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Symantec Data Center Security vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 14, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Symantec Data Center Security
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware NSX
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (6th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (8th), Network Automation (5th), Microsegmentation Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Symantec Data Center Security is 3.9%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 24.3%, down from 32.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

Atul-Vats - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a complete system lockdown feature and the ability to restrict users but has a complex policy structure
The negative aspect of that particular product is the fact it has a very, very, very complex policy structure. A user or administrator making the policy in the DCS should have a very thorough knowledge of the operating system or policy making. You have to be very specific about the data structure. If you want to secure a Linux server, an administrator should be very confident about how the directory structure of Linux, how Linux works, and where it puts the important logs. You have to be very cautious about the complete path, and you have to write it over there in the policy part. If you are not very specific, there will be a lot of noise in the system. You're going to receive thousands of events that are false positives. The fine-tuning of the policy is a very complex thing in the DCS itself. Another negative aspect that I have observed is if the product gets installed on the kernel level of any non-Windows server, it has some issues, comparability issues. Sometimes the product doesn't work properly, so it shuts down the machine and crashes the system. There are many cases in which I've observed the DCS crashing the system.
Tarek Nader - PeerSpot reviewer
It extends Layer-2 scalability on Layer 3
NSX extends Layer-2 scalability on Layer 3, covering the vRO and extending the capability on Layer 3 by decapsulating using a new mechanism. NSX-V was designed to use with VMware products and Success 360, providing more flexibility toward different levels of cloud, containers, and components. NSX-T gives you the ability to stretch your network across different view locations. If you have multiple sites, you can connect them using NSX-T.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The advantage of Data Center Security is its ease of use and that it serves as a single unified platform, where I can apply all my security policies to protect that server."
"Good file integrity monitoring features."
"The real strength lies in its straightforward approach, offering just two key policies: prevention and detection."
"The ability to finely control permissions and restrictions on servers or assets through a customizable rule set is a key strength."
"The monitoring in the management console allows us to find out what is going wrong, and it gets reports even before the user reports it."
"The tool will then detect any anomalies, such as an intruder who has breached the network, which can trigger the system lockdown feature if it's enabled and meets the defined threshold."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized console, which can handle different products that we have."
"The most valuable feature is the endpoint protection system."
"The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the high bandwidth."
"The installation is straightforward, it took a couple of hours."
"I am impressed with the tool's protection."
"The ability to scale from different clouds. At the moment, the scalability of the product is the number one thing that I saw."
"Firewall security is one of VMware NSX's vital features"
"One of the big improvements between the NSX-V and NSX-T is that in NSX-T you are no longer dependent on V-Center anymore."
"NSX extends Layer-2 scalability on Layer 3, covering the vRO and extending the capability on Layer 3 by decapsulating using a new mechanism. NSX-V was designed to use with VMware products and Success 360, providing more flexibility toward different levels of cloud, containers, and components. NSX-T gives you the ability to stretch your network across different view locations. If you have multiple sites, you can connect them using NSX-T."
"The most valuable features are stability and low cost."
 

Cons

"They need to develop a more flexible product that can be scaled such that it fits well into a small business or a bigger, enterprise-level solution."
"A user or administrator making the policy in the DCS should have a very thorough knowledge of the operating system or policy making. You have to be very specific about the data structure."
"The product blocks certain processes, even after allowlisting them."
"The support is very bad. They're not fast at all. Trend Micro's support is much better."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing its graphical user interface for a more user-friendly experience."
"There is plenty of room for improvement with this product, and it could start with platform metrics."
"Adding more compatibility with common products like Microsoft would be a plus."
"Agent management is a challenging task."
"It lacks full knowledge of physical side of the network topology."
"VMware NSX provides a lot of automation capabilities, but there is still room for improvement."
"They have to work more and more on the integration for public cloud services and have cyber security platform integration."
"Our technical team is always looking for the solutions that they work with to offer more convenient integrations."
"A room for improvement in VMware NSX is that it has some security vulnerabilities, which means my company has to apply the patches every once in a while."
"There could be an improvement in regards to security."
"It needs to be cheaper."
"We have been satisfied with the technical support. They were able to solve our problems. However, they could be faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to some other solutions, such as CrowdStrike, Symantec is more expensive."
"The product is a bit costly."
"It is notably more expensive when compared to other solutions."
"If five is a good price and one is a high price, I would rate the price a one out of five."
"We are using a perpetual license to use the solution and we have support."
"The licensing fees are expensive and we pay on a yearly basis."
"There is a license required for this solution and there is also a support license available. The price of the solution could be better."
"The price is significantly high and it can be a hurdle for many potential users."
"The price could be better. We pay for the license every three years. The last time I checked, it cost around three million pesos in the Philipines. Most of the expense will go towards implementation and renovation."
"There is a license required for this solution, we pay annually."
"The price of VMware NSX is optimal. Additionally, the price of the solution can be negotiated with the vendor. Many areas of the solution can impact the cost, such as features, time for onboarding, and support needed."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Symantec Data Center Security?
The granularity of applying the policies is valuable.
What needs improvement with Symantec Data Center Security?
Agent management is a challenging task. We cannot do it from the console. We will have to use other tools.
What is your primary use case for Symantec Data Center Security?
One key use case for data center security is protecting files within the data center. This is especially important for Linux systems, where locking down specific files is essential to prevent unaut...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

No data available
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
Find out what your peers are saying about Symantec Data Center Security vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.