You’ve done the F5 Super-NetOps course? Great, if not, stop reading this right now and go and do it. If you work in network operations, then this course is absolutely worth a few hours of your time. Because, even if it’s not an immediate opportunity then you can be sure that automation and orchestration are coming your way.
So, assuming you have done the course, what should you do next? Well, the first step should be to give us feedback, what worked well, what didn’t. What you need more of, what you don’t. We made this course for you, to help you be more successful (that it might help you to buy more F5 products and services is utterly unrelated and entirely coincidental, believe me).
The second step should be to keep an eye open for the announcement of the next class. As soon as we have it ready to go, it will be available from the Super-NetOps site.
Those were the easy things – now you need to start looking how to apply this knowledge. A great next step will be to make sure that you have the Super-NetOps container at hand. You will need a docker environment to run it in, but then again, at least a casual knowledge of container environments is an important part of your Super-NetOps skill set.
Of course, having a BIG-IP to test things out with is going to be handy. If you don’t have access to a lab environment, then building one should probably be next on your list. You could do worse than to build out the same lab that you have just used in the course. We even have some instructions on how to do it. You can buy a lab license or get in contact with your local friendly account team who will usually be pleased to give you a 30-day trail license to get you going.
Now you need to decide what to actually do. One customer I met recently started an automation project and faced the same challenge. They simply pulled their tickets from the last year and categorized them by operation type and used the counts in each category to prioritize the tasks to automate.
Of course, you need to keep in mind the things you learned on the course. Whatever the language or tools you are going to use, it’s smart to think declaratively. Build templates that represent your infrastructure and then create configurations by combining the templates and the variable values for that particular instance. If you can possibly avoid it, stay away from learning every API call required to create a VIP or handle changing pool members. Using templates and deploying or redeploying them with a single call is the way to go.
So, once you’ve mastered that, it might be time to work out to integrate it with the other tools in your organization. There are a few examples out there – including some for integrating with Jenkins.
And if you really want to become a Super-hero? Start a meetup for the other automation-friendly network and infrastructure professionals in your area, heck you might even persuade us to buy the snacks.
About the Author
Related Blog Posts
The everywhere attack surface: EDR in the network is no longer optional
All endpoints can become an attacker’s entry point. That’s why your network needs true endpoint detection and response (EDR), delivered by F5 and CrowdStrike.
F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric is a certified solution for Red Hat OpenShift
F5 collaborates with Red Hat to deliver a solution that combines the high-performance app delivery of F5 NGINX with Red Hat OpenShift’s enterprise Kubernetes capabilities.
F5 accelerates and secures AI inference at scale with NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architecture
F5’s inclusion within the NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architecture enables secure, high-performance AI infrastructure that scales efficiently to support advanced AI workloads.
F5 Silverline Mitigates Record-Breaking DDoS Attacks
Malicious attacks are increasing in scale and complexity, threatening to overwhelm and breach the internal resources of businesses globally. Often, these attacks combine high-volume traffic with stealthy, low-and-slow, application-targeted attack techniques, powered by either automated botnets or human-driven tools.
Volterra and the Power of the Distributed Cloud (Video)
How can organizations fully harness the power of multi-cloud and edge computing? VPs Mark Weiner and James Feger join the DevCentral team for a video discussion on how F5 and Volterra can help.
Phishing Attacks Soar 220% During COVID-19 Peak as Cybercriminal Opportunism Intensifies
David Warburton, author of the F5 Labs 2020 Phishing and Fraud Report, describes how fraudsters are adapting to the pandemic and maps out the trends ahead in this video, with summary comments.