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 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. The blueprint provides the detailed breakdown of the skills and knowledge a candidate should have to pass the exam. Blueprints can be used to identify areas for additional study, and are best used in conjunction with the Exam Study Guides.

Credential Awarded:

• None (prerequisite to the TMOS Administration exam)

This Exam Is Based On V11.4. (Section 1: OSI)

• Cognitive
• Complexity

Objective 1.01

• Explain, compare, and contrast the OSI layers U/A
• Examples
• Describe the function of each OSI layer
• Differentiate between the OSI layers
• Describe the purpose of the various address types at different OSI layers

Objective 1.02

• Explain protocols and technologies specific to the data link layer U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose of a switch’s forwarding database
• Explain the purpose and functionality of ARP
• Explain the purpose and functionality of MAC addresses
• Explain the purpose and functionality of a broadcast domain
• Explain the purpose and functionality of VLANs
• Explain the purpose and functionality of link aggregation

Objective 1.03

• Explain protocols and technologies specific to the data link layer U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose and functionality of IP addressing and subnetting
• Given an IP address and net mask, determine the network IP and the broadcast IP
• Given a routing table and a destination IP address, identify which routing table entry the destination IP address will match
• Explain the purpose and functionality of Routing protocols
• Explain the purpose of fragmentation
• Given a fragment, identify what information is needed for reassembly
• Explain the purpose of TTL functionality
• Given a packet traversing a topology, document the source/destination IP address/MAC address changes at each hop

Objective 1.04

• Explain the features and functionality of protocols and technologies specific to the transport layer U/A
• Examples
• Compare/Contrast purpose and functionality of MTU and MSS
• Explain the purpose and functionality of TCP
• Explain the purpose and functionality of UDP
• Explain the purpose and functionality of ports in general
• Explain how retransmissions occur
• Explain the purpose and process of a reset
• Describe various TCP options
• Describe a TCP checksum error
• Describe how TCP addresses error correction
• Describe how the flow control process occurs

Objective 1.05

• Explain the features and functionality of protocols and technologies specific to the application layer
• Explain the purpose and functionality of HTTP
• Differentiate between HTTP versions
• Interpret HTTP status codes
• Determine an HTTP request method for a given use case
• Explain the purpose and functionality of HTTP keepalives, HTTP headers, DNS, SIP, FTP
• Differentiate between passive and active FTP
• Explain the purpose and functionality of SMTP
• Explain the purpose and functionality of a cookie
• Given a situation in which a client connects to a remote host, explain how the name resolution process occurs
• Explain the purpose and functionality of a URL

Section 2: F5 Solutions and Technology

• Cognitive
• Complexity

Objective 2.01

• Articulate the role of F5 products U/A
• Examples Explain the purpose, use, and benefits of APM, LTM, ASM, GTM

Objective 2.02

• Explain the purpose, use, and advantages of iRules U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose of iRules
• Explain the advantages of iRules
• Given a list of situations, determine which would be appropriate for the use of iRules

Objective 2.03

• Explain the purpose, use, and advantages of iApps U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose of iApps
• Explain the advantages of iApps
• Given a list of situations, determine which would be appropriate for the use of iApps

Objective 2.04

• Explain the purpose of and use cases for full proxy and packet forwarding packet based architectures U/A
• Examples
• Describe a full proxy architecture
• Describe a packet forwarding/packet based architecture
• Given a list of situations, determine which is appropriate for a full proxy architecture
• Given a list of situations, determine which is appropriate for a packet based architecture

Objective 2.05

• Explain the advantages and configurations of high availability (HA) U/A
• Examples
• Explain active/active
• Explain active/standby
• Explain the benefits of deploying BIG-IP devices in a redundant configuration

Section 3: Load Balancing Essentials

• Cognitive
• Complexity

Objective 3.01

• Discuss the purpose of, use cases for, and key considerations related to load balancing U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose of distribution of load across multiple servers
• Given an environment, determine the appropriate load balancing algorithm that achieves a desired result
• Explain the concept of persistence

Objective 3.01

• Differentiate between a client and server U/A
• Examples
• Given a scenario, identify the client/server
• Explain the role of a client
• Explain the role of a server

Section 4: Security

• Cognitive
• Complexity

Objective 4.01

• Compare and contrast positive and negative security models U/A
• Examples
• Describe the concept of a positive security model
• Describe the concept of a negative security model
• Given a list of scenarios, identify which is a positive security model
• Given a list of scenarios, identify which is a negative security model
• Describe the benefits of a positive security model
• Describe the benefits of a negative security model

Objective 4.02

• Explain the purpose of cryptographic services U/A
• Examples
• Describe the purpose of signing
• Describe the purpose of encryption
• Describe the purpose of certificates and the certificate chains
• Distinguish between private/public keys
• Compare and contrast symmetric/asymmetric encryption

Objective 4.03

• Describe the purpose and advantages of authentication U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose of authentication
• Explain the advantages of single sign on
• Explain the concepts of multifactor authentication
• Describe the role authentication plays in AAA

Objective 4.04

• Describe the purpose, advantages, and use cases of IPsec and SSL VPN U/A
• Examples
• Explain the purpose, advantages, and challenges associated with IPsec
• Explain the advantages of single sign onExplain the purpose, advantages, and challenges associated with SSL VPN
• Given a list of environments/situations, determine which is appropriate for an IPsec solution
• Given a list of environments/situations, determine which is appropriate for an SSL VPN solution

Section 5: Application Delivery Platforms

• Cognitive
• Complexity

Objective 5.01

• Describe the purpose, advantages, use cases, and challenges associated with hardware based application delivery platforms and virtual machines U/A
• Explain when a hardware based application deliver platform solution is appropriate
• Explain when a virtual machine solution is appropriate
• Explain the purpose, advantages, and challenges associated with hardware based application deliver platform solutions
• Explain the purpose, advantages, and challenges associated with virtual machines
• Given a list of environments/situations, determine which is appropriate for a hardware based application deliver platform solution
• Given a list of environments/situations, determine which is appropriate for a virtual machine solution
• Explain the advantages of dedicated hardware (SSL card, compression card)

Objective 5.02

• Describe the purpose of the various types of advanced acceleration techniques U/A
• Describe the purpose of TCP optimization
• Describe the purpose of HTTP keepalives, caching, compression, and pipelining

How much do Certified exams cost?

• $135 USD (not including local taxes and fees).

How long is the 101 exam and what is the passing score?

• The 101 exam is 90 minutes long and the passing score is 69%.

How many questions are there?

• The 101 exam has 80 questions. Some of the questions contain exhibits that you will have to view to answer the question.

What format is the 101 exam?

• The 101 exam is multiple choice.

What is the retake policy?

• 1st failure: Exam hold for 15 days.
• 2nd failure: Exam hold for 30 days.
• 3rd failure: Retake permission form and a 45-day exam hold.
• 4th failure: Exam hold for two (2) years.

Exam day tips:

• Make sure the name on your Pearson VUE account matches the name on your ID. To change your name and other personal information, see (insert URL).
• If you need to reschedule your exam, you must contact Pearson VUE 24 hours before your exam time