The feature that allows defining different profiles for the users is the most valuable feature of the solution.
Technical Advisory Manager at AXIANS SAIV S.P.A.
A reasonably priced stable solution requiring an easy initial setup phase
Pros and Cons
- "At the moment, for us, it is a very good solution because it has all the features we need and it is not so expensive."
- "The support, which is the direct support from Aruba, has shortcomings and needs to be improved."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
At the moment, for us, it is a very good solution because it has all the features we need and it is not so expensive. Hence, it seems to be a good solution for us.
The support, which is the direct support from Aruba, has shortcomings and needs to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform for two years. Also, I am using the solution's latest version. My company is a reseller of Aruba.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution's network is very stable. It works fine. We have no specific feedback about the adaptability of this network.
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is possible to scale the solution with regional hubs, so it seems to be very scalable. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
To be specific, the number of end users using the solution is something that depends on our customer since a customer has shops, and I think that for each shop, there are around eight to ten employees. There are also data centers and offices with a hundred people, I suppose, for each office. Around several thousand use the solution.
How was the initial setup?
Regarding the initial setup, once the training has been done and one is in the job of practice, then the solution is quite simple. We also have junior resources perfectly performing the initial setup of the devices during the network deployment.
On a scale of one to ten, where one being difficult setup and ten being easy setup, I rate the setup an eight.
The solution is deployed on the cloud. It is directly on the Aruba cloud.
Now I think that we have a very good process, and we are able to make a deployment in two to three hours.
Normally, one person on-site and one remote person for configuration are required during deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
On a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high, I rate the pricing around five to six. It is not so expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are working with four different technologies at the moment. It depends on the choice made by the customer. We can't suggest technology in any case until we talk with the customer.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Integration Manager at Gilat Satellite Networks
Useful Boost feature, scalable, and quiet
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is the boost."
- "The support from Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect has declined since Aruba acquired them. The knowledge and speed of the agents could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We use Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect for three use cases.
We have deployed it in a bank customer for a VPN over the internet for a backup to the MPS.
We use it for managing satellite microwave and fiber connections with different latencies in the same location.
In a multi-branch enterprise, we used the solution for two links on each site with other links together all aggregated in one network.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is the boost.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is very good and quiet.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is scalable.
I have many clients using Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect but they do not know they are using my service.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect has declined since Aruba acquired them. The knowledge and speed of the agents could improve.
I need to transfer units between customers. Most of the issues that I have with the support are with licensing. It is difficult and always takes time.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is straightforward. The full setup of one customer network on the 14 branches took us approximately 48 hours. This includes the installation of hardware, other solutions, and the installation switches on the branches
What about the implementation team?
We used an integrator for the implementation of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual license required to use Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect.
What other advice do I have?
As an integrator, I recommend Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect. However, it does depend on the use case.
I rate Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Buyer's Guide
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform
November 2024
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Channel Sales Manager at Denave
Suitable for multiple environments for better connectivity and comes with bandwidth optimization feature
Pros and Cons
- "The tool's most valuable feature is bandwidth optimization."
- "I expect automation in the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform's next release."
What is our primary use case?
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is best suited for multiple environments that need better connectivity. You can optimize its bandwidth and give better connectivity in terms of packet losses.
What is most valuable?
The tool's most valuable feature is bandwidth optimization.
What needs improvement?
I expect automation in the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform's next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable. We have customers who have deployed it in over 3,000 locations. There are two customers in my territory.
How are customer service and support?
We have a dedicated distributor.
How was the initial setup?
You need experience to do the deployment. It is not complex. We did the deployment within a week. You have to deploy the product in both locations and configure it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You can get both yearly and monthly options in licensing. It is not expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Offers a centralized cloud system to manage routers with easy plug-and-play deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The tool is easy to configure due to the existing pre-configured templates. It is easy to manage compared to legacy systems, which takes time. We can complete a site within 30 minutes. The tool's best feature is outdoor onboarding. You need to bring the box to the site with the internet. It is a simple plug-and-play. The solution offers a zero-touch procedure."
- "Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform needs to improve integrations with other vendors."
What is our primary use case?
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform offers a centralized cloud system to manage routers.
What is most valuable?
The tool is easy to configure due to the existing pre-configured templates. It is easy to manage compared to legacy systems, which takes time. We can complete a site within 30 minutes. The tool's best feature is outdoor onboarding. You need to bring the box to the site with the internet. It is a simple plug-and-play. The solution offers a zero-touch procedure.
What needs improvement?
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform needs to improve integrations with other vendors.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool's stability is subjective, sometimes not stable 100 percent. Overall, it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is stable. They have a range of products, and we can get recommendations from Aruba's support to choose the right product. My company has 40,000 users for the solution.
How are customer service and support?
Aruba's tech support is fantastic, and they are good at troubleshooting. They are also cooperative. The issue gets resolved faster since they work together in teams.
How was the initial setup?
The product's installation is straightforward, and the GUI is easy to understand. We can deploy about ten sites within a day. The first step of deployment is information gathering. The next step is to come up with a design. After the design phase, we will preconfigure the tool and send it to the site, after which it is plug-and-play.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Tax Associate at Grant Thornton
A user-friendly solution for connectivity for our enterprise to run our business operations
What is our primary use case?
We use the Aruba platform for connectivity for our enterprise to run our business operations.
What is most valuable?
The platform is very user-friendly. It allows clients to manage their network and view bandwidth, application performance, and application bandwidth usage across all locations. The platform's many features made it easy for us to transition from SD-WAN.
What needs improvement?
There were issues, but now it is improving.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Aruba for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. There were issues related to box management, but it is now stabilized.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable and suitable for enterprise-level business.
How are customer service and support?
We initially faced challenges with the platform in 2018 and 2019. The underlying GNS technology was relatively new and not fully equipped to handle the complexities of our environment. However, the platform has been steadily improving. They have resolved over 50% of the reported bugs, and the platform is becoming more stable and reliable. Initially, we were operating with a single network feed, which presented many challenges.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, requiring two engineers for onsite and remote each. The deployment typically takes less than an hour. However, installing Cisco ENC devices, such as the 5403 or 5400, can be more challenging and require additional troubleshooting.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is easy to maintain.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at ATMC
Good data reduction capabilities, alleviates network congestion, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
- "The file and data reduction capabilities are very good. Without it, we have a great deal of network congestion."
- "We would like to have better features for path selection. For example, if we know the network is going to go down then we would like to set up an alternate route for data packets in real-time."
What is our primary use case?
We have one of these files servers in each of our branch offices. It hosts our Oracle database, which is replicated from our main site to the DR site.
It also hosts our VMware vSphere solution.
What is most valuable?
The file and data reduction capabilities are very good. Without it, we have a great deal of network congestion.
The monitoring integration is good. Generally, the compatibility with other products is good.
What needs improvement?
We would like to have better features for path selection. For example, if we know the network is going to go down then we would like to set up an alternate route for data packets in real-time.
The firewall should be enhanced because the one that is included is very limited in terms of features.
For how long have I used the solution?
In the organization, Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect has been used for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This product has scaled according to our needs. We have approximately 200 users.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good and I am satisfied with it.
We don't speak with the vendor directly. Rather, we deal with a distributor and we have a good relationship with their support team. We can call and reach them at any time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for this product is good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
As Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is nearing end-of-life, our license with it is expiring and we are procuring a new solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Easy and manageable network solution
Pros and Cons
- "First and foremost, it enables the customer to deploy high availability connections. This kind of solution enables them to deploy these HA connections for policies mostly automatically. It's a more automated approach than with other vendors."
- "They have to implement more security with it. The security, mainly their firewall functions, have to be included in the firewall features."
What is our primary use case?
I worked on some projects in Panama and Mexico. I did a large project in Mexico making equipment with at least 80 to 85 branches. We used Orchestrator and EdgeConnect Service Provider.
How has it helped my organization?
First and foremost, it enables the customer to deploy high availability connections. This kind of solution enables them to deploy these HA connections for policies mostly automatically. It's a more automated approach than with other vendors.
In the case of bandwidth, Silver Peak has a feature that enables the appliance to perform with one of the extensions. They have comparisons and notifications that enable the customer to contract fewer bandwidth links. It returns our investment because they have the ability to make a data link. They can push it. They can even eliminate their MPLS links, push it, and download more links, which makes it cheaper.
What is most valuable?
In terms of the most valuable features, I'd say it is Silver Peak's deployment. It's the main advantage. I think it is easy to understand and deploy their technology because they use a certain technical approach that they call overlays and underlays. With these two principles, they make use of the technological advantage of their platform.
They are also good in their routing feature. They have all the flavors. They work with other flavors for routing. I think they are good in this field.
What needs improvement?
I like this solution and I work well with it. But they have to implement more security with it. The security, mainly their firewall functions, have to be included in the firewall features.
They have to work on their integration with other vendors, like Versa does, integrating some little appliance inside of the boxes with a firewall feature. I think that they have to work the other way. It's not within their firewall feature.
The only thing I can point to is their lack of security integration.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of stability, the solution is mostly stable. Once you deploy with Silver Peak, you mostly forget the customer because there are almost no support calls. The customer almost never reports any issues or problems once the program is deployed. It's stable and it's easy to manage.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My impressions are that it's good, it's scalable. Most SD-WAN vendors have to be scalable because when they scale the data center the vendor has to have that ability. In this case, when you scale from three to four to five, seven, eight, 10 service provider connections, you have to deploy the solution in an automated way.
In this case, Silver Peak has some approaches. They have integration with other technologies like Cisco, VCCP, PDR, and VRRP. They use some protocols in order to fix the scale issue. This applies to all SD-WAN vendors. They all have the same issues when talking about the scale.
How are customer service and technical support?
They have very good technical support.
I know they are growing in the Latin American market but when I was working with them, they were lacking local support or at least the support that can manage cases in the region, taking into account that most customers have some problems the language.
In this case, Cisco has local support teams in the region, they have a good tech center in Costa Rica, and they have tech centers in South America, too. The same with Fortinet. Fortinet and Cisco are well-positioned here.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Silver Peak has a good approach to Cloud managed solutions. They do lack some integration in the security field because the EdgeConnect devices have invalid basic firewall features. But in this case, I understand Versa has a more integrated solution that includes security with the detection and so on.
I know that Fortinet and Cisco Meraki have firewalls integrated into their SD-WAN devices. I can say that Silver Peak is struggling with this feature. But in the SD-WAN feature itself, I think that Silver Peak is the easiest to use, to deploy, and to manage. There are only two basic components, including their Orchestrator, which is their brain, their main connection point.
Silver Peak's devices, compared to Cisco Meraki, are the most practical to use and deploy and have less interface. I work in two or three parameters with financial customers, mostly banks. They use Silver Peak for interconnecting their banks with the main location and integrating their many Service Provider links into one single box.
How was the initial setup?
It's easy to deploy and easy to manage. They have fewer elements than all the other vendors. They have only two elements, their dashboard, and their appliance.
As an example, with the last five last branches, it was implemented in two days.
What about the implementation team?
Implementation depends on a per-client basis. In Latin America, I can tell you that most networks have mixed topologies and they have mixed vendors in their network. They have mixed policies and no customer is able to talk to another. They have some misunderstandings between customers even in the same country. So when it comes to deploying SD-WAN policies in Latin America, they have to work hard in the design because this design will facilitate the deployment. In most SD-WAN projects, the bulk of the work is in the design part. The key is the design.
Because of this, I became involved with the designing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Unity EdgeConnect is very simple. They have an appliance for all budgets and prices. I think that they are very competitive in their pricing. I compared their price with others and it was well-positioned.
They have very understandable price points. Their pricing is per manage group. If you want to deploy another specific solution, like cloud-managed, then you have to have some other licenses that you can apply which are also very understandable and simple.
Our clients do indeed see a return on their investment with Silver Peak.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I know all this from my searching among other vendors. Cisco is the most complex - they have many elements involved. Cisco Meraki is basically simple. It's super, but they have some features that they are working with right now. They have some limitations, too. I think Fortinet has some limitations, too, mostly in the way they work with the high availability and the packet server connections.
What other advice do I have?
My main advice regarding the SD-WAN product is to do research the customer's topology well. A good understanding of the customer's policies and the customer's implemented technologies, their topology, is important. It is important that they have a good design because the design is the key to success in this kind of space.
It is same when we were working with WAN optimization. You have to do good research before implementing a product. The key is still the same.
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate them at eight.
What I learned from working with them was that their approach is to simplify the deployment and their overall solution. By eliminating many elements from the equation, you have a better understanding of the solution and then a better managed solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at ATMC
Free training offered and multiple features
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Silver Peak VX are we can register our customers and they can receive free training and all the solutions features."
- "There are some functional limitations that could improve."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Silver Peak VX are we can register our customers and they can receive free training and all the solutions features.
What needs improvement?
There are some functional limitations that could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Silver Peak VX for approximately six years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The license could improve for Silver Peak VX.
What other advice do I have?
I am satisfied with the solution overall.
I rate Silver Peak VX an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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