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SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN vs Steelhead comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

SteelConnect EX Enterprise ...
Ranking in WAN Edge
21st
Average Rating
7.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (26th)
Steelhead
Ranking in WAN Edge
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the WAN Edge category, the mindshare of SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN is 0.4%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Steelhead is 1.5%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Edge
 

Featured Reviews

Jason Best - PeerSpot reviewer
May 14, 2020
Analytics feature is very granular and comprehensive, although complicated to use
It's like an SD-WAN project basically. You really need to make sure that the product matches the needs of what the customer's trying to achieve and their overall strategy to meet their core business requirements. I think a certain customer made a mistake in choosing this solution because a large part of their network was Cisco and they had firewalls that were from Fortinet. I think they would have been better off and it would have been better from a CAPEX, OPEX point of view. It would've been more advantageous for them to have maybe chosen a Cisco or Fortinet solution based on their existing environment. Make sure you understand your network correctly before you try to implement any SD-WAN solution. That was one of the good lessons I learned about SD-WANs with this specific product. I wouldn't say it was a fault of the product. I would say it's more a fault of the CTO who tries to do things quickly without taking into account the existing environment or give the internal faculties the time to provide real low-level design implementation. It was more of a management mistake than from their technical team. In the next release, I would like to see things like integrated security but with local internet breakout instead of using third party solutions like NetScaler or Palo Alto. I would also like to see the integration of things like a VPN so that if you have remote sites where you might have remote workers that need to access the site from home or something, there's a VPN solution. Those are two key features and hotspots in the sort of global crisis. I would rate Riverbed a seven out of ten. I could never give any solution a 10 cause they all have good and bad points. To get any solution to a ten is pretty much impossible. If I was to rate it against others like Fortinet, I would probably give Fortinet an eight or nine. Again, I think you have to be careful because it's very subjective. I think it really depends on the type of environment, the type of customer you're deploying the SD-WAN solution for, and from which perspective you're looking at like if you an operator, if you're a large enterprise, if you're looking for a plug and play type solution. If you're looking for more of a security solution, I would go for Fortinet. It's kind of tough to say. I'd probably put the clouds a little bit ahead of the game because it does what it's supposed to do and easily. It's a little more of a plug and play type solution. Fortinet, for example, is more complex. I put it in a close second place, it's better from a security perspective. It has integration with FortiGuard. After that, I would put Riverbed in third place.
Chaudhary Muhammad Moez Manzar - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 17, 2023
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use. If you're really interested in knowing what's happening on your network, it's a very good solution. That was the .NET Profiler part of the solution."
"TCP optimization... caches a particular TCP connection and the next time a user uses that connection he will reach the destination easily."
"The compression of Riverbed is very powerful. It can also handle large quantities of traffic."
"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."
"Scalable data referencing is a great feature."
"The most valuable feature of Steelhead is its optimization capabilities."
"The connectivity to speed is the valuable feature."
"It is very easy to install the solution."
"I find the most valuable to be the compression and exchange replication."
 

Cons

"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routine perspective, things like RSPs line support. It was supportive but not really supportive."
"One area for improvement is related to monitoring and visibility."
"If we load a primary firewall, the secondary firewall usually handles all the active connections, but in Riverbed, this isn't the case. We lose all the active connections at the moment of failure."
"Steelhead's handling of encrypted traffic could be improved because it requires some complex configuration to optimize encrypted traffic, especially when working with Microsoft protocols for mail servers and VPN services"
"The product needs improvement in its integration with SDN."
"The solution needs to have alert notifications."
"Application response time and network performance could be improved."
"The application response time of the solution can be improved."
"I would like to see improvement in the solution’s configuration and protocol aspects. We have got some configurations that are not set. I would also like to simplify the call detection of some protocols."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution is expensive and the service contacts are costly too. The cost of the device makes the value proposition borderline acceptable for us. The service contract fees we pay is approximately $30,000 annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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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

SteelConnect, Riverbed SteelConnect
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Roxtec, Software Solutions Company, Rignet
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in WAN Edge. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.