BIG-IP Next Supported Platforms

Refer to the following tables for a summarized view of BIG-IP Next supported platforms.

Table 1: BIG-IP Next Platform Specifications

Virtual Edition (VE) / Hardware Platform Platform specification Tenant Size Multi-tenancy NICs
VE VMware
  • ESXi 7.0
  • Verified on VMware ESXi 7.0
 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 vCPUs NA
  • Virtual: vmxnet3
  • SR-IOV: Mellanox ConnectX-5, Mellanox ConnectX-6, Intel E810, Intel XL710, and Intel XXV710
VE KVM
  • Verified on Ubuntu 22.04 with KVM QEMU 6.2.*
  • Supported machine types are i440fx and q35
 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 vCPUs NA Virtual: virtio
Hardware VELOS F5OS-C 1.6.1 4, 8 vCPUs
  • Do not deploy BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants in the same partition/blade.
  • Only 4 and 8 vCPUs tenants are supported on a single blade.
  • Maximum of 8 vCPUs on a blade, either two 4 vCPU BIG-IP Next tenants per blade or one 8 vCPU BIG-IP Next tenant per blade.
 NA
Hardware r2600 (EA) F5OS-A 1.8.0 4 vCPUs
  • No multi-tenancy on r2600.
 NA
Hardware r2800 (EA) F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8 vCPUs
  • No multi-tenancy on r2800.
 NA
Hardware r4600 (EA) F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8 vCPUs
  • No multi-tenancy on r4600.
 NA
Hardware r4800 (EA) F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8, 16 vCPUs
  • No multi-tenancy on r4800.
 NA
Hardware r5600 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 12 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 6 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 8 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r5800 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 12, 18 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 12 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 15 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r5900 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 12, 18, 26 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 20 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 23 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r10600 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 24 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 18 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 21 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r10800 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 24, 28 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 22 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 25 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r10900 F5OS-A 1.7.0 4, 8, 24, 28, 36 vCPUs
  • Up to 2 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants: 30 (with 2 BIG-IP Next) or 33 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r12600-DS F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8, 54 vCPUs
  • Up to 5 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants:
    • 29 (with 5 BIG-IP Next)
    • 32 (with 4 BIG-IP Next).
    • 35 (with 3 BIG-IP Next).
    • 38 (with 2 BIG-IP Next).
    • 41 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r12800-DS F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8, 52 vCPUs
  • Up to 5 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants:
    • 35 (with 5 BIG-IP Next)
    • 40 (with 4 BIG-IP Next).
    • 43 (with 3 BIG-IP Next).
    • 46 (with 2 BIG-IP Next).
    • 49 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA
Hardware r12900-DS F5OS-A 1.8.0 4, 8, 60 vCPUs
  • Up to 5 BIG-IP Next tenants.
  • Maximum number of combined Classic BIG-IP and BIG-IP Next tenants:
    • 45 (with 5 BIG-IP Next)
    • 48 (with 4 BIG-IP Next).
    • 51 (with 3 BIG-IP Next).
    • 51 (with 2 BIG-IP Next).
    • 57 (with 1 BIG-IP Next).
 NA

Note: The r2000 and r4000 series are available as an Early Access (EA) release, intended for evaluation purposes only.

(*) BIG-IP Next VE supports most KVM-based hypervisor environments as long as:

  • You are using the BIG-IP Next VE standard KVM qcow2 or ova image from F5 Downloads page

  • You are using the virtio networking driver (Note: SR-IOV may not be supported.)

  • You are using a standard BIG-IP Next VE license.

  • You or a third-party cloud/hypervisor vendor have not modified the base image to accommodate environment or hypervisor-specific customizations.

  • You are using the i440FX or QEMU Q35 machine types when using F5’s virtio synthetic driver.

Table 2: BIG-IP Next Features and Compatibility Matrix

Virtual Edition (VE) / Hardware Platform Setup script available to onboard through console Import of existing BIG-IP Next instances into Central Manager Instantiation of new BIG-IP Next instances through Central Manager Quick assist technology (QAT) support Embedded Packet Velocity Acceleration (ePVA) support
VE VMware Yes Yes Yes Yes No
VE KVM No Yes No No No
Hardware VELOS No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r2600 (EA) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r2800 (EA) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r4600 (EA) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r4800 (EA) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r5600 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r5800 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r5900 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r10600 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r10800 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r10900 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r10900 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r12600-DS No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r12800-DS No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware r12900-DS No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Note: The r2000 and r4000 series are available as an Early Access (EA) release, intended for evaluation purposes only.