F5-CTS-LTM BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager Practice Question
You have a requirement to distribute traffic to pool members based on the total number of active connections each server is currently handling. Which load balancing method should be selected?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'Least Connections' with 'Least Sessions' or 'Fastest'. They fail to distinguish between connection tracking and session-based persistence, leading to incorrect load balancing algorithm selection on the exam.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Least Connections (member)
The 'Least Connections' method is the correct choice for load balancing based on active session counts. This algorithm dynamically tracks the current load on each server and directs new requests to the member with the fewest active connections. It is essential for application environments where individual requests vary significantly in duration or resource consumption, preventing any single server from becoming overwhelmed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Round Robin
Why it's wrong here
Round Robin distributes requests sequentially in a fixed, repeating order. It ignores the actual server load or the number of active connections. Using Round Robin in an environment with varying session lengths often leads to imbalanced load, as some servers might handle significantly longer-running sessions than others.
- ✓
Least Connections (member)
Why this is correct
This method counts the active connections on each member and routes new requests to the member with the lowest count. It is highly effective at maintaining an even distribution of work, ensuring that no single backend server becomes a bottleneck due to an accumulation of long-lived sessions.
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Ratio (member)
Why it's wrong here
Ratio (member) distributes traffic based on static weights assigned to each server. It does not account for the real-time number of active connections. This method is useful only when servers have known, fixed differences in capacity or performance, not for dynamic load tracking of active user sessions.
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Observed (member)
Why it's wrong here
Observed is a dynamic method that creates a map of server performance over time and uses that history to influence load distribution. While it is dynamic, it does not strictly prioritize the current number of active connections, making it less precise than 'Least Connections' for simple connection-based load balancing.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official F5 exam blueprint
This F5-CTS-LTM practice question is part of Courseiva's free F5 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the F5-CTS-LTM exam.