Direct Access 2012 and f5

DirectAccess 2012, a feature in Windows Server 2012, provides seamless remote access by allowing clients to connect to an internal network without needing a traditional VPN. It is often used to enhance security and connectivity for organizations that manage remote employees. Integrating DirectAccess with F5, a leading application delivery and security solution, can provide load balancing and high availability to ensure smooth, uninterrupted access for users.

When configured with F5's BIG-IP appliances, DirectAccess clients gain enhanced stability and redundancy. F5 BIG-IP can be set up to distribute DirectAccess requests across multiple DirectAccess servers, optimizing load and ensuring connectivity even if one server fails. This approach provides a reliable experience, especially for organizations with high demand for remote connections.

Additionally, F5’s SSL offloading capability reduces the encryption load on DirectAccess servers, freeing up resources and improving performance. F5 can also implement enhanced security features, such as client authentication and traffic monitoring, adding an extra layer of protection.

While configuring F5 with DirectAccess 2012 requires technical setup, the benefits include increased performance, reliability, and scalability for remote access solutions, making it an ideal choice for businesses seeking to support a mobile or remote workforce effectively.

I'm looking for a document on how to use F5 with two DA servers. F5 will provide the load balancing and the two DA servers (cluster) will be the fault tolerant. In the DA wizard for the DIP (dedicated IP address) do we use the VIP? Any article on this? Thanks.

Impressive work Ryan. Shame about Teredo since Microsoft say it's faster than IPHTTPS. Still, when combined with GTM, this is the only documented solution to allow Manage Out in a Multisite deployment of DirectAccess. I think you've accidentally duplicated the lower screenshots though.

Just posted the guidance here It should eventually make it into a deployment guide, but until then, that blog post should have the information you need. Sorry for the wait, and let me know if anything in there needs clarification!

Hi Ryan, Not seen any of the promised Manage Out guidance, neither IPHTTPS nor Teredo. Did you succeed in getting MO working at all? Many thanks.

Hi,

do you have any document to implementing Direct access 2012 with F5 load balancing. the document i have found is for UAG only but we are implementing direct access 2012 with external load balancer(F5).