NetScaler Reviews

We used it mainly for GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing). It was the intelligent DNS service.

I found that the GUI was very easy to to navigate. If you were looking for something, it was fairly easy to find. There's a lot of third-party documentation and information available online as well.

Citrix should offer a demo or free-trial version of NetScaler. Several other vendors do, but Citrix does not.

Pricing should also be more readily available.

We deployed Citrix NetScaler in 2018, and I've worked with it for four years.

In the four years I was working on it, we didn't have a single incident. There were no crashes or abnormal behavior. We found it to be very stable.

We didn't have any issues with scalability.

I've contacted technical support once, and their response was timely. There were no issues.

I found the initial setup to be very easy.

Citrix NetScaler's pricing is slightly above average but not overly expensive. I would consider F5 BIG IP to be the most expensive, Citrix NetScaler to be the second most expensive, and then Kemp Load Balancer to be the third.

I am really happy with Citrix NetScaler in terms of the stability and user-friendliness of the user interface. It's easy to set up as well, and I'd rate it at nine out of ten.

There are two major verticals for Citrix: VDI and NetScaler. For NetScaler, our major use cases are database load balancing, PowerVPN VPN access gateway, WAF (Web Application Firewall), and content switching. But most of them are for load balancing, access gateway, and VPN for NetScaler.

And for VDI, the major use cases are definitely securing the data and centralizing the entire infrastructure to the data center. Another major use case is publishing in-house applications for end-users who are working from home or from remote locations.

Our organization doesn't use it because we're very small. However, we have deployed the service for more than 10,000 users. Our smallest customer had 25 users, and the biggest customer had over 10,000 users.

We have eight people in the maintenance team for Citrix NetScaler, plus 24/7 customer support for day-to-day issues. They are managing multiple customers. Their expertise is at the level of RL1, three at RL2, one at L3, and one at L4.

For VDI, centralization, data protection, and data management are the most important features. As for NetScaler, its key features include a firewall, GSLB, load balancing, and an actual gateway. These are the four tiers of NetScalers.

Pricing is one area for improvement. It's on the higher side because NetScaler is a premium product used for over 70% of internet traffic worldwide. However, price is not the only concern. Manageability and adaptability can also be challenging for end customers, who may require the assistance of experts like us to deploy and manage the product effectively. Although this is good for us as partners, it can limit the product's appeal to customers who prioritize ease of use.

Moreover, having some GUI-based tools for log management and troubleshooting would be helpful and make it easier for customers to manage and troubleshoot their databases.

For the future release of Citrix NetScaler, I would like to see better pricing, as well as improved manageability and log management features.

Another thing is if a problem occurs, we have to rely on the central support system. We need to collect the log and send it back to support for analysis, and then Citrix support will provide the solution. It would be much easier to troubleshoot if something is handy, such as a web portal or a common platform where customers can upload logs and resolve some of the issues automatically.

I have been working with Citrix for over twelve or fifteen years, so I know everything about Citrix. We are using the latest update of this product.

It is a rock-solid solution, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. I would rate it a nine out of ten.

Previously, their support was great, especially two years ago. But these days, I'm seeing lots of slowness in providing solutions. The L1 support team is not ready, or the L2 team has a lot of work and is overburdened.

Therefore, sometimes they are very good and sometimes slow in responding, resulting in slow solution delivery.

Neutral

The deployment process is quite complex because it's a premium or tier-one product. It requires great knowledge and experience to make it easier. If you don't have the necessary knowledge and experience, you may struggle.

Moreover, the deployment process depends on the customer's requirements and priorities. If the customer is focusing on multiple options or use cases, it may take seven to ten days. But if it's a straightforward installation with only one solution, then two or three days is more than enough.

We are using both on-premises and cloud-based versions.

We have a good team of ten people in India, and we are expanding our partnerships all over the world. We have even received orders from the USA. We are focusing more and more on the interaction market and are not looking to hire any consultants or other sources. Our company is the SI (system Integrator) for the product.

It's a good investment tool. If your own organization or any other organization invests in this product, it will be useful for their product line. This product is robust and reliable, which helps customers a lot.

The cost of the product depends on the customer's requirements, so there is no fixed price. There are multiple licensing models. There are no additional costs for using this product. It comes with a support bundle, and the licensing is subscription-based. It means that you have to pay on a yearly basis.

Citrix can be quite expensive, and it can be challenging to qualify or close leads for 50 users or less than 100 users. Therefore, we are considering evaluating multiple products in parallel and finalizing one product we can pitch in our product line.

I would recommend using Citrix. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten because every product has room for improvement. If I rated it a nine, it means there's almost no room for improvement, which is not entirely true. So, eight is a fair rating.

• Load Balancing: Why? Availability/Performance: Those are the core features of the product and the main reason for the purchase of an ADC in my company. These features bring a lot of resources that improve the experience of the users.
• NetScaler Gateway: Why? Availability/Security: We delivered more than 200 applications thru Xenapp. This feature give us the possibility to deliver the applications anywhere. Currently, 30% of access is made through our NetScaler Gateway (Internet connections).
• Global Server Load Balancing: Why? Availability: Bring us the possibility to load balance our ISPs links, delivering DNS responses thru available ISP providers.
• Reverse Proxy/AAA Authentication: Why? Availability/Security: Many local websites/applications are now available through the internet, with NetScaler acting as reverse proxy, and through AAA authentication in order to authenticate only necessary users.

We are replacing the necessity of any kind of load balance software/components (like Microsoft NLB, SAP Web Dispatcher, DNS Round Robin) and begin to centralize all Load Balancing necessities in the same NetScaler Hardware.

The product provides some templates to integrate with applications like MS Exchange, MS SharePoint, SAP Enterprise Portal, and others. However, the last update for these templates was 2013 (lots of applications are running on versions newer then 2013).

We have used this solution for four years.

We deployed this solution in a two-node cluster. In the beginning, we struggled to make it work properly. We also felt a lack of documentation for complex environments like ours. After some time and with external help, we make it work as it was supposed to function.

I did not encounter any issues with scalability.

I would give technical support a rating of 7/10.

The initial setup was complex. Usually, NetScaler implementations are made using the HA feature. We adopted the cluster feature. We noticed that there was a lack of knowledge from the community and Citrix support in this area. Our complex environment of network made the initial setup more difficult.

We evaluated F5 and Brocade.

Be careful in the choice of a partner to implement this product.

My clients use it for load balancing. 

The tool needs to add a feature where we can access the network policy access manager. 

We are a distributor of Citrix NetScaler for nine years. 

You need to just upload the installation script. The deployment time ranges from minutes to days. 

I would rate the tool a nine out of ten. 

We're using NetScaler for compression and optimization features.

Most of the functions are user-friendly and great. We also have mobile features that are simple but effective.

There are some drawbacks, such as using EUG for certain configurations. It could definitely be improved. Moreover, compression features could be better since it uses too much CPU and is not very effective.

In terms of additional functionality, the capture feature could be improved to make it easier to use, and schedules could also be better for me.

I have been using this solution for eight years. 

There are nine users in our organization using this solution. It is a stable solution within this capacity. Sometimes we faced bugs, but in general, it hasn't affected the general usage.

If you use the latest version, it is quite a scalable solution. I would rate the scalability of NetScaler an eight out of ten. 

We've had poor experiences with customer support partners in the past two years. If some company changes, it's a bad thing. The customer support is not good for us. It is not helpful as well as have very slow response time. 

The initial setup is actually very simple.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. I would definitely recommend using the solution.

We mostly use VPN and enroll the NetScaler.

The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN.

The SLB could be better, and they should improve it. We want to see REST proxy and WAF capabilities in the next release.

We have been using this solution for three and a half years. It is deployed on-premises.

It is a stable product, and I rate the stability an eight out of ten. In addition, we have not faced any complications with the hardware.

I rate the scalability an eight out of ten, and we have no issues. We have 3000 people using Citrix NetScaler, and our business people use it daily.

I rate the technical support a six out of ten. We have some support delays and do not get solutions on time, which can be frustrating. In addition, their technical support does not understand our issues.

Neutral

The initial setup is a bit complicated. We used a third-party consultant for the setup. I rate the setup an eight out of ten.

The licensing is more expensive than others, and I rate it a seven out of ten.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use Citrix Web APP API Protection as a Firewall solution. Many ransomware attacks are happening and it is important to protect your entire data center. 

Citrix Web App API Protection allows you to enable a blocking mode. The hackers who choose to upload any unwanted data on your application, Citrix Web App will date it. A notification will be sent to you and your administrator, and that notification will include the IP address that is trying to upload some unwanted data to your application. Now you can identify and can block it, or you can block that application from that particular space in a particular country. 

We blocked that application for particular countries. We send the report to the government and they checked everything. And after a few months, we reviewed the policy.

Citrix Web App and API Protection could improve in the area of licensing.
Some customers have an enterprise license and some customers have an advanced license.  If you have an enterprise and advanced license, the Web Application Server, will not work. If you want to upgrade or if you want to use that Web Application Firewall, you have to have a premium license. I think they should enable the feature for an advanced license because small customers, cannot buy the premium license, which is a little bit expensive for them.

I have been working with Citrix Web App and API Protection for the past three years. 

The stability of the Citrix Web App and API Protection is excellent.

The scalability is not a problem.

Technical support is good when you are not able to find the Citrix documentation. They have a good resource for the Web Application Firewall. 

Positive

Citrix Web App and API Protection are definitely worth the money. You are protecting your entire application as well as your data center. If you are investing in your Web Application Firewall and API Protection, it's worth it.

The setup is very easy. The only thing is you need to understand the backend application functionality. Whether it's IES based, or whether it is some other vendors and what kind of database and authentication method they are using. This kind of information you should know before implementing the Citrix Web App and API Protection.

When talking about pricing and licensing, Citrix Web App and API Protection are in the middle.

I would rate Citrix Web App and API Protection an eight out of ten.

Citrix ADC is primarily used for load balancing exchange and other internal IT systems.

It is simple for both IT specialists and customers. With other products, we cannot leave the customer untrained. We can leave the customer during the early stages using Citrix ADC.

The stability of Citrix ADC needs to be improved.

The technical support could be improved. They do not respond or assist customers in a timely manner.

I have been working with Citrix ADC for approximately eight years.

It is typically deployed on-premises, but it is occasionally deployed on a hybrid cloud.

There have been many crashes since the last build.

Citrix ADC is easy to scale.

Technical support is different in every situation. In one case it went very well and quickly other cases it took longer.

Technical support could improve, but it is possible that my issue was complicated.

I am also working with F5, Kemp, Barracuda, Cisco, and NGINX.

Loadbalancer.org is less complex than Citrix. In some cases, our customers do not have an engineer on staff who can support this device.

These customers have a large number of Linux engineers but don't have the money. We suggested using Loadbalancer.org and other open-source tools. Many customers are of different sizes and have different budgets.

The installation is simple for both manual configuration and automatic deployment.

Our company is partners with Citrix and F5 BIG-IP.

I would rate Citrix ADC an eight out of ten.