BIG-IP i7000

BIG-IP i7000 is a high-capacity F5 iSeries application delivery platform designed for enterprise and service-provider environments that require advanced traffic management, SSL/TLS acceleration, and application security at larger scale. The family includes BIG-IP i7600 and BIG-IP i7800, providing higher processing capability than the i4000 and i5000 Series while maintaining a compact 1RU appliance design.

The i7000 Series was commonly deployed as an enterprise application delivery controller (ADC) for large application environments, data centers, and organizations running multiple BIG-IP services on dedicated hardware. With increased throughput, memory, interface density, and hardware acceleration, these appliances supported demanding workloads such as SSL termination, application security inspection, and traffic management.

Today, BIG-IP i7000 platforms are primarily relevant for existing infrastructure, license renewal, hardware replacement, and migration projects toward newer F5 rSeries platforms.

Series Highlights

• Legacy F5 iSeries high-performance application delivery family
• Includes BIG-IP i7600 and BIG-IP i7800 models
• 1RU rack-mount appliance design
• Up to 80 Gbps L4/L7 throughput
• 128 GB DDR4 memory
• Dual 480 GB SSD storage
• Eight 10GbE SFP+ interfaces
• Hardware-assisted SSL/TLS acceleration

BIG-IP i7000 At a glance

What it is: High-performance F5 iSeries physical application delivery platform

Product family: BIG-IP iSeries

Models: i7600 and i7800

Software architecture: BIG-IP TMOS

Memory: 128 GB DDR4

Storage: Dual 480 GB SSD

Interfaces: Eight 10GbE SFP+ ports

Series Overview

The BIG-IP i7000 family was designed for organizations that needed more processing capacity than the lower iSeries platforms could provide while still requiring a traditional physical ADC appliance.

The family includes two main models:

Both models share the same physical architecture, including a 1RU chassis, 128 GB DDR4 memory, dual SSD storage, and eight 10GbE SFP+ interfaces. The primary difference is the licensed performance level and the resulting capacity available for application delivery workloads.

The i7800 provides increased throughput, connection handling, SSL transaction capacity, and compression performance compared with i7600. This distinction becomes important when evaluating existing deployments because the physical appliance may look identical while the active performance level depends on licensing.

Typical i7000 deployments included large-scale load balancing, SSL offload, application security, secure access, and enterprise application delivery.

Licensing and Part Number Guidance

BIG-IP i7000 part numbers represent a combination of the physical appliance, BIG-IP License software entitlement, support coverage, and optional services.

Before requesting pricing or replacement information, confirm:

• Exact hardware model (i7600 or i7800)
• Active BIG-IP modules
• Current TMOS version
• Existing license registration
• Support status
• Application traffic and SSL requirements

The difference between i7600 and i7800 is not only hardware identification. The performance level affects how much application traffic, SSL processing, and concurrent workload the appliance can handle.

For organizations with i7600 deployments, upgrading the performance entitlement may be possible depending on the license model and support status.

For new projects, the newer F5 r5000 Series should be considered. rSeries introduces F5OS-based architecture and BIG-IP tenant deployment, changing how organizations plan capacity, licensing, and future expansion.

Common Use Cases

Models, Licenses, and Ordering Scope

What to Check Before Requesting a Quote

A BIG-IP i7000 request should begin with understanding the current deployment rather than selecting a replacement model immediately.

Confirm whether the appliance is an i7600 or i7800, review the enabled BIG-IP modules, and evaluate actual application requirements. Important factors include:

• Peak throughput
• SSL/TLS transaction volume
• Number of applications
• Concurrent connections
• Security inspection requirements
• HA design
• Future growth expectations

A common challenge during ADC replacement projects is assuming that a newer model can be selected by matching the old hardware specifications. Modern F5 platforms use different architectures, especially rSeries systems that separate the platform layer from BIG-IP tenant workloads. For migration projects, configuration compatibility, software versions, licensing transfer, and application downtime planning should be considered before finalizing the order.

Activation and Delivery Notes

BIG-IP i7000 appliances use the traditional F5 TMOS architecture. After installation, administrators activate the license, provision required modules, configure network interfaces, and restore application delivery policies.

For HA environments, both appliances should have compatible software versions, licensing, provisioning levels, and network configurations before failover is configured.

Unlike rSeries platforms, i7000 appliances do not use F5OS or tenant-based deployment. Migration from i7000 to newer platforms requires reviewing the differences between traditional appliance deployment and the newer F5OS architecture.

Before delivery or replacement, confirm:

• Hardware model
• BIG-IP license entitlement
• Software compatibility
• Optics requirements
• Support coverage
• Migration requirements