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F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (CE) on F5 rSeries FAQs

Published April 5, 2023 | Last modified October 18, 2024

This document provides information on general and specific user queries on the new workflow for deploying CEs on F5 rSeries appliance using Secure Mesh Sites.

Important: Refer to Secure Mesh Site (Early Access) FAQs to learn more about the new Secure Mesh Sites.

What releases are required to deploy F5 Distributed Cloud CE on F5 rSeries Appliances?

The following two key releases will bring in support for deploying F5 Distributed Cloud CE on F5 rSeries:

  1. New Secure Mesh Site functionality in the August release of F5 Distributed Cloud
  2. F5OS-A 1.8.0 release for F5 rSeries

Note: CE on F5 rSeries at launch is in Early Access (EA).

What models of F5 rSeries can a F5 Distributed Cloud CE be deployed on?

CEs can be deployed on F5 rSeries 5K onwards (5600 / 5900 / 10600 / 10800 / 10900 / 12600 / 12800 / 12900)

What version of F5OS is required to run a CE?

F5OS-A v1.8.0 is required to provision a F5 Distributed Cloud CE on F5 rSeries. CEs will be deployed as a "Generic" Tenant and would be deployed as a Virtual Machine (VM).

When will this capability become Generally Available (GA)?

CE on F5 rSeries GA date is being validated. This will be communicated before end of Q4FY24.

What supporting documents will be available to deploy CE on F5 rSeries?

The following docs have been curated to deploy CE on F5 rSeries.

Can I deploy a F5 Distributed Cloud CE & a BIG-IP VE on the same F5 rSeries appliance?

Yes. An F5 Distributed Cloud Services CE on F5 rSeries is deployed as a "Tenant" i.e., a VM. There can be other "Tenants" deployed on the same F5 rSeries appliance, which can include a BIG-IP VE.

What specific use cases does CE on rSeries offer which will add value to environments having BIG-IPs?

With the new release of F5 Distributed Cloud Services and F5OS-A 1.8.0, customers running F5 rSeries appliances can now deploy CEs alongside F5 BIG-IP, allowing customers to easily cloud-enable their on-premises data centers powered by F5. A CE can now be deployed as a VM and easily connected to a customers" F5 Distributed Cloud services tenant. This enables 3 new deployment models:

  1. The “SaaS-Hybrid Global Edge” model connects your CE-enabled rSeries appliances to the F5 Global Network. This enables access to the Global Network as the front door for your public-facing applications, as well as enables delivery of F5 Distributed Cloud services like DDoS Protection and API Protection via SaaS.

  2. The “SaaS-Hybrid Customer Edge” model enables those security services to be deployed locally to your rSeries appliances, with centralized management through the Distributed Cloud Console to enable consistent security wherever CEs are deployed. This enables a “create-once, deploy-anywhere” operational model for security policies, and ensures WAF, API, Bot, and DDoS defenses are properly set up in every location (rSeries, other on-prem, Cloud, edge environments) without any gaps in protection.

  3. The “SaaS-Distributed Customer Edge” model is designed to connect apps in a customer"s public cloud deployment (or another private cloud deployment / DC) to app services in a private environment, fronted by BIG-IP on rSeries. With CEs deployed in both locations, XC App Connect helps enable easy connectivity between apps deployed in public cloud and on-prem data centers with an XC load balancer.

Will BIG-IP and F5 Distributed Cloud CE still be managed separately?

For now, yes. F5 Distributed Cloud CE will fully be managed from F5 Distributed Cloud Console and BIG-IP will be managed through F5OS for rSeries Appliance management and BIG-IP TMOS for classic BIG-IP management. BIG-IP NEXT will be managed through BIG-IP Central Manager.

What is the HA reference architecture for CE on rSeries?

Please refer to this reference architecture that outlines HA models with CE on rSeries.