Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
In this demo, we show how F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric's new ExternalLoadBalancer custom resource bridges the Kubernetes Gateway API with F5 BIG-IP — dynamically, with zero CIS code changes and no new CRDs on the CIS side.
You'll see:
- How F5 CIS acts as the bridge between BIG-IP and your Kubernetes cluster
- Why pod-level tracking creates configuration churn at scale — and how ExternalLoadBalancer solves it
- Automatic Virtual Server provisioning via AS3 and IPAM
- PROXY Protocol preserving full client IP identity end-to-end
- Real-time pod scaling with zero BIG-IP configuration churn
Resources:
- NGINX Gateway Fabric docs: docs.nginx.com/nginx-gateway-fabric/external-loadbalancers/big-ip/quickstart
- F5 CIS IngressLink docs: clouddocs.f5.com/containers/latest
Timestamps :
0:00 Intro — Gateway API evolution of IngressLink
0:15 What is F5 CIS and why it matters
0:35 The problem: ephemeral pod IPs and BIG-IP config churn
0:51 Introducing ExternalLoadBalancer in NGINX Gateway Fabric
1:00 How the architecture works — gatewayLink, IngressLink, multi-cluster
2:00 Demo: cluster walkthrough — Gateway and HTTPRoute resources
2:22 Creating the ExternalLoadBalancer custom resource
3:00 BIG-IP: Virtual Server auto-provisioned via AS3
3:30 Testing the data path — coffee and tea microservices
4:02 PROXY Protocol: client IP preserved end-to-end
4:20 Dynamic scaling demo setup
4:29 Scale up: 2 → 5 replicas, zero BIG-IP churn
4:56 Scale down: connections drain cleanly
5:05 Recap: ExternalLoadBalancer, PROXY Protocol, decoupled architecture
▬▬▬ ABOUT DEVCENTRAL ▬▬▬
We're DevCentral: the how of F5, since 2003. A community of engineers, architects, and IT folks pushing each other forward, one hard-won answer at a time. We dig in, tackle the hard stuff, figure out what actually works, and share what we learn.
Keep going:
Forums, articles, CodeShare: community.f5.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/showcase/f5-devcentral
X: https://x.com/devcentral
The DevCentral advocates behind the videos:
Alessandro Fael Garcia → linkedin.com/in/alessfg · github.com/alessfg
Buu Lam → linkedin.com/in/buulam · https://x.com/buulam
Chase Abbott → linkedin.com/in/chaseabbott1
Jason Rahm → linkedin.com/in/jrahm · https://x.com/jasonrahm
Marko Sluga → linkedin.com/in/markosluga
Scott McAllister → linkedin.com/in/stmcallister
In this demo, we show how F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric's new ExternalLoadBalancer custom resource bridges the Kubernetes Gateway API with F5 BIG-IP — dynamically, with zero CIS code changes and no new CRDs on the CIS side.
You'll see:
- How F5 CIS acts as the bridge between BIG-IP and your Kubernetes cluster
- Why pod-level tracking creates configuration churn at scale — and how ExternalLoadBalancer solves it
- Automatic Virtual Server provisioning via AS3 and IPAM
- PROXY Protocol preserving full client IP identity end-to-end
- Real-time pod scaling with zero BIG-IP configuration churn
Resources:
- NGINX Gateway Fabric docs: docs.nginx.com/nginx-gateway-fabric/external-loadbalancers/big-ip/quickstart
- F5 CIS IngressLink docs: clouddocs.f5.com/containers/latest
Timestamps :
0:00 Intro — Gateway API evolution of IngressLink
0:15 What is F5 CIS and why it matters
0:35 The problem: ephemeral pod IPs and BIG-IP config churn
0:51 Introducing ExternalLoadBalancer in NGINX Gateway Fabric
1:00 How the architecture works — gatewayLink, IngressLink, multi-cluster
2:00 Demo: cluster walkthrough — Gateway and HTTPRoute resources
2:22 Creating the ExternalLoadBalancer custom resource
3:00 BIG-IP: Virtual Server auto-provisioned via AS3
3:30 Testing the data path — coffee and tea microservices
4:02 PROXY Protocol: client IP preserved end-to-end
4:20 Dynamic scaling demo setup
4:29 Scale up: 2 → 5 replicas, zero BIG-IP churn
4:56 Scale down: connections drain cleanly
5:05 Recap: ExternalLoadBalancer, PROXY Protocol, decoupled architecture
▬▬▬ ABOUT DEVCENTRAL ▬▬▬
We're DevCentral: the how of F5, since 2003. A community of engineers, architects, and IT folks pushing each other forward, one hard-won answer at a time. We dig in, tackle the hard stuff, figure out what actually works, and share what we learn.
Keep going:
Forums, articles, CodeShare: community.f5.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/showcase/f5-devcentral
X: https://x.com/devcentral
The DevCentral advocates behind the videos:
Alessandro Fael Garcia → linkedin.com/in/alessfg · github.com/alessfg
Buu Lam → linkedin.com/in/buulam · https://x.com/buulam
Chase Abbott → linkedin.com/in/chaseabbott1
Jason Rahm → linkedin.com/in/jrahm · https://x.com/jasonrahm
Marko Sluga → linkedin.com/in/markosluga
Scott McAllister → linkedin.com/in/stmcallister
