDoS attack mitigation, and SSL decryption capabilities.
Quick Configuration
DDoS Hybrid Defender provides quick configuration, which makes it easy to deploy. The initial setup wizard is fast, and takes you to the quick configuration screens where you can customize DDoS protection as needed for your environment. You establish networking support by creating VLANs, and static routes if necessary. DDoS Hybrid Defender completes the setup required.
High Availability
DDoS Hybrid Defender can be installed onto a dedicated system with a failover system that automatically takes over in case of system failure. Data is synchronized between the two systems ensuring high availability and consistent protection against DDoS attacks. To set up the two systems, follow the instructions in Installing DDoS Hybrid Defender for High Availability in the documentation because F5 recommends installing in a specific order.
Device-level protections
DDoS Hybrid Defender includes device-level protections that prevent DDoS attacks, including those caused by bad headers, DNS queries, flood and sweep attacks, and other attacks designed to exhaust your resources. Basic device-level protections are enabled by default.
Granular protections: Protected objects
DDoS Hybrid Defender lets you protect different types of network devices on the back end, such as application servers, network hosts, DNS servers, routers, and so on, against DDoS attacks. These network devices are called protected objects. You create objects that represent the different types, and select the DoS protections that are applicable to that device.
Logging and reporting
You can view event logs and reports showing DDoS attacks on DDoS Hybrid Defender. If you want to send the logs to a centralized location, remote logging is available.
F5 Silverline DDoS Protection Service
DDoS Hybrid Defender can be integrated with F5 Silverline DDoS Protection Services to enable both an on-premises and cloud DDoS mitigation architecture.
With a current subscription to F5 Silverline DDoS Protection in an Always Available configuration, you can set up DDoS Hybrid Defender to alert the F5 Silverline Cloud-based platform when an attack is underway that approaches customer Internet pipe saturation.
Signaling from DDoS Hybrid Defender to F5 Silverline alerts the F5 Silverline Security Operations Center (SOC) that an attack is underway. The SOC then works with you to migrate traffic to F5 Silverline for mitigation and then traffic normalization.
Known issues
The following known issues apply to the current release of DDoS Hybrid Defender.
| ID number | Description |
|---|---|
| 592819 | On the 5250 platform, DDoS protection in hardware prevents configuration of a whitelist for a protected object. Workaround: Disable hardware support for DDoS protection using the command: modify sys db dos.forceswdos value true.
Note: Disabling DDoS hardware support may impact the performance of the device because then all DoS protection mechanisms are managed in software.
|
| 599520 | If the Help tab in the left pane is open when you edit a protected object, the help does not display. Workaround: Click the Main tab, then return to the Help tab to display the help. |
| 600028 | When configuring Bad Actor Detection in Device Configuration, the number of packets per second (PPS) is per core (TMM). Workaround: When specifying PPS for system-wide Bad Actor Detection, multiply by the number of cores (TMMs) on your system. |
| 600031 | Hardware accelerated DoS protection drops packets based only on source IP address. A sampling of packets is "leaked" to the DoS software to provide visibility for logging and reporting. For this reason, the system provides the total packets dropped based on source IP address. |
| 600039 | The Detection Threshold setting for a DoS attack is per core (TMM), not per device. Since the system has multiple cores (TMMs), the total traffic may be greater than the configured threshold if each core (TMM) sees traffic below the threshold. In this case, the attack is not detected. Set a configured value reflecting the overall total required value divided by the number of cores (TMMs). The number of cores (TMMs) varies by platform. For example, For VE, there are two, by default. The 5250 platform has 8 cores (TMMs). Note that if traffic is unevenly distributed, one core (TMM) may reach the detection threshold while the other cores (TMMs) are still relatively idle. As a result, the device may detect an attack while processing traffic at fairly low levels overall. |
| 611752 | The maximum number of protected objects that you can create on DDoS Hybrid Defender is 40. Workaround: If you need support for creating more than that, follow these steps:
|
| 617314 | If a GUI timeout occurs while on one of the tabs of the Quick Configuration menu, re-logging in results in a blank screen. Workaround: To restore the screen, click Quick Configuration then navigate to the tab. |
| 622838 | DDoS Hybrid Defender does not support deleting the high availability configuration. Call F5 Support if you need to unconfigure high availability. |
| 624184 | If login credentials are specified incorrectly when configuring High Availability, HA configuration does not complete successfully, and no error message is shown. Failure to setup HA is reflected in the top-left corner which shows the device to be in the Standalone state (as opposed to In-Sync). Workaround: Resubmit the configuration details with the correct credentials. |
| 624614 | If you attempt to delete more than 10 protected objects at once, DDoS Hybrid Defender may not complete the deletion process successfully. Therefore, F5 recommends deleting fewer than 10 protected objects at a time. Otherwise, if you need to clean up configuration objects left-over from deleting more than 10, F5 support can help you resolve configuration inconsistencies. |
| 624907 | VLANs and routes created with an underscore (_) in their name may bypass the consistency-check process causing the application to be out of sync with the device. This occurs only if the configuration is modified by some means other than the DDoS Hybrid Defender application. Workaround: Do not use underscores in VLAN and route names, or only make configuration changes using DDoS Hybrid Defender. |
| 626578 | If the connection to Silverline does not succeed when the configuration is entered for the first time, the Silverline configuration may have been lost. Workaround: Click the Silverline tab and re-enter the configuration data. |
| 633115 | Occasionally, the installation of the DDoS Hybrid Defender rpm appears to hang. After several minutes, an error message (file upload failed) could be displayed. If this occurs, first try refreshing the screen and clicking on DoS Protection > Quick Configuration to see if the installation actually completed. If it did, you will see the configuration screens and can proceed with the setup. Otherwise, an error may have occurred while uploading the rpm. Try installing again. If you suspect the rpm is corrupt, re-download the rpm and the md5 file from the F5 downloads site. Use the md5 file to ensure the integrity of the rpm, then proceed with the installation. |
Contacting F5 Networks
For additional information, please visit http://www.f5.com.
Additional resources
You can find additional support resources and technical documentation through a variety of sources.
- The F5 Networks Technical Support web site: https://f5.com/support
- The AskF5 web site: https://support.f5.com/csp/home
- The F5 DevCentral web site: https://devcentral.f5.com/
- AskF5 Publication Preference Center: https://interact.f5.com/AskF5-SubscriptionCenter.html
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