F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) i2600 alternatives
Published on •4 mins
The time has come. The once much-loved i2600 has finally gone end-of-life (EOL). As such, you're now being forced to consider paying a huge new bill from F5 to replace your hardware. But all is not lost! Here, I explain your options.
What are your alternatives to F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) i2600?
For the record, here's the official announcement from F5.
This leaves you with three choices:
- Accept the EOL tax and buy new hardware from F5
- Migrate to another vendor with a similar spec to the i2600
- Migrate from a hardware to a software load balancer
Unsurprisingly, many customers have no choice but to stick with F5, and are now therefore paying (in some cases) 2X more than their last renewal!
Meanwhile, others are looking for an alternative solution — preferably one with zero end-of-life!
Personally, I don't think you should have to replace your equipment just because the vendor says to. It's perpetual for a reason. Here's a more logical take on when you should replace your hardware: When should you get a hardware replacement? After 3, 5, or 17 years...?
What needs does the BIG-IP i2000 series serve?
The entry-level F5 BIG-IP i2000 series of high-performance ADC appliances provides small-to-medium-sized enterprises with integrated application delivery and security services, delivering up to:
- L7 requests per second: 650K
- L4 connections per second: 250K
- L4 HTTP requests per second: 1M
- Maximum L4 concurrent connections: 14M
- Throughput: 10 Gbps (L4/L7)
Diagram 1: F5 BIG-IP i2600 Local Traffic Manager
It does a good job. So why change?
What are the benefits of migrating away from an F5 i2600 appliance?
1. Meet your performance needs AND MORE
Loadbalancer Enterprise Flex ADC provides unparalleled flexibility, with a range of connectivity options, and the ability to easily upgrade to meet ongoing demands:
- L7 requests per second: 600K
- L4 HTTP requests per second: 1.2M
- Maximum L4 concurrent connections: 31.2M
- Throughput: 48 Gbps
- The Enterprise Flex is also not limited by connectivity options so you can choose from a wide range of network adaptors including RJ45, SFP+, or even QSFP+.
Diagram 2: Loadbalancer Enterprise Flex
On top of all that, we offer:
- No artificial feature limitations
- Unlimited clusters and servers (VIPs/RIPs)
- Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB)
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Secure, centralized management ADC Portal access
So, Loadbalancer supports more than 4 times more throughput AND includes functionality such as WAF, GSLB, and centralized management from a single pane of glass.
2. Save yourself A LOT of money
F5s are expensive! But don't take my word for it. Here's a real-world example...
Let's say a typical hospital deployment requires a clustered HA pair (two paired load balancer appliances that together eliminate the single point of failure), with 5 years of support.
If you buy an appliance from Loadbalancer.org, for example, the cost breakdown would be:
Clustered HA pair — Enterprise Flex ($9,995) x 2 = $19,990
Support — 5 Years 24/7 ($12,500) x 2 = $25,000
Total = $44,990*
Plus, we have no hidden fees, our pricing is publicly available, we offer no end-of-life, and our Freedom License allows you to migrate to another platform, at no extra cost.
If you compare this with the equivalent package from F5, you would end up paying twice as much.
You won't be surprised to learn, that Loadbalancer guarantees to beat any like-for-like quote you've been given from F5. You can test our team on that!
3. Leverage our INDUSTRY expertise
Unlike most load balancing vendors, Loadbalancer employs a team of in-house industry specialists and technical engineers. A model that has led to us being recognized as the No.1 ADC vendor in the healthcare space.
As our Co-Founder, Malcolm Turnbull, explains:
"Our extensive healthcare experience has led us to become the market leader in load balancing medical imaging applications".
It's this experience, and our understanding of the complex environments in which our products are deployed that's led us to develop appliances that are simple to configure, easy to deploy, and easy to maintain. As such, we take a clever, not complex, approach to development, which means we try to simplify the WebUI as much as possible, and make the product more intuitive. Perhaps this is why we have an average rating of 4.8 on Gartner, and a whopping 98% of our customers willing to recommend us?
But then again, that could be down to our consultative approach to support? Because we believe in excellent service every time, we offer a unique tierless support system to help you get the support you need quickly and effectively.
It's worth exploring F5 LTM i2600 alternatives
There are so many benefits to moving away from the F5 LTM i2600, you'd be crazy not to at least explore your options.
See for yourself how F5 and Loadbalancer stack up and feel free to reach out to Loadbalancer and see how our team can help you and your business.
At the moment, we're offering free migration assistance to all F5 customers, so you don't need to panic about needing that expensive F5 consultant...
Sources:
* Prices correct at time of publication