F5 ARX-VE, Planning Manual

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Chapter 1
Site Planning
1 - 4
Namespaces
You can configure one or more namespaces for your front-end clients. Each
namespace is a collection of virtual file systems, called volumes , under a
single authentication domain. A volume is a collection of shares (or exports)
hosted on the back-end file servers.
Selecting a Network Topology
You can deploy the ARX in one of the following network topologies:
• One-armed proxy . The ARX uses a single logical connection to reach all
clients and servers.
• Multiple subnet . The ARX terminates one or more client subnets and a
separate server subnet.
The following subsections describe each of these topologies.
One-Armed Proxy Topology
In a one-armed proxy topology, the ARX connects to a single IP subnet on a
single VLAN. All of the switch’s connectivity to clients and servers goes
through this single subnet/VLAN. The connection is typically through a
link-aggregation channel.
One-Armed Proxy: Before Installing an ARX
Figure 1.2 shows clients and servers on the same VLAN and subnet before
the introduction of the ARX. The router connects the LAN to additional
client and server subnets, perhaps on other campuses.