F5 is a company specializing in networking and security products. F5's load balancer is finding its way into many organizations. This report leverages returned information found in the HTTP protocol allowing us to detect the existence of F5 products, and thus report on the market penetration rate of these products.

The detection of F5 is done via two basic mechanisms:

1. The server signature may return back an indicator of "BigIP".

$ telnet 192.168.1.1 80
Trying 192.168.1.1...
Connected to 192.168.1.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET / HTTP/1.0

HTTP/1.0 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://192.168.1.1/
Server: BigIP
Connection: close
Content-Length: 0

Connection closed by foreign host.
$

2. The cookies returned back may indicate a load balancer is in use.

$ telnet 192.168.1.1 80
Trying 192.168.1.1...
Connected to 192.168.1.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET / HTTP/1.0

HTTP/1.0 301 Moved Permanently
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Location: http://www.myserver.com
Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.5
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 19:28:31 GMT
Connection: close
Content-Length: 151
Set-Cookie: BIGipServerWebCluster_4=1137223872.20480.0000; path=/

Connection closed by foreign host.
$

The following graph and table demonstrates the percentage of IP addresses that are indicating one of the above mentioned signatures. The sample size (the # of distinct IP addresses hosting a web server of some sort) is: 4,173,133.

Date	BigIP Count	IP Address Sample Size	% Share	% Growth
Jan 2023	28,399	4,173,133	0.68	1.01
Dec 2022	28,568	4,240,552	0.67	0.53
Nov 2022	28,704	4,283,392	0.67	0.56
Oct 2022	28,805	4,322,621	0.67	-1.13
Sep 2022	29,009	4,304,114	0.67	0.07
Aug 2022	29,594	4,394,102	0.67	-0.97
Jul 2022	29,689	4,365,564	0.68	0.19
Jun 2022	30,065	4,429,148	0.68	-0.30
May 2022	30,303	4,450,659	0.68	0.26
Apr 2022	30,603	4,506,461	0.68	-0.29
Mar 2022	30,645	4,499,592	0.68	-0.07
Feb 2022	31,118	4,565,672	0.68	-0.82
Jan 2022	31,517	4,586,420	0.69	-0.65
Dec 2021	31,735	4,588,249	0.69	-0.80
Nov 2021	32,066	4,598,881	0.70	-1.62
Oct 2021	32,597	4,599,474	0.71	0.43
Sep 2021	32,751	4,641,248	0.71	0.16
Aug 2021	32,918	4,672,408	0.70	-1.15
Jul 2021	33,303	4,672,747	0.71	-1.00
Jun 2021	33,662	4,676,004	0.72	-0.87
May 2021	33,913	4,669,815	0.73	-0.57
Apr 2021	34,226	4,686,056	0.73	-0.85
Mar 2021	34,593	4,696,053	0.74	0.46
Feb 2021	34,741	4,738,068	0.73	1.15
Jan 2021	34,892	4,813,337	0.72	0.23
Dec 2020	35,102	4,853,649	0.72	-0.72
Nov 2020	35,453	4,866,780	0.73	1.03
Oct 2020	35,829	4,969,178	0.72	-0.13
Sep 2020	36,141	5,005,869	0.72	2.70
Aug 2020	35,973	5,117,259	0.70	-0.01
Jul 2020	36,074	5,131,234	0.70	0.54
Jun 2020	36,272	5,187,418	0.70	0.46
May 2020	36,398	5,229,623	0.70	0.61
Apr 2020	36,807	5,320,769	0.69	0.85
Mar 2020	37,088	5,406,728	0.69	0.48
Feb 2020	37,106	5,435,313	0.68	-2.97
Jan 2020	37,554	5,337,344	0.70	0.00
Dec 2019	37,554	5,337,344	0.70	-1.42
Nov 2019	37,529	5,258,248	0.71	-0.23
Oct 2019	37,605	5,256,805	0.72	-0.32
Sep 2019	37,826	5,270,539	0.72	-1.35
Aug 2019	37,953	5,216,986	0.73	-3.51
Jul 2019	38,688	5,131,187	0.75	-1.13
Jun 2019	38,584	5,059,678	0.76	-0.77
May 2019	38,454	5,003,894	0.77	-1.23
Apr 2019	38,551	4,954,749	0.78	-0.85
Mar 2019	38,575	4,915,711	0.78	-1.28
Feb 2019	38,445	4,836,641	0.79	0.37
Jan 2019	38,638	4,879,011	0.79	-0.17
Dec 2018	38,557	4,860,382	0.79	0.15
Nov 2018	38,552	4,867,208	0.79	1.74
Oct 2018	38,073	4,890,603	0.78	0.74
Sep 2018	37,875	4,901,022	0.77	1.21
Aug 2018	37,531	4,915,443	0.76	0.50
Jul 2018	37,382	4,920,220	0.76	1.19
Jun 2018	36,940	4,919,678	0.75	0.68
May 2018	36,793	4,933,236	0.75	1.31
Apr 2018	36,550	4,964,736	0.74	1.06
Mar 2018	36,518	5,013,127	0.73	1.28
Feb 2018	36,289	5,045,536	0.72	2.57
Jan 2018	23,610	3,366,973	0.70	4.22
Dec 2017	37,423	5,562,237	0.67	2.50
Nov 2017	36,289	5,528,522	0.66	0.28
Oct 2017	35,849	5,476,927	0.65	0.81
Sep 2017	35,402	5,452,566	0.65	0.53
Aug 2017	34,925	5,407,722	0.65	0.24
Jul 2017	34,757	5,394,626	0.64	0.27
Jun 2017	34,307	5,339,170	0.64	0.52
May 2017	34,107	5,335,416	0.64	0.15
Apr 2017	33,599	5,263,641	0.64	-0.33
Mar 2017	33,696	5,261,605	0.64	1.39
Feb 2017	33,317	5,274,744	0.63	0.13
Jan 2017	32,862	5,209,465	0.63	1.23
Dec 2016	32,535	5,221,173	0.62	0.55
Nov 2016	31,950	5,155,676	0.62	-51.77
Oct 2016	25,872	2,013,657	1.28	107.59
Sep 2016	31,686	5,119,417	0.62	1.35
Aug 2016	31,149	5,100,729	0.61	-0.26
Jul 2016	30,712	5,016,079	0.61	0.94
Jun 2016	29,956	4,938,709	0.61	1.70
May 2016	29,410	4,931,331	0.60	-11.54
Apr 2016	32,191	4,774,543	0.67	17.09
Mar 2016	32,159	5,584,922	0.58	0.91
Feb 2016	32,248	5,651,183	0.57	0.71
Jan 2016	32,109	5,666,982	0.57	0.41
Dec 2015	32,346	5,732,036	0.56	0.94
Nov 2015	31,940	5,713,487	0.56	2.41
Oct 2015	31,358	5,744,586	0.55	1.58
Sep 2015	31,020	5,772,320	0.54	1.15
Aug 2015	30,727	5,783,432	0.53	2.94
Jul 2015	29,672	5,749,024	0.52	1.23
Jun 2015	29,425	5,771,421	0.51	1.38
May 2015	29,149	5,795,992	0.50	2.18
Apr 2015	28,692	5,829,395	0.49	1.04
Mar 2015	28,397	5,829,344	0.49	0.82
Feb 2015	27,947	5,784,206	0.48	-0.68
Jan 2015	27,982	5,751,972	0.49	-0.73
Dec 2014	27,920	5,697,585	0.49	1.51
Nov 2014	27,595	5,716,520	0.48	0.08
Oct 2014	27,333	5,666,983	0.48	0.58
Sep 2014	27,031	5,637,009	0.48	1.25
Aug 2014	26,867	5,672,887	0.47	0.18
Jul 2014	26,648	5,636,891	0.47	-0.23
Jun 2014	26,593	5,612,560	0.47	1.41
May 2014	26,295	5,627,978	0.47	1.60
Apr 2014	25,865	5,624,377	0.46	1.12
Mar 2014	25,531	5,613,689	0.45	0.53
Feb 2014	25,335	5,600,325	0.45	1.35
Jan 2014	24,978	5,595,961	0.45	0.06
Dec 2013	24,772	5,553,171	0.45	1.45
Nov 2013	24,385	5,545,635	0.44	1.23
Oct 2013	23,993	5,523,861	0.43	0.16
Sep 2013	23,775	5,482,157	0.43	1.14
Aug 2013	23,386	5,453,685	0.43	0.76
Jul 2013	23,054	5,416,936	0.43	0.65
Jun 2013	22,699	5,367,986	0.42	1.34
May 2013	22,239	5,329,627	0.42	-0.18
Apr 2013	22,014	5,266,363	0.42	0.35
Mar 2013	21,840	5,243,111	0.42	51.08
Feb 2013	14,381	5,215,937	0.28	-32.09
Jan 2013	21,088	5,194,200	0.41	3.08
Dec 2012	20,297	5,153,146	0.39	1.06
Nov 2012	20,030	5,139,476	0.39	0.87
Oct 2012	19,765	5,115,516	0.39	0.70
Sep 2012	19,525	5,088,712	0.38	1.27
Aug 2012	19,169	5,059,582	0.38	0.64
Jul 2012	18,969	5,038,917	0.38	0.41
Jun 2012	18,853	5,028,486	0.37	0.38
May 2012	18,567	4,970,874	0.37	1.15
Apr 2012	18,171	4,920,828	0.37	0.72
Mar 2012	17,903	4,883,144	0.37	1.00
Feb 2012	17,612	4,851,971	0.36	0.98
Jan 2012	17,253	4,799,466	0.36	0.56
Dec 2011	16,986	4,751,587	0.36	-0.20
Nov 2011	16,904	4,719,275	0.36	4.97
Oct 2011	16,017	4,694,053	0.34	1.36
Sep 2011	15,677	4,656,833	0.34	-1.06
Aug 2011	15,732	4,623,676	0.34	0.55
Jul 2011	15,466	4,570,554	0.34	4.22
Jun 2011	14,808	4,560,623	0.32	1.43
May 2011	14,520	4,536,057	0.32	1.36
Apr 2011	14,248	4,511,822	0.32	0.27
Mar 2011	14,081	4,470,963	0.31	0.57
Feb 2011	13,796	4,405,486	0.31	1.14
Jan 2011	13,508	4,362,742	0.31	1.14
Dec 2010	13,203	4,312,748	0.31	1.08
Nov 2010	12,930	4,269,056	0.30	2.19
Oct 2010	12,530	4,227,747	0.30	1.78
Sep 2010	12,232	4,200,803	0.29	1.59
Aug 2010	11,946	4,167,890	0.29	2.07
Jul 2010	11,629	4,141,109	0.28	2.64
Jun 2010	11,235	4,106,607	0.27	0.69
May 2010	11,063	4,071,660	0.27	0.87
Apr 2010	10,811	4,013,620	0.27	1.86
Mar 2010	10,575	3,999,019	0.26	-1.21
Feb 2010	10,594	3,957,599	0.27	1.95
Jan 2010	10,322	3,931,264	0.26	1.36
Dec 2009	10,116	3,905,235	0.26	-0.35
Nov 2009	10,099	3,884,965	0.26	2.70
Oct 2009	9,787	3,866,738	0.25	2.38
Sep 2009	9,484	3,836,380	0.25	4.37
Aug 2009	9,017	3,807,029	0.24	2.92
Jul 2009	8,676	3,769,917	0.23	2.94
Jun 2009	8,447	3,778,466	0.22	2.46
May 2009	8,045	3,687,020	0.22	1.88
Apr 2009	7,938	3,706,351	0.21	3.70
Mar 2009	7,713	3,734,630	0.21	1.76
Feb 2009	7,547	3,718,561	0.20	3.22
Jan 2009	7,296	3,710,715	0.20	0.75
Dec 2008	7,205	3,691,734	0.20	3.03
Nov 2008	6,923	3,654,634	0.19	4.86
Oct 2008	6,612	3,660,088	0.18	1.78
Sep 2008	6,458	3,638,609	0.18	2.32
Aug 2008	6,235	3,594,514	0.17	0.84
Jul 2008	5,877	3,416,713	0.17	3.09
Jun 2008	5,877	3,522,287	0.17	4.00
May 2008	5,598	3,489,249	0.16	3.21
Apr 2008	5,360	3,448,280	0.16	3.90
Mar 2008	5,113	3,417,579	0.15	3.09
Feb 2008	4,920	3,390,128	0.15	4.01
Jan 2008	4,693	3,363,501	0.14	5.62
Dec 2007	4,337	3,283,066	0.13	3.86
Nov 2007	4,156	3,267,368	0.13	2.88
Oct 2007	4,041	3,268,404	0.12	1.09
Sep 2007	3,959	3,236,994	0.12	1.93
Aug 2007	3,847	3,206,214	0.12	-1.30
Jul 2007	3,899	3,207,446	0.12	4.45
Jun 2007	3,714	3,191,362	0.12	6.94
May 2007	3,450	3,170,232	0.11	3.51
Apr 2007	3,310	3,148,262	0.11	1.62
Mar 2007	3,222	3,114,088	0.10	1.54
Feb 2007	3,129	3,070,888	0.10	0.49
Jan 2007	3,093	3,050,351	0.10	0.91
Dec 2006	3,049	3,034,344	0.10	2.95
Nov 2006	2,960	3,032,539	0.10	0.74
Oct 2006	2,911	3,004,284	0.10	2.92
Sep 2006	2,800	2,974,221	0.09	3.08
Aug 2006	2,676	2,930,065	0.09	1.35
Jul 2006	2,619	2,906,467	0.09	1.81
Jun 2006	2,558	2,890,048	0.09	3.78
May 2006	2,443	2,864,335	0.09	0.84
Apr 2006	2,405	2,843,522	0.08	0.08
Mar 2006	2,388	2,825,671	0.08	2.06
Feb 2006	2,315	2,795,639	0.08	0.97
Jan 2006	2,269	2,766,597	0.08	1.54
Dec 2005	2,211	2,737,289	0.08	2.99
Nov 2005	2,112	2,692,885	0.08	2.22
Oct 2005	2,051	2,673,281	0.08	0.91
Sep 2005	2,008	2,641,099	0.08	3.06
Aug 2005	1,934	2,621,562	0.07	3.25
Jul 2005	1,876	2,625,668	0.07	2.51
Jun 2005	1,835	2,632,874	0.07	1.98
May 2005	1,800	2,633,770	0.07	-0.94
Apr 2005	1,821	2,639,366	0.07	1.74
Mar 2005	1,774	2,616,078	0.07	1.70
Feb 2005	1,728	2,591,678	0.07	2.30
Jan 2005	1,682	2,580,745	0.07	1.57
Dec 2004	1,637	2,551,015	0.06	-0.48
Nov 2004	1,618	2,509,200	0.06	1.99
Oct 2004	1,568	2,480,006	0.06	0.83
Sep 2004	1,535	2,448,080	0.06	1.69
Aug 2004	1,498	2,429,493	0.06	0.61
Jul 2004	1,483	2,419,814	0.06	2.27
Jun 2004	1,403	2,341,254	0.06	2.06
May 2004	1,404	2,391,293	0.06	-0.10
Apr 2004	1,395	2,373,501	0.06	1.72
Mar 2004	1,363	2,358,868	0.06	2.56
Feb 2004	1,328	2,357,211	0.06	-2.43
Jan 2004	1,352	2,341,463	0.06	2.68
Dec 2003	1,311	2,331,238	0.06	4.52
Nov 2003	1,244	2,312,009	0.05	8.74
Oct 2003	1,145	2,313,990	0.05	2.33
Sep 2003	1,103	2,280,977	0.05	2.29
Aug 2003	1,058	2,237,957	0.05	1.49
Jul 2003	1,042	2,236,929	0.05	2.42
Jun 2003	999	2,196,536	0.05	5.31
May 2003	950	2,199,629	0.04	5.01
Apr 2003	888	2,159,180	0.04	2.79
Mar 2003	855	2,136,967	0.04	0.45
Feb 2003	828	2,078,823	0.04	-1.83
Jan 2003	825	2,033,445	0.04	2.67
Dec 2002	764	1,933,463	0.04	1.93
Nov 2002	766	1,976,033	0.04	4.10
Oct 2002	738	1,981,841	0.04	2.29
Sep 2002	709	1,947,616	0.04	4.14
Aug 2002	678	1,939,545	0.03	6.62
Jul 2002	640	1,952,002	0.03	N/A

This report was added to our monthly roster of reports on July 1st, 2015, with backdated reports dating back to July 2002 added on June 23rd, 2015.