SOL8665: BIG-IP redundant pair hardware and software parity requirements

SOL8665: BIG-IP redundant pair hardware and software parity requirements

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Updated: 7/20/09 3:19 PM

A BIG-IP redundant system consists of two identically provisioned and configured BIG-IP units that allow traffic processing to continue in the event that one of the BIG-IP units in the pair becomes unavailable.

BIG-IP hardware requirements

The BIG-IP units in a redundant system must be running on the same hardware platform. F5 Networks does not support BIG-IP redundant pair configurations that run on different hardware platforms, as this configuration may detrimentally affect traffic management upon failover.

For example, if one BIG-IP system in a redundant pair runs on the 3400 platform, the peer system must also run on the 3400 platform.

BIG-IP host software requirements

The BIG-IP units in a redundant system must run the same host software versions. F5 Networks does not support BIG-IP redundant pair configurations that run different software versions, as this configuration may detrimentally affect traffic management upon failover.

For example, if one BIG-IP system in a redundant pair runs version 9.4.4, the peer system must also run version 9.4.4.

If the existing BIG-IP system runs a later software version, you must upgrade the peer system. For information about upgrading, refer to the BIG-IP LTM Release Notes.

BIG-IP hotfix requirements

In addition to requiring that BIG-IP systems in a redundant pair run the same host software versions, systems in a redundant pair must run the same hotfix version. F5 Networks does not support BIG-IP redundant pair configurations that run different hotfix versions.

For example, if one BIG-IP system in a redundant pair runs Hotfix-BIG-IP-9.4.4-HF1, issued for BIG-IP version 9.4.4, the peer system must also run Hotfix-BIG-IP-9.4.4-HF1, issued for BIG-IP version 9.4.4.

If the existing BIG-IP system runs a later hotfix version, you must upgrade the peer system. For information about upgrading, refer to the BIG-IP LTM Release Notes.

SCCP firmware requirements

For information, refer to SOL8835: BIG-IP redundant pair SCCP firmware requirements.

Important: F5 Networks strongly recommends performing software upgrades during a scheduled maintenance window. When upgrading the units in a redundant system, they will temporarily be running different software. In most cases, failing over to upgrade the second system will be no different from a normal failover. However, depending on the versions involved in the upgrade, some traffic may be disrupted due to changes in profile functionality and any mirroring options that may be configured. Two specific examples of mirroring features that may be impacted are detailed in SOL7225: Overview of the BIG-IP LTM mirroring and network failover transport protocol and SOL9057: Overview of the BIG-IP LTM network failover transport protocol.