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mcafferata_2837's avatar
mcafferata_2837
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Oct 02, 2017

F5 integration with DataPower Gateway

Hi folks, perhaps this is not a question specifically about F5 but perhaps you could give me some insight into this discussion. We're currently setting up an instance of IBM's API Management solution, and we were wondering if it would be advisable to place the API gateway behind our F5 infraestructure (ASM/LTM). Since DataPower already has WAF and load balancing functionality, do you think it would be of any value to set it up this way? Have you heard of other people doing similar deployments? We'd like to anticipate any potential conflicts that may result in case we go through with this configuration.

 

Thanks in advance

 

BIG-IP
security

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  • Chris_Grant's avatar
    Chris_Grant
    Icon for Employee rankEmployee
    Oct 04, 2017

    A lot of this depends on your exact use case. If you are planning to use your Datapower as a WAF and Load balancer, then it does seem somewhat redundant to place it behind a BigIP. Having said that, I would ensure you are comparing apples to apples. ASM in particular is a remarkable piece of software (yes, I know I am biased) and may well offer features not found in the Datapower.

     

    I would recommend that you look at what you plan to do with your Datapower, look carefully at areas where they overlap, and make a decision from there. You may also want to talk to your account team. They won't be selling you anything, but they can likely pull together some information on how the WAF and load balancer in Datapower compare to ASM and LTM, allowing you to make a more informed decision.

     

  • mcafferata_2837's avatar
    mcafferata_2837
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Oct 04, 2017

    Hello Chris, we've been looking into this with other team members and a consultant. From an administration point of view, we're not solid enough with DataPower to manage a production environment yet, so we'll probably be sticking with F5 for waf and load balancing (there is some bias over here too!). For the latter, it seems we can take a mixed approach (by which one of the DataPower devices handles the load balancing for the cluster of gateways, and our F5 would be doing the same but for three servers in which the developer portal runs).

     

    Thanks!