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Rajnish Niraj - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Fencesense
Reseller
Feb 26, 2023
Well designed, high availability, and suitable for large enterprises
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution could improve the ease of use, the management could be simplified. Other solutions are easier to use."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is used for deploying applications.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP LTM is the operating system. It is nicely designed and orchestrated. The solution has all the features that are necessary for medium to large-sized enterprises would need to ensure their application are available throughout the globe. The LTM and DTM features combined provide a great service to organizations for presenting around the world which includes load balancing. 

    If there are any problems with the applications during integration they can be managed well with the solutions' ability to provide visibility.

    What needs improvement?

    The solution could improve the ease of use, the management could be simplified. Other solutions are easier to use.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for approximately 15 years.

    Buyer's Guide
    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
    June 2026
    Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
    902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability of F5 BIG-IP LTM is great.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    50 percent of my customers are using this solution.

    F5 BIG-IP LTM is a scalable solution.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have not needed technical support from F5 BIG-IP LTM.

    How was the initial setup?

    If you are an expert in F5 BIG-IP LTM then the solution is simple to implement. If someone is new to implementing the solution it is difficult.

    The length of time it takes to do the deployment depends on the size of the network it is being deployed in.

    What about the implementation team?

    We do the implementation of the solution.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    This solution comes with a standard license, and there are also extra licenses that can be obtained. The licenses are purchasable for durations of one, two, three, and five years. The hardware is something to consider when purchasing

    What other advice do I have?

    I recommend this solution to my customers.

    I rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
    PeerSpot user
    John Bayangos - PeerSpot reviewer
    Lead Infrastructure Engineer at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Jan 12, 2023
    Reliable with good support and useful load-balancing features
    Pros and Cons
    • "The setup is pretty easy."
    • "The GUI needs improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We usually use the product for load balancing, as a web server, and for web traffic.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We're hosting a website for our company, and the solution has helped a lot with load balancing. 

    What is most valuable?

    The load-balancing features are great. You can do several different types, depending on the application. 

    The solution offers good automation. 

    It's stable and reliable. 

    The solution can scale.

    The setup is pretty easy.

    They offer good technical support.

    What needs improvement?

    The GUI needs improvement. They need some sort of help section in the GUI, like descriptions of certain features. There are a lot of features, and it is hard to remember what does what. Having some sort of prompt or pop-up in the GUI would help a lot. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for around six years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability and reliability are great. I'd rate stability nine out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is good. I'd rate it nine out of ten. It's easy to expand. 

    We have two or three users directly dealing with the solution. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support has been helpful and responsive so far. 

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    While I was involved in the on-premises deployment. For the cloud, I didn't have to do much. It's a pretty straightforward setup. The only complex part is building the HA since it's linked to following a certain procedure. In that case, the ease of implementation depends on the experience of the one who's going to deploy it.

    Two people should be able to handle deployment. 

    What was our ROI?

    We have witnessed a return on investment. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I'd rate the pricing three out of ten. It is quite expensive to scale up. 

    What other advice do I have?

    The product can be deployed on-premises and on the cloud.

    If a customer really wants a robust and stable load-balancing appliance, they should go for LTM.

    I'd rate it eight out of ten. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
    June 2026
    Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
    902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Head of Presales at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
    MSP
    Jul 2, 2022
    Flexible solution that allows seamless addition of servers
    Pros and Cons
    • "BIG-IP LTM's most valuable feature is that it allows you to seamlessly add more servers without impacting your application's configuration."
    • "The initial setup can be complex - it's quite flexible in terms of configuration, but the person configuring it needs to understand the application side, the network side, and the server."

    What is our primary use case?

    BIG-IP LTM is mainly used to load balance applications.

    What is most valuable?

    BIG-IP LTM's most valuable feature is that it allows you to seamlessly add more servers without impacting your application's configuration. It's also very flexible because you can use iRules to manipulate the traffic.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using BIG-IP LTM for over ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    BIG-IP LTM is quite stable - sometimes there are security vulnerabilities, but they inform us when a patch is needed. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    BIG-IP LTM is scalable - once F5 is installed, you can keep adding servers behind it.

    How are customer service and support?

    BIG-IP LTM's technical support is good - once you log a case with them, the support is quite prompt and responsive.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup can be complex - it's quite flexible in terms of configuration, but the person configuring it needs to understand the application side, the network side, and the server. The speed of deployment depends on the application requirement and the application deployment cycle.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    BIG-IP LTM is considered a premium product, so it's quite expensive and isn't affordable for all customers. F5's licensing is based on modules, so there are separate charges depending on which features you want.

    What other advice do I have?

    Before implementing BIG-IP LTM, you should understand your expectations and requirements, especially from the application team. Putting BIG-IP LTM into a not-so-critical environment would be very expensive, so you may want to consider more medium-range solutions that can do the same job. I would give BIG-IP LTM a rating of ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partners
    PeerSpot user
    UzochikwaEnunwa - PeerSpot reviewer
    Enterprise architect at Kyndryl
    Real User
    Jun 10, 2022
    Improves the resilience and quality of the application but needs more data granularity
    Pros and Cons
    • "F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) improves the resilience and quality of the application itself, the speed and the user experience for the application. The data that the users need from the application is actually acquired faster. So, it provides faster data acquisition."
    • "It would be good to have better traffic and better data. It would be nice to have more granularity to see packets in terms of the header details, the analytics, etc. It would be nice if that was also part of it and to have analytics added to the traffic."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for server management and application traffic, that is, to load balance between traffic for applications coming from their service. Users coming in are then able to have their traffic go to the service that has the suitable resources or adequate resources.

    What is most valuable?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) improves the resilience and quality of the application itself, the speed and the user experience for the application. The data that the users need from the application is actually acquired faster. So, it provides faster data acquisition.

    It also provides lower latency.

    What needs improvement?

    It would be good to have better traffic and better data. It would be nice to have more granularity to see packets in terms of the header details, the analytics, etc. It would be nice if that was also part of it and to have analytics added to the traffic.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using it for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is pretty stable. It's one of the most stable products that I know, when it comes to load balancing and traffic.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is very scalable. We have thousands of users.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support is top notch.

    How was the initial setup?

    It is pretty easy to set up.

    Because there were other parties involved, the deployment took us about a week. Normally, it takes a couple of hours.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did it in-house.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise you to go for it because it's one of the top three solutions in my opinion. I would rate it at seven on a scale from one to ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Hilman Gunawan - PeerSpot reviewer
    System Engineer at PT Nusantara Compnet Integrator
    Real User
    Jun 2, 2022
    Has good support and valuable load balancing features
    Pros and Cons
    • "We chose F5 BIG because of its technical support as well as its documentation."
    • "To improve the product, they could add more load balancing solutions in Kubernetes."
    • "The biggest concern for my clients is the pricing."

    What is our primary use case?

    Currently, we use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager as our traffic management solution. As a consultant, it is project-based with my clients rather than hands-on. Our clients use the solution to load balance their current application server in the DMZ and also in the data center.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of the F5 BIG-IP LTM solution is load balancing.

    What needs improvement?

    To improve the product, they could add more load balancing solutions in Kubernetes.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP LTM for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP is a stable solution. It is quite mature and does not have many concerns.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is good. We use it for active and passive, and we also do some TCMP.

    How are customer service and support?

    I would rate technical support a four out of five. Their support is quite good, however, they could be a bit more responsive and react faster to requests.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The biggest concern for my clients is the pricing.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Before choosing F5 BIG-IP, we compared the product with other vendors. We chose F5 BIG because of its technical support as well as its documentation. Their knowledge base is easy to read and access to information is available on their website. It is a complete product for an ADC solution. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate the solution an eight out of ten and recommend this solution to users that are looking to use it.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Nirav_Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
    Technical Solutions Architect at MindTree
    Real User
    May 29, 2022
    Capability is good but integration and scalability need improvement
    Pros and Cons
    • "The capability is at a seven or eight out of ten."
    • "We use it to publicly deliver applications."
    • "In terms of native integrations, there is a lot of instability. Also, integration is not robust with F5."
    • "The technical support is very poor. They do not deliver on their SLAs, and even when we escalate the issue, we do not get a good response in 24 hours."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it to publicly deliver applications.

    What is most valuable?

    The capability is at a seven or eight out of ten.

    What needs improvement?

    In terms of native integrations, there is a lot of instability. Also, integration is not robust with F5.

    We need a very large team to manage the solution. Had it been cloud native, it would have been very seamless, but because it's not cloud native, it does not integrate really well.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using it for a few years.

    It's a cloud solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    From a scalability point of view, this solution is not really up to the mark. The on-demand requirements or on-demand scalability options are not good.

    We have close to 5,000 applications hosted on F5 that are delivered.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support is very poor. They do not deliver on their SLAs, and even when we escalate the issue, we do not get a good response in 24 hours.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward. For a very basic, standard F5 setup, the best practices based deployment will work fine. However, for very large scale deployment models, the recommendations that come in from F5 may not really meet your requirements.

    For a typical setup, you would like to mimic how it's been set up on-premises, but this is not the way you would set it up on the cloud. You will end up hitting limitations on the cloud, and you would have to rearchitect your overall design or configurations when you deploy it. As a result, the setup for the hybrid model is not straightforward.

    What other advice do I have?

    We strongly recommend not to go with F5 when internal teams or verticals want to mimic the same architecture.

    In terms of the capability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) at seven or eight, on a scale from one to ten, and in terms of scalability at four or five. Overall, I would rate it at six.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Md. Robiul Awoul - PeerSpot reviewer
    Deputy manager at Oculin Tech
    Real User
    May 18, 2022
    Helpful support, reliable, but implementation could be easier
    Pros and Cons
    • "I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to be stable."
    • "We have only opened up two support tickets with the support and on both occasions, they provided a good service."
    • "There are not very many areas for improvement, but the price is high."
    • "The price of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is too high."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for the web application firewall and a load balancing system. We are using it in a government project.

    What needs improvement?

    There are not very many areas for improvement, but the price is high.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for approximately four months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to be stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is a scalable solution.

    We have approximately nine people using this solution in my organization.

    How are customer service and support?

    We have only opened up two support tickets with the support and on both occasions, they provided a good service.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup of the F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) was complex and could be made easier. The full process took approximately three weeks.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used consultants for the implementation of the solution. 

    We have 10 to 12 managers supporting this solution.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is too high.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) a seven out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
    PeerSpot user
    Michael-Yuen - PeerSpot reviewer
    COO at International Household Retail Company Ltd
    Real User
    Mar 26, 2022
    Reliable and good support, but ease of use could improve
    Pros and Cons
    • "F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is a stable and reliable solution."
    • "F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager could improve by having an FNI feature for a single source to multi-domain load balancing."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager for load balancing. For example, I create the virtual server, and in there we have a pool and member server. This is used for simple load balancing.

    We are using the on-premise and cloud versions of the solution.

    What needs improvement?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager could improve by having an FNI feature for a single source to multi-domain load balancing.

    When I was using the solution I was using the basic functions and I found it difficult to handle some of the more advanced features. I needed assistance from my IT department or the vendors themself. There should be more workshops are places to gain knowledge on how to use the solution. You need specific skill sets to use it.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager(LTM) within the past 12 months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is a stable and reliable solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Our whole IT department is using the solution with some application teams. We have approximately 50 people using the solution in the IT department.

    How are customer service and support?

    When there is an issue it is first looked at by our internal team rather a ticket being opened directly with the vendor. I open the tickets to our internal team and if they cannot solve the issue, they will escalate to the vendor. The technical support from F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is good.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did not do the implementation ourselves.

    What other advice do I have?

    It is important to know how the solution works. For example, how to set up the interface, routing, pools, and the implementation steps. After the basic configurations, you will understand you may need or want to try to learn more of the features, such as the layers of the SNI. It is ideal to start with the very basic implementation first. We have been doing the day-to-day operation.

    When it comes to troubleshooting, it is important to know how to isolate the problem, analyze it, and be fast to solve them when it appears.

    I rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager a six out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Network and Security Engineer at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Feb 12, 2022
    Network traffic management tool for faster applications; offers a good setup experience, stability, and scalability
    Pros and Cons
    • "Stable and scalable network traffic management solution for applications. It has good performance."
    • "F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager has good performance."
    • "The price for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is very high. This aspect could be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager for our applications. We have six applications and 16 servers currently. We make all our applications and utilize this tool. Some applications are published on LSM.

    What needs improvement?

    The price for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is very high. This aspect could be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for one year, within the last year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We find this tool stable. We are sensitive to changes, and for us, F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is scalable.

    How was the initial setup?

    We had a good setup experience with this tool, but we had to raise a ticket with support for assistance.

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager ourselves. We didn't use a consultant or integrator for implementation, but we contacted their support team.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is a high-priced tool. We pay for its license yearly.

    What other advice do I have?

    F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager has good performance.

    Your success with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager will depend on how much you understand how the application is working.

    Deployment of this tool took two hours.

    We have 600 users of this tool, and currently, there's no requirement for increasing its usage.

    We have one manager and two technical staff who takes care of the deployment and maintenance of this tool. They're building applications, and they're using this tool.

    I'm recommending F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager to others who want to start using it.

    On a scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I'm rating F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) an eight.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Total Solution System Engineer at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
    Real User
    Oct 24, 2021
    Better support than similar solutions in the same market
    Pros and Cons
    • "I think F5's tech support may be better than Citrix's because they mainly focus on the ADC product, but Citrix support covers Hypervisor, XenMobile, FAS, and ADC. And from my experience, sometimes, we face some issues that Citrix cannot handle."
    • "You can't go wrong with F5 because F5 and Citrix ADC are like the most advanced BMW in the market."
    • "F5 could improve the rule-setting capabilities in the GUI, and they need to simplify web management. For example, the menus in the Citrix GUI are easier to navigate, with a clean structure and layout."

    What is our primary use case?

    We often use the Citrix ADC and F5 BIG-IP LTM together, because they have similar features. But, normally, we use Citrix solutions because we are Citrix providers in Bangkok, so we're not usually working with F5. However, there are some projects where we deploy F5 alongside Citrix or substitute it for the Citrix solution. 

    What needs improvement?

    F5 could improve the rule-setting capabilities in the GUI, and they need to simplify web management. For example, the menus in the Citrix GUI are easier to navigate, with a clean structure and layout. It helps you navigate and find what you're looking for, but some of the menus in the F5 GUI are not very intuitive. You're doing the same task, but sometimes it's on the left, sometimes on the right, etc. It should all be on the same setup group menu or something like that. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been working with BIG-IP LTM for almost 10 years. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I think F5's tech support may be better than Citrix's because they mainly focus on the ADC product, but Citrix support covers Hypervisor, XenMobile, FAS, and ADC. And from my experience, sometimes, we face some issues that Citrix cannot handle. In our first year, Citrix support was not very good, but in the second year, it was okay.

    How was the initial setup?

    Each product can be simple or complex to set up in its own way, but Citrix setup is more straightforward overall. Citrix doesn't have any restriction on modules or on features, so the features are exactly the same whether it's a small or large deployment. Only the performance is different, but everything else is the same.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I can't say much about the price because our sales department handles pricing. I'm a technical engineer, but I can say that all of these products are in the same price range.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate F5 BIG-IP LTM nine out of 10. You can't go wrong with F5 because F5 and Citrix ADC are like the most advanced BMW in the market. So if what you need is deployment, localizing, high availability, and web balancing for your web server application server, both products can give you the same results. Both are good.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: June 2026
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.