Lightboard Lessons: HTTP/2

HTTP/2 is the new version (developed in 2015) of the HTTP protocol.  It comes with several key enhancements over the older HTTP 1.0 and HTTP 1.1 versions.  Check out the video below to learn about the new HTTP/2 protocol, why you should use it, and how the BIG-IP can help with your transition from older versions to the new HTTP/2.

 

 

Related Resources:

Managing HTTP Traffic With The HTTP/2 Profile

Goodbye SPDY, Hello HTTP/2

Published Jul 20, 2016
Version 1.0
application delivery
http2
lbl
LTM
  • Fulmetal's avatar
    Fulmetal
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jul 25, 2016

    Wonderful sum up John ! We really appreciate your job . As you said, putting f5 big ip as full proxy for HTTP/2 is a very useful feature , but what about security and ASM ; the binary format will be translated in order to apply signatures on the payload ? With this full proxy deployment ,we can't get benefits of Server PUSH until backend server migrate to HTTP2 ? Is there any server side implementation ?

     

    Many thanks John ! Fulmetal

     

  • ltwagnon's avatar
    ltwagnon
    Ret. Employee
    Jul 25, 2016

    Fantastic questions, Fulmetal!

     

    Acting as a gateway for HTTP/2 to HTTP1.x traffic, the BIG-IP will translate the binary format (via the HTTP profile) from the client's HTTP/2 request and then the ASM will inspect the translated payload and apply any necessary signatures before passing it along to the backend servers (this translation also allows for iRule execution, etc on the payload).

     

    As for the Server PUSH, we currently don't support Server PUSH from a backend HTTP 1.x server, but it's on our roadmap for a future release.

     

    Also, it's best to use version 12.0+ for all this HTTP/2 goodness.

     

    Thanks again for the great questions!

     

  • Fulmetal's avatar
    Fulmetal
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jul 26, 2016

    Many thanks for your answers John ! Looking forward to seeing your useful lightboard again :-)

     

  • arai_a_5902's avatar
    arai_a_5902
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Aug 12, 2016

    Thank you for your session! I've testing HTTP/2 with several configuration, But it seems that Sever SSL doesn't support HTTP/2. (With Server SSL Profile, BIG-IP doesn't add ALPN header on client hello.)

     

    SSL Outbound Visibility solution (such as SECURE WEB GATEWAY) requires Server SSL, so this can lose it's advantage. Do you have any future plan to add HTTP/2 on Server SSL, or can we do it on current version?

     

  • ltwagnon's avatar
    ltwagnon
    Ret. Employee
    Aug 19, 2016

    Thanks arai.a

     

    You are correct about HTTP/2 and Server SSL. It's not there today, but it's on our roadmap. Stay tuned for this feature in a future release!

     

  • Lawrence_377659's avatar
    Lawrence_377659
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Nov 23, 2018

    We just signed on with F5 for Big-IP now at our org... nice product

     

    I think QUIC is meant to solve the gaps that http/2 might have I read.

     

    Planning to enable all our LAMP & LEMP platforms to server HTTP/2 if possible.

     

    Any concerns?

     

  • bradhanson's avatar
    bradhanson
    Icon for Altocumulus rankAltocumulus
    Feb 18, 2021

    this is a great session. thank you!!! it is a bit dated talking about what seems to be a client only HTTP/2 connection.

    Version 14 and 15 seems to have improved the capabilities. Any chance on some good, straightforward, information on this and when various setups would be appropriate moving from client to Big-IP to full HTTP/2 proxy.

    Best regards