In BIG-IP LTM, a pool member state directly affects how traffic is handled at the data plane level. When a pool member is manually disabled, BIG-IP changes the member’s availability state to disabled, which has specific and predictable traffic-handling consequences.
According to BIG-IP Administration Data Plane Concepts:
A disabled pool member:
Does not accept new connections
Continues to process existing non-persistent connections until they naturally close
Is removed from load-balancing decisions, including persistence lookups
Most importantly for this question:
Persistent connections (such as those created using source-address persistence, cookie persistence, or SSL persistence) are not honored for a disabled pool member
BIG-IP will not send new persistent traffic to a disabled member, even if persistence records exist
Therefore, when a pool member is manually disabled, it stops processing persistent connections, while allowing existing non-persistent flows to drain gracefully.
Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:
B – Persistent connections are not honored for a disabled pool member
C – Existing connections are not immediately terminated when a pool member is disabled
D – Only the disabled pool member stops accepting new connections, not all pool members
Key Data Plane Concept Reinforced:
Manually disabling a pool member is a graceful administrative action that prevents new and persistent traffic from reaching the member while allowing existing connections to complete, which is critical for maintenance and troubleshooting scenarios.
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