BIG-IP - Device Dashboards

In this lab, we’ll explore the Application Study Tool’s BIG-IP Device dashboards:

  • Top N

  • Device Overview

  • Device WAF Overview

  • Device Pools

  • Device Virtual Servers

  • Device iRules

  • Device GTM

  • Device SSL

Note

There is an exhaustive list of metrics collected, some of which have been exposed through the pre-built dashboards you are about to explore.

These dashboards provide views into fundamental metrics we have observed have value in real-world scenarios, based upon field experience. We have designed this tool in a way that facilitates and enables users to customize it to meet their unique needs. Grafana provides just that, and we encourage you to add it into your toolbelt.

  1. From the Grafana Dashboards landing page, select BIG-IP - Device

    ../../_images/device_dashboards_link.png

  2. You’ll be presented with a list of available dashboards:

    ../../_images/device_dashboards.png

Top N

The Top N dashboard aggregates a number of Top 10 impactful metrics, such as Top 10 VIPs by CPU Utilization and Top 10 Virtual Servers By Low Availability.

Available Metrics include:

  • CPU Utilization

    • Top 10 VIPs by CPU Utilization

    • Top 10 Processes by CPU

    • Analysis, Control, and Data Plane Utilization

    • Top 10 VIPs by WAF CPU Utilization

  • Top Pools / Members

    • Top 10 Pools by Active Connections

    • Top 10 Pool Members by Active Connections

  • Availability

    • Top 10 Virtual Servers By Low Availability (last 24 hours)

    • Top 10 Virtual Servers By Low Availability (last 14 days)

    • Top 10 Pools By Low Availability (last 24 hours)

    • Top 10 Pools By Low Availability (last 14 days)

    • Top 10 Pool Members By Low Availability (last 24 hours)

    • Top 10 Pool Members By Low Availability (last 14 days)

  • Top VIPs

    • Top 10 VIPs by SSL TPS Utilization

    • Top 10 VIPs by Bandwidth

    • Top 10 VIPs by Object Count

    • Top 10 VIP-Applied Profile Types

  • iRule Utilization

    • Top 10 iRules by Cycles Per Execution

    • Top 10 iRules by Execution Count

    • Top 10 iRules by Approximate Cycles Used (last 24 hours)

../../_images/device_topn_dashboard.png

Device Overview

The Device Overview dashboard is where the nitty-gritty of each individual F5 BIG-IP is exposed.

Available Metrics include:

  • Device Overview

    • Device Status

    • Connection Info

    • License State

    • Average CPU Utilization

    • Memory Utilization

    • Disk Usage

    • Failover Peer

    • Version

  • Device Resources

    • CPU Utilization

    • SubSystem CPU Utilization

    • SubSystem Memory Utilization

    • Top 10 Processes by CPU

    • Top 10 Processes by Memory

    • Memory Utilization

    • Average CPU Utilization

    • Disk Usage

  • Device Virtual Servers

    • VS Overview

    • VS Data Rate

    • VS Concurrent Connections

  • Device Network

    • Network Addresses

    • Network Interface Data Rate

    • VLAN Info

    • Network Interface Error Rate

../../_images/device_overview_dashboard.png

Device WAF Overview

Security-minded folks in the room will thoroughly enjoy F5 AST’s Device WAF Overview dashboard.

Available Metrics include:

  • WAF Events

    • WAF Event Rate

    • Incident Count (last hour)

    • Bot Event Count (last hour)

    • Bot Incident Count (last hour)

    • Brute Force Attack Count (last hour)

    • Incident Count (last 24 hours)

    • Bot Event Count (last 24 hours)

    • Bot Incident Count (last 24 hours)

    • Brute Force Attack Count (last 24 hours)

  • ASM Policy Detail

    • WAF Feature Status

    • Applied Virtual Servers

    • Signature Set Count by State

    • Signature Set Count

    • Parameter Checking Count

../../_images/device_waf_overview_dashboard.png

Device Virtual Servers

Another incredibly self-evident dashboard, Device Virtual Servers is a looking glass to the front-end ingress point for your F5 BIG-IP. Here, metrics such as Configuration Changes (last 24 hours) and Applied iRules can be found.

Available Metrics include:

  • Summary

    • Virtual Server Overview

    • Configuration Changes (last 24 hours)

  • Availability

    • Is Virtual Server State Available?

    • Is Virtual Server Enabled?

    • Virtual Server Availability (last 24 hours)

  • Configured Objects

    • Virtual Server Pool State

    • Applied iRules

    • Applied Profiles

  • CPU Utilization

    • Virtual Server CPU Utilization

    • Virtual Server ASM CPU Utilization

  • Traffic

    • Virtual Server Request Rate

    • Virtual Server Traffic

    • Virtual Server Packets Rate

  • Connections

    • Virtual Server Concurrent Connections

    • Virtual Server Connection Rate

    • Virtual Server Average Connection Duration

  • HTTP

    • HTTP Requests & Responses per Second

    • HTTP Responses per Second

  • DNS

    • Profiles

    • DNS Latencies per millisecond

    • DNS Queries & Responses per Second

    • DNS Express Queries & Responses per Second

  • SSL

    • SSL Bytes per Second

    • SSL Handshakes and Renegotiations per Second

../../_images/device_virtual_servers_dashboard.png

Device Pools

The Device Pools dashboard tunes users directly into the back-end resources your business needs to function.

Available Metrics include:

  • Summary

    • Pool Overview

    • Configuration Changes (last 24 hours)

  • Pool Availability

    • Is Pool State Available?

    • Active Pool Members

    • Pool Availability (last 24 hours)

  • Pool Utilization

    • Pool Data Rate

    • Active Pool Connection Count

    • Pool Request Rate

  • Pool Member Availability

    • Is Pool Member State Available?

    • Pool Member Availability (last 24 hours)

  • Pool Member Utilization

    • Pool Member Data Rate

    • Active Pool Member Connections

    • Pool Member Request Rate

../../_images/device_pools_dashboard.png

Device iRules

The Device iRules dashboard should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with F5 BIG-IP. iRules are an integral part of powering application delivery, and having operational state data such as iRule Execution Rate and iRule Failure Rate is critical and revealing. You can even dig deeper and learn about Failures by Event Type.

Available Metrics include:

  • Overview

    • Top 10 iRules by Approximate Cycles Used (last 24 hours)

    • Top 10 iRules by Cycles per Execution

    • Top 10 iRules by Executions

    • iRule Execution Rate

    • iRule Failure Rate

    • iRule Abort Rate

  • Rule Event Detail

    • Executions by Event Type

    • Failures by Event Type

    • Aborts by Event Type

../../_images/device_irules_dashboard.png

Device GTM

The Device GTM dashboard provides a view of the DNS and global resiliency metrics across your F5 BIG-IP estate.

Note

One of the first things you’ll notice about this dashboard is the presence of configuration instructions. Please take note of these and be sure your ast_defaults.yaml and bigip_receivers.yaml files are properly configured. Otherwise, stats will not be collected and displayed.

Available Metrics include:

  • GTM Overview

  • Requests Rate by Type

../../_images/device_gtm_dashboard.png

Device SSL

Last, but certainly not least, the Device SSL dashboard gives administrators a view of NetHSM statistics as well as client and server SSL profile data and stats. This is a very important area of focus, as BIG-IP is almost always used as a means by which to offload SSL operations and break/inspect application traffic.

Available Metrics include:

  • NetHSM Stats

    • Async Queue Done Rate

    • Async Queue Current Queued

    • Async Queue Average Queue Time

    • PKCS11d Operations Rate

    • PKCS11d Error Rate

  • Client SSL Profile

    • Client SSL Profile Info

    • Client SSL Connection Rate

    • Client SSL Ciphers Rate

    • Client SSL Handshakes

  • Server SSL Profile

    • Server SSL Profile Info

    • Server SSL Connection Rate

    • Server SSL Ciphers Rate

    • Server SSL Handshakes Rate

../../_images/device_ssl_dashboard.png

Please select Next below and continue on to BIG-IP - Device/Profiles Dashboards.