This F5 deployment guide contains instructions on configuring the BIG-IP system version 11.4 and later for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and 2013 implementations, resulting in a secure, fast, and available deployment.
This guide provides instructions on both configuring the new, fully supported downloadable iApp template, and manual configuration. The iApp is available for download from downloads.f5.com.
Benefits of F5 for SharePoint:
F5 can reduce the burden on servers by monitoring SharePoint Server responsiveness across multiple ports and protocols, driving intelligent load balancing decisions. The BIG-IP Access Policy Manager, F5’s high-performance access and security solution, can provide proxy authentication and secure remote access to Microsoft SharePoint. Access Policy Manager also enables secure mobile device access management, as well as pre-authentication to SharePoint. F5 enables CPU-intensive operations such as compression, caching, and SSL processing to be offloaded onto the BIG-IP system, which can extend SharePoint Server capacity by 25%.
F5 WAN optimization technology can dramatically increase SharePoint performance. F5 enables organizations to achieve dramatic bandwidth reduction for remote office SharePoint users. And F5 protects SharePoint deployments that help run your business with powerful application-level protection, as well as network- and protocol-level security. This includes using the iApp template to deploy the BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager. Additionally, F5 can be used as a reverse proxy alternative to TMG.
The following diagram shows just one example of how you can configure the BIG-IP system for SharePoint implementations described in the deployment guide.