iControl provides the means by which F5's BIG-IP platform can be automated, integrated, and flexible such that it can adapt in real-time to changing network and application infrastructure conditions inside and outside the data center. Whether you are building out a new infrastructure or adapting to new technology, using iControl can enable unprecedented levels of control over and visibility into the application delivery process.
F5 White Paper
F5 iControl
® ®In this white paper, get an introduction to F5 iControl service-enabled management API.
by Lori MacVittie Technical Marketing Manager, Application ServicesWhite Paper F5 iControl
Contents
Introduction 3
iControl Basics 3What is iControl? 3Architecture 5
iControl Use Cases 5Data Center Automation 5Proactive Exception Handling 7
Conclusion 8
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Introduction
As applications have become increasingly dependent on the network and its infrastructure for scalability, reliability, and performance it has become necessary to ensure that the infrastructure is capable of reacting dynamically to the ever-changing conditions inside the data center that can adversely affect the delivery and performance of applications.
One of the core components of such a dynamic network infrastructure is an Application Delivery Controller (ADC). ADCs evolved from load balancers and now include a plethora of functionality and features that enhance the performance of applications while providing unparalleled availability and reliability. However, simply being capable of adjusting to changing conditions and recognizing those conditions is not always enough. Sometimes it is necessary to go further, to integrate the application and the network infrastructure more tightly in order to provide greater value for application stakeholders.
With the advent of cloud computing concepts, whether deployed "in the cloud" or "in the data center," it has become even more important to tightly integrate the network infrastructure into the workflow processes that enable, disable, create, remove and migrate applications in a variety of containers both virtual and non-virtual. For F5's application delivery platform, that integration is realized through the use of iControl.
iControl Basics
What is iControl?
iControl is a Web services-enabled open API providing granular control over the configuration and management of F5's application delivery platform, ®BIG-IP . iControl, like other SOA and Web services-enabled solutions, can be used by virtually any platform capable of integrating via SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). It can be used to build custom management and monitoring applications, to integrate with business process management (BPM) and other workflow applications, and can be integrated directly into applications to provide better control over the delivery of the application. It also integrates with virtual computing platform management tools like VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to help orchestrate the automated provisioning and de-provisioning of applications that can be used to
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build private and public cloud computing environments. The iControl interfaces enable access, based on management access policies, to all configuration and management policies of F5's application delivery platform.
Using iControl you can control the way your application is delivered based on factors you define. You can modify the F5 BIG-IP device's configuration in myriad ways, including: . Adding servers dynamically to an application pool. Stopping requests from going to an application server . Changing the way requests are routed to servers. Influencing the choice of servers based on current application or server load
iControl applications have been implemented using a variety of languages and development environments for use on a number of different operating systems and platforms. Because iControl is standards-based, it is interoperable and usable by any language and on any system capable of communicating via SOAP Web services.
Server Server ServerServices
BIG-IPLocal Traf?c Manager iControl
Monitoring and MetricsAlertingCon?gurationManagementTraf?c ControlIntegrationAustomation
Figure 1: iControl services
Assemblies and libraries that make it easier to use iControl with specific languages and environments have been developed and are available for download from DevCentral, F5's community of developers, architects, and administrators. Java and .NET are the most widely supported, but PERL, PHP, PowerShell, and Python all have examples or libraries to aid in development of iControl applications. 4White Paper F5 iControl
Architecture
The iControl inter... [download for more]
