Self IP and Virtual IP

relationship between self ip and the virtual ip in F5?

 

The self-IP defines the IP address range of the associated VLAN.

 

Virtual IPs (addresses) should be in the same IP address space as specified by the self-ip/vlan.

 

This means that the Virtual Addresses share the MAC address of the (floating) self-IP, and this is the MAC address sent out when the LTM sends Gratuitous ARPs for Virtual Addresses after going Active.

 

You can create Virtual Addresses that are not in the self-IP address space of the VLAN. You need to provide explicit routing for the Virtual Address to the self-IP in this case.

 

Also, the LTM will not send Gratuitous ARPs for such Virtual IPs after going Active - this may cause traffic issues when failover occurs.