What is F5 Network Certification?
F5 networks are well-known for their software- and appliance-based cloud and security application service solutions based on the company’s BIG-IP product suite. F5’s flagship solution is their BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager.
Although they are not a dominant networking player like Cisco, F5 has a strong position among enterprise customers. They claim that 49 of the Fortune 50 companies use the F5 solution. The company also enjoys a complementary relationship with the ‘800-pound gorillas’, including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Microsoft Azure and VMware.
Like many IT vendors, F5 strongly supports certification programs so that customers and channel partners can access a pool of F5-certified IT professionals with proven skills to design, build, deploy and manage F5-based solutions.
The F5 Certified Professionals program helps you develop career-enhanced technical skills and broad knowledge of F5 products and solutions, including options that emphasize solutions, administration, sales, product specialization, and cloud and security.
F5 offers four certification tracks they are:
Administrator Track
o Administrator Track verifies that you have the basic knowledge needed to disconnect, maintain, and perform basic errors for previously installed and configured F5 products or solutions
Technical Professional Track
o The Technical Professional Track verifies that you have the skills, understanding, and specialized knowledge of F5 solutions, allowing you to contribute more effectively to the F5 ecosystem.
Technical Specialist Track
o The technical expert track verifies that you have the expert-level knowledge to design, implement, and troubleshoot a specific F5 product as part of the overall solution.
Solution Expert Track
o Solution Expert Track verifies that you have the expert-level knowledge needed to design complex, integrated solutions with multiple F5 products
List of F5 Network Certification Exams:
- • F5 Networks (Premium) = F5-101
- • TMOS ADMINISTRATION (Premium) = F5-201
- • BIG-IP LTM SPECIALIST =F5-301A
- • BIG-IP LTM SPECIALISTS MAINTAIN AND TROUBLESHOOT =F5-301B
- • BIG-IP ASM SPECIALIST =F5-303
- • BIG-IP DNS Specialist =F5-302
Featured F5 Network Certification
1) F5 Networks (Premium) = F5-101
The 101-Application Delivery Fundamentals exam is the first exam for you to achieve Certified F5 BIG-IP Administrator status. Successful completion of the Application Delivery Fundamentals exam recognizes the skills and understanding necessary for the day-to-day management of Application Delivery Networks (ADNs).
2) TMOS ADMINISTRATION (Premium) = F5-201
The 201-TMOS Administration exam is the second exam for you to achieve Certified F5 BIG-IP Administrator status. Successful completion of the BIG-IP Administrator exam recognizes the skills and understanding necessary for the day-to-day management of Application Delivery Networks (ADNs). Before attempting TMOS Administration (Exam 201), candidates must pass the Application Delivery Fundamentals (Exam 101). .F5 recommends that candidates have a basic understanding of network fundamentals, protocols and general traffic management concepts and be able to perform day-to-day operations on TMOS-based devices.
3) BIG-IP LTM SPECIALIST =F5-301A
The F5-CTS BIG-IP LTM certification addresses networking professionals’ day-to-day operations and fundamental troubleshooting of TMOS-based devices installed in various application environments. Before attempting the F5-301A certification, candidates must have the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification. Minimum Qualified Candidates (QMC) for this F5 Certification must understand the principles underlying the BIG-IP LTM and OSI stack. They must be able to design, implement, maintain, optimize and troubleshoot advanced BIG-IP LTM product features.
4) BIG-IP LTM SPECIALISTS MAINTAIN AND TROUBLESHOOT =F5-301B
The 301b-LTM Specialist exam is the second exam to earn F5 Certified Technical Specialist, Local Traffic Manager (F5-CTS, LTM) status. The F5-CTS BIG-IP LTM certification addresses networking professionals’ day-to-day operations and fundamental troubleshooting of TMOS-based devices installed in various application environments. Before attempting the F5-301B certification, candidates must have the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification. Minimum Qualifying Candidates (QMC) for this F5 Certification must understand the principles underlying the BIG-IP LTM and OSI stack. They must be able to design, implement, maintain, optimize and troubleshoot advanced BIG-IP LTM product features.
5) BIG-IP ASM SPECIALIST =F5-303
The F5-CTS BIG-IP ASM certification is excellent for networking professionals who design, implement, and maintain. And troubleshoot the full functionality of BIG-IP ASM product features to ensure the security of an application delivery network. An exam must be done to achieve the F5-CTS ASM certification — BIG-IP ASM Specialist (Exam 303). Before attempting this Certification, candidates must earn the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification. 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.
6) BIG-IP DNS Specialist =F5-302
The F5-CTS BIG-IP DNS certification is excellent for networking professionals who provide scalable intelligent DNS/Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) infrastructure across multiple data centres. An exam must be done to earn the F5-CTS DNS certification — BIG-IP LTM Specialist: Architect, Setup, and Deploy (Exam 302). Before attempting this Certification, candidates must reach the F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator certification. This Certification recommends that candidates have at least one year of experience as a BIG-IP DNS administrator who can deploy and test configurations and troubleshoot and resolve common misconfigurations.
F5 Certification Cost
The certification cost is based on the number of exams per badge; each exam costs 135. F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA) requires two exams at a total cost of $270. The F5 Certified Technical Specialist (F5-CTS) speciality costs $406 or $540. The F5 Certified Solutions Expert (F5-CSE) certification costs $912 for the cloud and $1,080 for security.
F5 Certification Salary and Career Information
F5 is supposed to focus on large network environments; One can expect to find F5-related positions such as network specialist, network administrator, network engineer, system engineer, architect, and consultant. The salary in the F5 network is also quite good. In general, and F5-specific job titles, Cisco certifications — CCNA, CCNP, CCIE — were often preferred or required. F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator and F5 Certified Technology Specialist are the most frequently cited F5 certifications.
Generic title searches indicate annual salaries ranging from $80,000 to $125,000, with an average of about $95,000. When we drill down to the subset of F5-specific titles, where F5 Certification is needed, annual F5 salaries range from $95,900,100 to $95,100,700, averaging over $103,000. This suggests employers are willing to pay an F5 certification salary premium of $8,000 compared to specific job titles.
