general advice needed

Yes, the systems are reliable for production loads - if BIG-IP VE 10.2 is deployed. The 10.1 trial is a 90 day trial and not intended for production usage. The VE can handle 20 virtual servers running SSL without issues. It's the Transactions Per Second that matter - i.e. a VE, doing SSL without Hardware Acceleration, can handle a certain number of TPS, but there is a finite limit to what software only SSL can do when compared to SSL handled by dedicated crypto chips. It really does depend on the load you intend to throw at it. For better answers for your environment, contact your F5 rep/reseller.