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Exinda vs Steelhead comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Customer Service

No sentiment score available
Exinda's customer service receives mixed reviews, citing issues with ticket logging, support availability, and delayed quotes, but some positive feedback.
No sentiment score available
Riverbed's support is professional and helpful, with responsive technical assistance and quick responses from higher-level engineers despite call center difficulties.
 

Room For Improvement

No sentiment score available
Exinda requires better support, simpler licensing, faster updates, more training, improved performance, enhanced cloud compatibility, and VLAN-based monitoring.
Sentiment score
4.6
Steelhead must enhance performance, security, integration, monitoring, availability, cost-effectiveness, and add SDN, DDoS, and IPS features.
 

Scalability Issues

No sentiment score available
Exinda is scalable for small to medium businesses, handles various bandwidths, and easily upgrades with presales steps and future models.
Sentiment score
8.5
Steelhead is praised for scalability and ease of adding sites, though some scaling issues require additional purchases.
 

Setup Cost

No sentiment score available
Exinda provides scalable licenses with competitive pricing and valuable features, ideal for cost-conscious organizations, available via annual bandwidth licenses.
No sentiment score available
Steelhead's high costs are justified by exceptional support, though some users prefer more affordable alternatives like SolarWinds.
 

Stability Issues

No sentiment score available
Exinda's stability improved in version 7.2; minor dashboard issues exist, but users generally trust its performance without seeking alternatives.
Sentiment score
8.7
Steelhead is highly rated for its stability, reliability, and uninterrupted operation, ranking number one in WAN optimization.
 

Valuable Features

No sentiment score available
Exinda enhances network management with traffic prioritization, dynamic throughput, application control, monitoring, and tailored policies for efficient optimization.
Sentiment score
7.9
Steelhead offers optimized performance, faster data access, easy setup, cost savings, and enhanced network visibility through SDR, TCP optimization, and compression.
 

Categories and Ranking

Exinda
Ranking in WAN Optimization
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Steelhead
Ranking in WAN Optimization
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
WAN Edge (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the WAN Optimization category, the mindshare of Exinda is 5.0%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Steelhead is 14.1%, down from 21.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Optimization
 

Featured Reviews

EH
Gives us the ability to prioritize network traffic into a hierarchy
Creating the custom application is a bit awkward. I kind of have to guess my way through it sometimes. A lot of working with this solution is really intuitive. I have picked it up mostly on my own. I'm sure that there are some things that maybe I hadn't thought of or really hadn't considered, and I think it would be good just to promote some day courses. I don't really see a whole lot that comes out for Exinda as far as training or informational sessions through our normal resellers. It would be cool to know more about the solution by utilizing educational resources or even have Exinda promoted a bit better.
Chaudhary Muhammad Moez Manzar - PeerSpot reviewer
Exceptionally stable and reliable but costly
I have had hands-on experience with the initial setup of Steelhead, particularly in deploying it for a banking system in Pakistan. The deployment involved two cities, Karachi and Larkana, with around sixteen to eighteen branches. To start, we needed licenses for both Steelhead devices, crucial for optimizing traffic. Understanding the volume of traffic between the nodes is essential. For instance, if there is a 1 GB traffic requirement, we need to select a license capable of optimizing that volume. While the claim is that Steelhead can optimize up to 90%, we typically set realistic expectations, aiming for 60-70% optimization. Choosing the right device, analyzing its processing capabilities, ensuring hardware compatibility with the selected license, and understanding the specific requirements are key aspects of the setup process. The initial installation of Steelhead is more about careful planning than complex configuration. The trickiest part is deciding on the right device, box, and license. Figuring out which box suits the purpose and which license can handle the expected traffic volume is crucial. Once that is sorted, the configuration itself is relatively straightforward, mostly done through a user-friendly GUI. The key for engineers is understanding how to analyze the graphs and reports. During deployment, the focus shifts to selecting the appropriate box, software version, and license. The reports become essential for ongoing optimization. The full installation of Steelhead typically takes around one day. However, I usually monitor the system for about a week after deployment to gather mature data and generate comprehensive reports. The deployment of Steelhead is a team effort, not a solo task. Typically, it involves a presales person and a technician, especially if we are setting up in a data center. The infrastructure management and operations team, including system, network, and software teams, are also part of the process. In total, around nine to ten people might be involved, depending on the specific needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Real Estate/Law Firm
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
23%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitoring solutions were ExtraHop first, Riverbed SteelCenter second. Their negotiated c...
What do you like most about Riverbed Steelhead?
One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users.
What is your primary use case for Riverbed Steelhead?
The tool is useful as an optimization tool, especially in scenarios with limited bandwidth, like intra-connecting sites. It optimizes WAN traffic so that critical traffic gets priority and is optim...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

UMass Dartmouth, MLB Network, R&R Ice Cream, Savills, Manhattan School of Music, Blum Shapiro, Cincinnati Public Schools, City of Richmond, Genting Casinos, The Salvation Army, VoIP Unlimited, Frontier Silicon, Lakeshore Toltest, CTI Foods
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Exinda vs. Steelhead and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.