EXAM BLUEPRINT

101 — Application Delivery Fundamentals

ABOUT THE 101 – APPLICATION DELIVERY FUNDAMENTALS EXAM

The 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals exam is the first exam required to achieve Certified F5 BIG-IP
Administrator status.

Successful completion of the 101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals exam acknowledges the skills and
understanding necessary for day-to-day management of Application Delivery Networks (ADNs).

WHAT IS THE 101 – APPLICATION DELIVERY FUNDAMENTALS EXAM BLUEPRINT?

F5 Certified exam blueprints list all the objectives an exam has to measure, much like a syllabus for the
exam itself. Blueprints provide a detailed breakdown of the skills and knowledge a candidate should have to
pass the exam. They contain section levels, objectives and examples, and can be used to identify areas for
additional study. The examples are illustrative, not exhaustive.

F5 Certification exams are designed to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the candidate. These
exams are not designed to test version-specific TMOS features, but rather assess knowledge and
understanding of F5 technology solutions for which the exam is developed. Refer to individual exam
blueprints for exam publication date.

PREREQUISITE:
None.

CREDENTIAL AWARDED:
None. (Prerequisite to the 201 – TMOS Administration exam)

F5 is committed and currently working to eliminate exclusionary language in products and product documentation. More information › 1
101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

Section 1 : CONFIGURATION

Objectives and Examples CC*

1.01 Given a set of requirements, configure VLANs U/A

• Assign a numeric tag to the VLAN, if required
• Determine appropriate layer 3 addressing for VLAN
• Specify if VLAN is tagged or untagged

1.02 Given a scenario, determine switch, router, and application connectivity requirements U/A
• Explain the function and purpose of a router, of a firewall and of a switch
• Interpret network diagrams

1.03 Given a set of requirements, assign IP addresses U/A

• Interpret address and subnet relationships
• Understand public/private, multicast addressing, and broadcast
• Explain the function and purpose of NAT and of DHCP
• Determine valid address IPv6

1.04 State the service that ARP provides R

• Identify a valid MAC address
• Define ARP and explain what it does
• State the purpose of a default gateway

1.05 Given a scenario, establish required routing U/A

• Explain why a route is needed
• Explain network hops
• Given a destination IP address and current routing table, identify a route to be used

1.06 Define ADC application objects R

• Define load balancing including intelligent load balancing and server selection
• Explain features of an application delivery controller
• Explain benefits of an application delivery controller

Section 2 : TROUBLESHOOTING

Objectives and Examples CC*

2.01 Identify application and network errors R

• Identify general meanings of HTTP error codes
• Identify possible reasons and methods for connection termination
• Identify possible causes for failure to establish connection

* Cognitive Complexity Key: R = Remember, A/E = Analyze/Evaluate, U/A = Understand/Apply

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101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

2.02 Given a scenario, verify Layer 2 mapping (ARP) U/A

• Explain one-to-one mapping of MAC to IP
• Given a network diagram or ARP command output, determine if ARP resolution was successful
• Given the ARP command output, determine if ARP resolution was successful
• Explain the purpose of MAC masquerading

2.03 Given a scenario, verify traffic is arriving at a destination U/A

• Explain how to acquire packet captures
• View a packet capture and identify source and destination
• Interpret statistics to show traffic flow

2.04 Given a scenario, verify Layer 1 connectivity U/A

• Given an exhibit of the front ethernet panel, explain why there is an imbalance in link use
• Interpret ifconfig ouput (interface bandwidth)
• Explain potential L1 failure modes (duplex settings, cable out of specification)

Section 3 : MAINTENANCE

Objectives and Examples CC*

3.01 Given a scenario, review basic stats to confirm functionality U/A

• Interpret traffic object statistics
• Interpret network configuration statistics

3.02 Given a scenario, determine device upgrade eligibility U/A

• Determine when to upgrade software
• Determine when to upgrade platform
• Determine steps to minimize upgrade downtime

3.03 Given a scenario, interpret traffic flow U/A

• Explain application client-server communication
• Interpret traffic graphs (Interpret SNMP results)

3.04 Given a scenario, interpret service status U/A

• Compare active vs inactive ADC elements
• Infer services for given netstat output
• Determine whether a service is listening on a given port based on netstat output

3.05 Given a scenario, interpret system health U/A

• Generate a Qkview and upload to iHealth
• Review logs
• Ensure efficacy of maintenance tasks (alert endpoints, verify backups)
• Review system vitals (disk space, CPU load, memory, bandwidth)

* Cognitive Complexity Key: R = Remember, A/E = Analyze/Evaluate, U/A = Understand/Apply

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101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

Section 4 : KNOWLEDGE

Objectives and Examples CC*

4.01 Explain common uses for ICMP R

• Explain the purpose of an IP TTL
• Explain the purpose of ICMP echo request/reply
• Explain reasons for ICMP unreachable

4.02 Map functionality to OSI model R

• Identify the layer for a MAC address
• Identify the layer for a UDP/TCP port
• Identify the layer for an IP address
• Identify the layer for applications

4.03 Explain use of TLS/SSL R

• Explain the purpose of TLS/SSL certificates (self signed vs CA signed)
• Explain the rationale for using TLS/SSL

4.04 Explain the function of a VPN R

• Explain the rationale for using VPN (privacy, encryption, anonymity)
• Identify valid uses for VPN

4.05 Explain high availability (HA) concepts R

• Explain methods of providing HA integrity
• Explain methods of providing HA
• Explain advantages of HA

4.06 Explain reasons for support services (DNS, NTP, syslog, SNMP, etc.) R
• Explain the purpose of DNS
• Given a list of tools, select the appropriate tool to confirm DNS resolution is successful for a
host name
• Explain what syslog is
• Explain the purpose of NTP
• Explain SNMP as it pertains to ADC element monitoring

* Cognitive Complexity Key: R = Remember, A/E = Analyze/Evaluate, U/A = Understand/Apply

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101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

Exam Details

HOW MUCH DO F5 EXAMS COST?

All F5 exams are currently priced at US$180 (not including local taxes and fees) per exam, per attempt.

HOW LONG ARE F5 EXAMS?

This exam is 90 minutes long (not including any non-native English or other accommodations).

WHAT IS THE PASSING SCORE FOR F5 EXAMS?

F5 exams require a passing score of 245 out of a range between 100 and 350.

SCALED SCORING
Scaled scores ensure that the reported scores across exam forms and versions have the same meaning
regardless of difficulty. Fair and consistent decisions can then be made about exam results regardless of the
exam form or version. More information ›

HOW MANY QUESTIONS ARE THERE?

This exam has 80 questions (70 items that are scored, 10 pilot/beta items).

WHAT FORMAT ARE F5 EXAMS?

F5 exams are all computer-based, multiple-choice-response exams. Some questions contain exhibits or
scenarios that you will need to view in order to answer the question.

WHAT IS THE F5 RETAKE POLICY?

1st failure: Exam hold for 15 days (You cannot take the exam again for 15 days.)
2nd failure: Exam hold for 30 days
3rd failure: Exam hold for 45 days
4th failure: Exam hold for 365 days
5th and subsequent failed attempts: 90 days

Exam Blueprint 5
101 – Application Delivery Fundamentals

Cognitive Complexity Descriptions

Lower Order Thinking Skills Higher Order Thinking Skills

Remember Understand/Apply Analyze/Evaluate Create

Information Knowledge transfer Critical thinking and Innovation or
retrieval reasoning creative thinking
Rote memorization Comprehension or Determine how Forming an original
ability to apply parts relate to work product
knowledge to a whole or knowledge
standard process integration and
application to new
situations
Retrieve relevant Construct meaning Make judgments Combine or
knowledge from from information based on criteria reorganize parts to
long-term memory form a new pattern
or structure
E.g., recall, retrieve, E.g., interpret, E.g., troubleshoot, E.g., generate, plan,
recognize classify, compare, attribute, diagnose, produce
explain, implement critique
Alpine Testing Solutions’ suggested cognitive complexity levels and associated verb references consider multiple
approaches to defining cognitive processing (e.g., Anderson et al., Webb, Bloom, Frisbie). Above material created
with assistance from Alpine and distributed with Alpine’s permission as an attachment to certification test

Alpine Testing Solutions, Inc. (Alpine) gives F5 Networks permission to distribute the PDF “Cognitive Complexity Description 20130418.pdf” as an attachment to
certification test blueprints created with assistance from Alpine into the exam blueprint.

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