A Complete F5 Certification Guide
Although it is not a dominant networking player like Cisco, F5 does have a solid position in enterprise customers. The organization also enjoys a complementary relationship with several of the “800-pound gorillas” of IT, including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Microsoft Azure, and VMware.
Like many IT vendors, F5 supports a comprehensive F5 certification program with a defined F5 certification path for IT professionals.
This F5 Master Certification Guide contains a comprehensive introduction to the various F5 certifications, recommended F5 certification paths, and the costs associated with acquiring F5 certification. The guide also discusses the job opportunities related to F5 certification.
What is F5 Certification?
The F5 certification program has four tracks related to different job roles: Administration, Product Specialization, Solutions Engineering for Cloud and Security, and Sales. The path begins with Exam 101 Application Delivery Fundamentals, and each higher-level F5 certification builds upon the knowledge and proficiency required for this certification.
The higher level certifications in the F5 certification path are the F5 Certified Technical Specialist (F5-CTS), the F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE), and the F5 Certified Technical Professional, Sales (F5-CTP, Sales).
Candidates for F5 Certified Technical Specialist have the option to certify with one or more specializations:
BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
BIG-IP Domain Name System (DNS)
BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM)
BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
F5 Certified Solution Expert candidates have the choice of two F5 certification paths with separate F5 Certified Solution Expert specializations for Security and Cloud.
The final F5 certification is the F5 Certified Technical Professional, Sales (F5-CTP, Sales). This stand-alone credential is explicitly designed for technical professionals who work for F5 channel partners—solution providers and consulting firms. The F5-CTP Sales certification shares the same starting exam—Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101)—as all other F5 certifications.
All F5 certification exams are administered through Pearson Vue and can be taken in a local Pearson VUE testing center. Each F5 certification exam costs $135. Candidates who fail an exam may retake it, but they must wait a designated amount of time— which varies from 15 days for the first retake to a full year for the fifth or subsequent attempt.
Certification candidates and F5-certified professionals can use the F5 Candidate Portal to schedule their F5 certification exams and track their overall F5 certification status. Once they have earned one or more F5 certifications, they may publish their F5 certification credentials—badges, certifications, and transcripts—to third parties they identify, such as current and potential employers.
F5 provides a number of exam preparation resources for F5 certification candidates:
F5 certification exam blueprints outline the topics for an exam and what should be studied, and
F5 certification exam study guides provide examples and links to in-depth information about specific issues.
F5 vs. Cisco: Which One is Better
Cisco is arguably the 'big dog' in networking, and its professional certifications are among the most sought-after badges of technical proficiency. IT professionals can carve out an impressive career in networking by following its certification path.
Although a leader in application delivery networking, F5 is a niche player in the overall networking market. For this reason, networking professionals should consider F5 certification complementary to credentials from Cisco or another of F5's cloud and technology partners.
The decision to pursue an F5 certification path should be guided by how heavily F5 technology features in your organization's or prospective employer's IT roadmap.
F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator
The F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification is designed for IT professionals who handle the day-to-day management of an F5 Application Delivery Network (ADN).
The F5-CA serves as the foundation for all of F5's higher-level technical certifications, and validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Troubleshooting basic virtual server connectivity issues
Troubleshooting basic hardware issues
Troubleshooting basic performance issues
Troubleshooting basic device management connectivity issues
Opening a support ticket with F5
Identifying and reporting current device status
Maintaining system configuration
Managing existing system and application services
Required exam: Earning the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator requires passing Exam 201: TMOS Administration.
Prerequisites: Prior to attempting TMOS Administration (Exam 201), candidates must pass Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101).
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have a basic understanding of network fundamentals, protocols, and common traffic management concepts, and must be capable of performing day-to-day operations on TMOS-based devices.
F5 Certified Technical Professional, Sales
The F5 Certified Technical Professional, Sales is designed for sales engineers who work for F5 channel partners — such as resellers and solution providers.
The F5-CTP, Sales certification validates a candidate's understanding of these F5 topics and skills:
Discovery
Education
Proposal
Supporting the Close
Ongoing support/maintenance
Required exam: Required exam: Earning the F5 Certified Technical Professional, Sales certification requires passing one exam — Pre-Sales Fundamentals (Exam 202).
Prerequisites: Before attempting this certification, candidates must have either passed Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101) or earned the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA) certification.
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have a proven track record of selling F5 solutions.
F5 Certified Technical Specialist (F5-CTS)
The F5 Certified Technical Specialist certification is designed for networking professionals who design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot enterprise application networks that are built upon advanced F5 product features.
Candidates may pursue one or more of four F5-CTS specialization tracks:
F5-CTS BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
F5-CTS BIG-IP Domain Name System (DNS)
F5-CTS BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM)
F5-CTS BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
The first two F5-CTS certs (BIG-IP LTM and BIG-IP DNS) are prerequisites to the expert-level F5 Certified Solutions Expert, Cloud certification, while the LTM, ASM, and APM are prerequisites for F5 Certified Solutions Expert Security certification.
F5-CTS BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
The F5-CTS BIG-IP LTM certification is designed for networking professionals performing day-to-day operations and basic troubleshooting of TMOS-based devices installed in various application environments.
The F5 LTM certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills in the following areas:
Architecting an application
Setting-up, administering, and securing LTM devices
Deploying applications
Troubleshooting basic virtual server connectivity issues
Troubleshooting basic hardware issues
Troubleshooting basic performance issues
Required exams: Earning the F5-CTS LTM certification requires passing two exams — BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy (Exam 301A) and BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Maintain and Troubleshoot (Exam 301B).
Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Prior to attempting this certification, candidates must earn the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification.
Required experience: Minimally qualified candidates (MQC) for this F5 certification must understand the underlying principles of BIG-IP LTM and the OSI stack. They must also be able to design, implement, maintain, optimize, and troubleshoot advanced BIG-IP LTM product features.
F5-CTS BIG-IP Domain Name System (DNS)
The F5-CTS BIG-IP DNS certification is designed for networking professionals who deliver scalable intelligent DNS/Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) infrastructure across multiple data centers.
The F5 DNS certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Basic understanding of DNS protocol
How to deploy and test configurations
Troubleshoot and remedy misconfiguration issues
Required exam: Earning the F5-CTS DNS certification requires passing one exam — BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy (Exam 302).
Prerequisites: Prior to attempting this certification, candidates must earn the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification.
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have at least one year of experience as BIG-IP DNS administrator with the ability to deploy and test configurations, and troubleshoot and remedy common misconfigurations.
F5-CTS BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM)
The F5-CTS BIG-IP ASM certification is designed for networking professionals who design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot the full functionality of BIG-IP ASM product features to assure the security of an application delivery network.
The F5 ASM certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Architecture/design and policy creation
Integrate BIG-IP SAM with other platforms
Policy maintenance and optimization
Reviewing event logs and mitigating attacks
Troubleshooting
Required exam: Earning the F5-CTS ASM certification requires passing one exam — BIG-IP ASM Specialist (Exam 303).
Prerequisites: Prior to attempting this certification, candidates must earn the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification.
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have at least one year of experience as a senior network, system, or application security engineer delivering highly-available, secure, and scalable applications with ASM technology.
F5-CTS BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
The F5-CTS BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) certification is designed for networking professionals who manage the day-to-day operation of application delivery networks based on F5 Networks technology.
The F5 APM certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA), single sign-on (SSO), federated authorization, and mobile device management (MDM)
Network and application access
Visual policy editor
Deploying and maintaining iApps
Administering and troubleshooting BIG-IP APM
Security
Required exam: Earning the F5-CTS ASM certification requires passing one exam — BIG-IP APM Specialist (Exam 304).
Prerequisites: Prior to attempting this certification, candidates must earn the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification.
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates be proficient in configuring, implementing, troubleshooting, and maintaining BIG-IP APM in various application environments.
F5 Certified Solution Expert
The F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE) certifications are the highest level of the F5 certification path. An F5-CSE certification validates that the holder is highly proficient in architecting, designing, and troubleshooting complex solutions incorporating both F5 and non-F5 products.
Candidates for this expert-level credential can choose between two tracks:
F5 Certified Solution Expert, Cloud (F5-CSE, Cloud)
F5 Certified Solution Expert, Security (F5-CSE, Security)
F5 Certified Solution Expert, Cloud (F5-CSE, Cloud)
The F5-CSE Cloud certification is designed for network and application architects who assess and determine business requirements and then satisfy those requirements with a F5 cloud solution. The F5-CSE, Cloud certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Foundational cloud concepts
Identify business requirements
Develop technical requirements
Cloud infrastructure design
Cloud migration
Cloud deployment
Cloud orchestration and automation
Required exam: Earning the F5-CTS ASM certification requires passing one exam — Cloud Solutions (Exam 402).
Prerequisites: Before attempting this certification, candidates must earn two certifications — F5-CTS BIG-IP LTM and F5-CTS BIG-IP DNS.
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have experience integrating cloud infrastructure with other technologies into optimal cloud solutions.
F5 Certified Solution Expert, Security (F5-CSE, Security)
The F5-CSE Security certification is designed for security professionals who assess and determine the cybersecurity requirements of the business and then satisfy those requirements with technical security solutions.
The F5-CSE, Security certification validates a candidate's understanding of these topics and skills:
Assessing requirements
Designing a unified solution that includes multiple security modules
Building security solution
Maintaining security solution/Ongoing maintenance
Identifying, diagnosing, and resolving security solutions issues
Required exam: Earning the F5-CSE, Security certification requires passing one exam — Security Solutions (Exam 401).
Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Prior to attempting this certification, candidates must pass three of the four F5-CTS BIG-IP specialization certifications:
F5-CTS BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
F5-CTS BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM)
F5-CTS BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
Required experience: F5 recommends that candidates have practical experience designing security solutions leveraging F5's BIG-IP, BIG-IQ, IP Intelligence (IPI), WebSafe, and MobileSafe technologies.
How Much Does It Cost to Get F5 Certified?
F5 certification costs are based on the number of exams per badge, with each exam costing $180. For example, \the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA) requires two exams, so the total cost is $320.
F5 Recertification and Renewal
F5 certifications are valid for two years from the date that certification was achieved. F5 certification expiration is based on the last, highest certification that the F5 certified individual has achieved. So, for example, someone who holds the F5-CTS BIG-IP LTM cert will have previously earned the prerequisite F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA) credential. Their certification expiration is driven by the date they earned the F5-CTS LTM.
In order to renew their F5 certification, the F5 certified individual is only required to retake the last exam in the highest certification they achieved.
Head to the F5 candidate portal to determine your certification dates and status. Three months prior to your certification expiration date, you'll receive a monthly email to register for a recertification exam at the Pearson VUE website.
Individuals who pass the expiration date without recertifying are no longer certified. However, there is a 30-day grace period beyond the expiration date for them to take the recertification exam and reactivate their certification.
F5 Certification Salary and Career Information
ZipRecruiter estimates the average salaries for F5 administrators to be $77,503 per year, with top earners making $113,500.
A takeaway from this is that focusing laser-focused on the fewer F5-specific jobs could deliver a premium F5 certification salary. However, a combined Cisco and F5 certification path might be a better personal development strategy, offering a larger pool of well-paying job opportunities.
F5 Certification Training
Good luck as you start your F5 certification path. CBT Nuggets offers a range of F5 training materials for BIG-IP Specialists and Adminsorato tests. Get started on your journey with our F5 Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101) online training.
Our course offerings change periodically as we support the F5 certification roadmap, so be sure to check CBT Nuggets for new and updated online courses relevant to your personal F5 career journey.
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