BIG-IP LC License
Your ISP connections are your connection to the outside world. Multiple connections can increase availability and performance, but managing multiple connections can be difficult. BIG-IP® Link Controller(F5 Link Controller (LC) License) puts the management of these links under your control. It monitors the performance and availability of each connection and routes connections (both incoming and outgoing) over the best possible connection. It also improves application performance by prioritizing and optimizing traffic.
BIG-IP Link Controller Gives you the tools to route traffic over the most profitable links first, so you can keep your ISP costs to a minimum. The result is more effective use of multiple ISP connections for higher reliability, better performance and lower costs.
BIG-IP LC Key Benefits
Eliminate downtime caused by ISP and connection failures
Monitor the status and availability of each connection to dynamically route users around ISP outages.
Improving application performance
Direct users to the best link and optimize the connection to provide the best application experience.
Control ISP costs
Add links and create policies to control your bandwidth costs.
Reliable network connectivity
With BIG-IP LC License Link Controller dynamically balances traffic to ensure your business is always connected.
Comprehensive Link Monitoring
With a comprehensive view of the status and performance of links passing through the gateway router, the BIG-IP Link Controller provides insight into the bandwidth and capacity of any given link.
High Availability
The licensed BIG-IP Link Controller combines multiple monitors to quickly and accurately determine the status and availability of each link. If a problem is detected, traffic can be redirected to other available links, maintaining client connectivity without incurring the cost of downtime.
Programmable Link Routing with iRules
The F5 iRules® scripting language lets you intelligently route traffic across multiple WAN links based on TCP/IP parameters such as source IP address, destination IP, and port. With iRules, you can define policies to distribute traffic to the best-performing links based on application type, quality of service, and client types, improving application performance and user experience.
Better User Experience The
Licensed BIG-IP Link Controller routes users over the best connection and optimizes the connection to provide a better application experience.
Best performing link
Using line quality and round trip time calculations, the BIG-IP Link Controller tests which link provides the best service for each user and then routes the user to that link. This ensures the fastest possible service and connections of the highest quality.
Link capacity and performance
You can use the licensed BIG-IP Link Controller to define and control how traffic is distributed between the links based on real-time traffic flows and performance. This increases application performance and available bandwidth while eliminating the risk of a connection becoming overloaded. As a link approaches capacity, traffic is shifted to less congested links, increasing overall site performance.
Integrated Rate Modeling
BIG-IP Link Controller gives you a powerful way to classify and prioritize application traffic on WAN links to use bandwidth more efficiently. With rate modeling, you can define traffic and application limits, control the rate at which those resources are allowed to spike or spike, use queuing to prioritize traffic types, and define relationships in which certain traffic types can be borrowed from other types. Quality of Service (QoS) and Terms of Service (ToS) allow you to identify critical traffic or applications for special treatment by upstream routers. This ensures that high-priority traffic is routed first.
Topology-Based Routing The
BIG-IP Link Controller and its licenses can locate users and route traffic over the desired link based on predefined policies. This allows you to choose the best-performing connection based on location while avoiding routing issues between ISPs that can cause high latency and poor performance.
TCP Performance Optimization
TCP protocol inefficiencies can cause unnecessary conversations. BIG-IP Link Controller uses TCP Express™ to overcome the inefficiencies of the TCP protocol. This gives you the ability to fully fill the pipeline over long distances to reduce bandwidth bills and prioritize bandwidth availability for mission-critical applications.
Compression
Compression enables fewer bytes and data, reduces WAN link bandwidth and eliminates bottlenecks for faster application delivery. Granular control of link bandwidth usage for different connection types results in a better customer experience, with more efficient WAN link management and improved productivity. You can configure the compression engine based on document type, traffic type, and network conditions such as round trip time.
Lower ISP costs
Control your ISP costs with a licensed BIG-IP Link Controller.
Bandwidth Scalability
Regardless of connection type or vendor, BIG IP Link Controller can aggregate small, inexpensive lines to reduce bandwidth costs and minimize the expense of dark fiber or idle standby lines.
Link Cost Load Balancing
The BIG-IP Link Controller gives you the ability to define the cost of each link and billing scheme, and then automatically routes traffic based on your criteria. This allows you to define policies that route traffic over the least expensive link or maximize bandwidth across different links to eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks and minimize bandwidth inefficiency.

F5 Link Controller (LC) License
Eliminates Barriers with BGP
BIG-IP Link Controller eliminates implementation barriers and lowers the cost of multi-homing through the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). You can route traffic along the best path without buying larger routers, coordinating with ISPs, or hiring specialized staff and IP addressing to run BGP.
BIG-IP Link Controller Platform
BIG-IP Link Controller is available on the BIG-IP 2000S platform. It is available as an add-on to BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) on any BIG-IP hardware platform.
F5 Global Services
F5 Global Services offers world-class support, training and consulting to help you get the most from your F5 investment. Whether it’s providing quick answers to questions, training internal teams, or handling full implementations from design to deployment, F5 Global Services can help ensure your applications are always secure, fast, and reliable.