The primary use case of this solution is to serve as gateway.
Senior Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Good gateway and SQL load-balancing features and has good stability
Pros and Cons
- "The program is easy to install and to set up."
- "I think the documentation should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The features I find most valuable are the gateway feature and the SQL load-balancing that you can do as well.
What needs improvement?
I think the documentation should be improved - there should be more documentation. In the next release, I would like to see more analytics, better dashboards, and some management monitoring tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
Our client has been using this solution for many years now.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable program.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe this solution is very scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I am satisfied with the technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The program is easy to install and to set up.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for. There are also additional costs to the standard licensing fee.
What other advice do I have?
This solution gets a ten out of ten rating from me. My advice to others is that they need to be clear of what they want to actually achieve and plan before they deploy. They should make sure that it actually meets the business requirements or the use case that they are trying to fix or sell.
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.
Senior Sales Engineer at a tech consulting company with 10,001+ employees
Offers valuable work balancing applications and assists with the customer's communication requirements
Pros and Cons
- "The work balancing applications are the most valuable feature."
- "The product could be improved by making it easier to use and easier to implement."
What is our primary use case?
I work as a senior sales engineer and business developer manager and we distribute the Citrix NetScaler AppFirewall. My job is in presales and I'm also a distributor, assisting the company partners.
Our customers are generally enterprise and public companies and our primary use of the product is for security and work balancing applications. Implementation of the product assists with all the applications and the customer's communication requirements. NetScaler can do a lot of things. We make a point of always using the latest version of the product.
What is most valuable?
I think that the work balancing applications are the most valuable feature. The licensing model that Citrix has implemented is very good. It's a pay-by-use system.
What needs improvement?
The product could be improved by making it easier to use and easier to implement. We've had some difficult problems with that.
An additional feature they could include more of a firewall, as you would find with Checkpoint, Fortinet or Palo Alto firewalls, which all have specific features for security. It would be good if they could include some kind of technical analysis in the next version but I don't know that is part of the Citrix strategy.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Citrix NetScaler AppFirewall for the past two years.
How are customer service and technical support?
The Citrix technical support is very good and the support from the company sales engineer is very good too.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup can be problematic. The length of time it takes to implement really depends on the project. It normally takes around two weeks.
What about the implementation team?
Our company carries out the implementation, the integration of the solution on the customer's infrastructure. In Portugal, we have a lot of enterprise and public sector implementations and a lot of different products available for mounting infrastructure. Sometimes the older implementations and on-prem implementations haven't been done properly and we need to manage this for the customer and for the implementers. You need to know very well what the customer has in order to implement the solution.
What other advice do I have?
The deployment model depends on the customer and normally it's carried out by the customer, because NetScaler in Portugal, where I am, isn't well known so we do a proof of concept first for a couple of months and then after the installation, configuration and the customer approves the product, then the department delivers it.
There are some security problems, there's are DOS problems, different kinds of attacks. Another one is for load balancing the charge of the application because NetScaler is a very good solution to load balance the load off the application itself, from Citrix or from another solution. These are the best cases, security and load balancing.
I would rate this product a nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller.
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Assistant Vice President at Nagarro
Stable solution that is easy to setup
Pros and Cons
- "Very stable."
- "Does not include security. A web application firewall would be a nice addition."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for the product is server load balancing, specifically the application level.
How has it helped my organization?
We are able to offer more support to our customers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the capability of performing load balancing in a virtual environment.
What needs improvement?
They need to implement and integrate security solutions. Specifically, a web application firewall.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would give this solution nine out of ten for stability. It is not perfect because at times I was faced with an issue where the application was getting a lot more traffic than is desirable, and I can see Citrix having issues with this.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have close to fourteen hundred clients using this solution. We expect this to increase, but it is dependent on clients' needs in terms of load balancing.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Some of our clients use the F5 load balancing solution, but that is only ten to fifteen of approximately fourteen hundred clients.
How was the initial setup?
It is a pretty easy setup. You don't need to change anything related to your IT configuration, MAC addresses, or switching tables.
What about the implementation team?
We implement this solution for our clients. We use a template based approach, so normally it can be deployed in a fraction of minutes. One person is sufficient for the deployment and maintenance of this product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I recommend this product to customers because they have a ninety day free-trial period. This is a good solution for people who also have a budget constraint.
We have a five year platinum licensing agreement, which does not incur additional costs of any kind.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this product eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Owner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
A stable networking solution for web applications that needs improvement in their customer support
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable solution. It crashed only once, four years ago...There is a return on investment using the solution."
- "The technical support could be better. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed. And most of the time, I finished fixing the problem by looking on the internet or by finding documents about the problem on Google."
What is our primary use case?
We use Citrix NetScaler for policy URLs for web applications and RDP for Windows servers.
What is most valuable?
Reducing the content searching to publishing your web application, the OTP for two-factor authentication is the most valuable feature of NetScaler.
What needs improvement?
I wanted to use most features of NetScale, like the Web Application Firewall, but I need to learn how to use it. When we want to use OTP for two-factor authentication, it first appears on the authentication page where we can put the credentials. Then, we are directed to the application page and type the credentials again. But we want to use the OTP and access the web application without typing the credentials again. Typically, if we have an issue in the configuration and ask for a support request, that support doesn't help. They only talked about new implementations and charged me for it.
The customers needed help but did not find the web useful for the tool.
The technical support could be better. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed. And most of the time, I finished fixing the problem by looking on the internet or by finding documents about the problem on Google.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Citrix NetScaler for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution. It crashed only once, four years ago. We're using the DSLD configuration with two load balancers, two carriers, and two ISPs.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is bad. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed.
I rate it five out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used Microsoft TMG but then switched to NetScaler since it is a better solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex initially. The first time it took about six months to be deployed. But it's straightforward now and takes only a couple of hours. Around four to five people were needed to complete the deployment.
What about the implementation team?
It was implemented through an in-house team.
What was our ROI?
There is a return on investment using the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is undoubtedly very good, but it is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
My experience with the support is not good. Owing to its poor technical support, I rate the solution seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Founder at ASSISTA
Effective firewall, highly scalable, and useful load balancing
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Citrix ADC are load balancing and application firewall."
- "Overall the price of Citrix ADC could be more competitive."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Citrix ADC for SSL offloads and security, secure remote access, loads balancing, and application firewall, web application firewall.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Citrix ADC are load balancing and application firewall.
What needs improvement?
Overall the price of Citrix ADC could be more competitive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Citrix ADC for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Citrix ADC is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Citrix ADC is highly scalable. You can upgrade it and put increase the bandwidth or add more security features. You can start from the basic standard version, up to the Platinum version.
How was the initial setup?
Citrix ADC's initial setup was simple. The full process took approximately a half-day.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of Citrix ADC in-house because we have the Citrix consultancy services for our customers. They utilize our services on-premise, and in-house. However, typically, the end-user customers, for private/public cloud, have to have some deep technical knowledge. It's not for every IT person to implement. That's why the consulting team is needed to implement these kinds of solutions because they're very sensitive and high critical position in terms of application firewall, et cetera.
We have one person who handles the support of our Citrix ADC. For our customers, we use one person for their support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Citrix ADC could improve the price and make it less expensive, other competitors have a better prices. This would allow Citrix ADC to keep dominating the market.
What other advice do I have?
It is a very good solution.
I rate Citrix ADC a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Techinal Solution Manager/ Hybrid Cloud Enterprise Architect at Kyndryl
Robust and stable product
Pros and Cons
- "The best feature of Citrix is its track record of stability in its features."
- "An area for improvement would be the difficulty in finding information about standard licensing costs over the internet. They should provide some reference prices on the net to be quickly referred to."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case is for disaster recovery.
What is most valuable?
The best feature of Citrix is its track record of stability in its features.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement would be the difficulty in finding information about standard licensing costs over the internet. They should provide some reference prices on the net to be quickly referred to. I would also like to see virtualization of the ad systems in the next release.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Citrix is a pretty robust and stable product. It has an edge because it's more stable than other solutions like Avaya and VMWare.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Expert System Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
If there is a problem, the load will shift to other sites automatically
Pros and Cons
- "The stability is good. If there is a problem, the load will be shifted to other sites automatically, which has been a good experience for us."
- "The reporting is not so good. They don't have an application to connect the logs."
What is our primary use case?
We have one project for our telecom and another for our port to manage traffic.
In our country, it is not possible to implement in the cloud.
What is most valuable?
- Loadbalancing
- It has disaster recovery functionalities.
What needs improvement?
We are working the Oracle to publish all the web applications on the platform in the next phase of the application. This will be good for us because there are additional security features added into the platform from the website.
The reporting is not so good. They don't have an application to connect the logs.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. If there is a problem, the load will be shifted to other sites automatically, which has been a good experience for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is working now at two sites.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is fine. I would rate the technical support as a five (out of five). They gave us extra support during the deployment phase.
How was the initial setup?
We used the documentation to deploy it.
What about the implementation team?
When we deploy the product, we also buy the Professional Services from Citrix. Another engineer and I also worked on these products.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have all the features and functions of Citrix because we have a premium license.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
For partners, NetScaler is not as expensive price-wise versus F5. The biggest difference between NetScaler and F5 is the support. F5 has better support, and it is important to have good support. I have recommended to NetScaler that they improve their support.
What other advice do I have?
NetScaler is a good product for partners.
I would rate NetScaler as an eight (out of 10).
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.
Solution consultant at Demsistem Bilgi ve Teknolojileri Ltd. Sti.
Rewriting and redirection are key features for us
Pros and Cons
- "Enables a Web service that offers persistent client-server connections, IP restriction, URL rewrite (such as remove "/assets/" path from client-side URL path), and cache for CSS or JS files... You can easily use the GUI to set up all these requirements on the same network device within 20-30 minutes. (If you do the same steps on CLI, it might take less time.)"
- "If you need PCI-compliance and have high security requirements, WAF is the most valuable feature. If you need to monitor your load-balancing services with complex types of monitoring, make sure everything is alright, and load balancing is important, Content Switching and Monitoring features are the keys to your needs. If you want to provide a lot of static images or data, the Caching feature works best for you."
- "I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us."
- "We had some bugs in the previous firmware. These were not big issues, but more testing on the firmware would be key to happier customers."
What is our primary use case?
Internal Load Balancing and Content switching features are the main reasons for selecting this product.
How has it helped my organization?
Imagine providing a brand new Web service that offers persistent client-server connections, IP restriction, URL rewrite (such as remove "/assets/" path from client-side URL path), cache for CSS or JS files and requires security features to be enabled. And do not forget that this service runs on a custom port, but you must publish it using the standard HTTP port, and you only have a public IP address and it's already in use on the NetScaler. You can easily use the GUI to set up all these requirements on the same network device within 20-30 minutes. (If you do the same steps on CLI, it might take less time.)
What is most valuable?
It depends on your needs.
- If you need PCI-compliance and have high security requirements, WAF is the most valuable feature.
- If you need to monitor your load-balancing services with complex types of monitoring, make sure everything is alright, and load balancing is important, Content Switching and Monitoring features are the keys to your needs.
- If you want to provide a lot of static images or data, the Caching feature works best for you.
We have used all the functions. I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us.
What needs improvement?
We had some bugs in the previous firmware. These were not big issues, but more testing on the firmware would be key to happier customers.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We deployed NSX on our infrastructure last year. It was great, except for the standard load balancer. We were already using Netscaler MPX on our physical level and expected almost the same features from NSX load balancer. But it was really hard to even monitor the services on it, and we did not have time to wait for it to be improved. So we downloaded and tested the trial version of Netscaler VPX. We've already gotten to know the product, have made comparisons with products from other brands, but it did not take long to select it. For now, it is the best solution for us.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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