Overview
As organization’s move sensitive resources to the edge it is critical that security moves to the edge as well. This especially applies when deploying onto bare metal at the edge; such as with Equinix Metal. Equinix Metal provides bare metal “as-a-service” and interconnects with several public and private cloud providers via the Equinix Fabric. The following video walkthroughs provide guidance for deploying a highly available and scalable application delivery infrastructure on top of Equinix Metal utilizing either VMWare or KVM hypervisors.
BIG-IP on bare metal using VMWare ESXi
In this configuration, the BIG-IP instances are deployed on top of VMWare ESXi servers and can operate in either an “active/active” or “active/standby” mode depending upon application requirements and services utilized. As illustrated below, an NGINX edge-tier operates in an active/passive mode providing basic layer 4 load balancing services as well as interacting with the EQ Metal BGP infrastructure. The BIG-IP middle-tier, (hosted on ESXi bare metal servers provides advanced layer 4/7 traffic management and security services.
Rather than walk you through the entire configuration, how about a movie? The video below provides a brief walkthrough deployment of F5 BIG-IP on Equinix Metal with VMWare ESXi.
Note: The video assumes the viewer has a basic understanding of the Equinix Bare Metal platform and the bare metal deployment process. Additionally, it is assumed the reader is familiar with VMware ESXi configuration as well as F5 BIG-IP application delivery terminology and configuration. For additional information including written guidance, contact info@f5.com.
BIG-IP on bare metal using KVM
As an alternative to VMWare, KVM may also be utilized as a hypervisor platform on Equinix Metal. While KVM may not be as popular as VMWare, the KVM configuration has the added benefit of not requiring a separate L4 tier. The bare metal KVM server(s) provide BGP services and can interact directly with the EQ Metal BGP infrastructure.
