Prisma SD-WAN Reviews

Prisma SD-WAN is cost-effective and easy to manage. We have replaced all our MPLS connections with dial-up internet links. This will reduce our costs in place of ISP and is easy to manage. We can route the traffic based on the application. Sometimes, we used to route the package based on the user because some users want to use the internet. We are effectively using the solution for path manipulation for the users. We also have multiple tunnels whenever there is an issue or drop with one of the ISP tunnels.

We have a single dashboard to view all kinds of analytics. If we make Prisma SD-WAN as analytics, we can only see what kind of traffic is going and how much bandwidth it is utilizing. We can also see if there is high utilization from any particular link or application. Otherwise, we can configure Prisma SD-WAN as a control mode to use it as a routing protocol and for analytics. It gives you more insights about what kind of traffic is going, how much the consumption was, how we can reduce that consumption, and how we can apply that quality of service. If one of the sites is accessing more teams, our bandwidth will be utilized as a platinum application so that most of the bandwidth will be utilized for the team. Unlike traditional networks, it is very flexible, and based on the kind of application we are using, our bandwidth will be utilized.

It is flexible to use the internet connection via local breakouts without going to data centers. We don't need to install firewalls within the site to inspect the traffic. It will forward the traffic directly to the cloud so that the inspection will happen there for any unknown or unwanted traffic. This will also reduce the cost because we are not managing side-by-side firewalls. Your traffic will not go to data centers to inspect the outgoing traffic.

Prisma SD-WAN's technical support should be improved. When we have some issues, the technical support should be available on time, and the engineer should join to help us. It can increase the bandwidth capacity for some of the small branches. A warning message comes to us to notify us that something is going wrong, but we cannot understand that information.

Prisma SD-WAN can be automated so that our network will be faster and our work will be reduced.

My team has been using Prisma SD-WAN for the last two years, but I joined this project for the last six months.

Prisma SD-WAN is a stable solution.

I rate Prisma SD-WAN a seven or eight out of ten for scalability.

Prisma SD-WAN's support is good, but the engagement of the engineers gets delayed, or the right person might not join the call. The information should be made available on time. So we require very knowledgeable people in technical support to improve the customer environment and the network performance, as well as the operation team's knowledge.

Neutral

Prisma SD-WAN’s initial setup is very straightforward.

Prisma SD-WAN's deployment is completely based on the process. For example, one box running with a little older version was migrated from one of the sites to our site. So, it is running with a very older version, and our devices are running with a very higher version. Sometimes, the internet connectivity will not come up, and we have to connect to that Prisma cloud to get the diverse version to upgrade it.

Sometimes, the upgrade might take some time due to the heavy load on the cloud or a congested ISP. Generally, if you go for a simple configuration, it won't take much time. You simply configure basic ISP settings, and it will get the internet connection. It might not take more than 45 minutes.

You need console access. It's based on the ISP. If you have a dynamic ISP, you connect that ISP to one of the WAN links, and it'll get the IP address. So if you get the IP address, it automatically shows it online in the system in your domain. If that ISP is not dynamic and we have to manually configure the IT address, we have to take the console access. We need help from site IDs. It is not a drawback of the project, but it is something dependent on the ISP.

We used to open tickets because it was a completely new environment for every engineer and because it was hosted for the last two years. Whenever we had such challenges in the network at the architect level, we used to open a ticket. So we request the engineer to join and discuss our plans for what we want to achieve. They will help us with most things. Sometimes we might see some failure of changes as well, but most of the time, we succeed when we involve this Prisma SD-WAN tactic.

Prisma SD-WAN has layer seven capability to check how the traffic is going, but unfortunately, I do not have in-depth knowledge of that process. We have a workflow at the layer seven level. They have all kinds of analytics at layers three, four, five, and seven.

Prisma SD-WAN can automate many things, but we also need to have that kind of testing environment. We never use it in our environment because of our daily activities.

Network automation is the biggest thing in current evaluation in the network world. We have thousands of switches and network devices where we need to configure multiple configurations. So if you have automation in place, it will reduce the timeline, and we won't miss anything. If we do it manually, some people might properly follow the process, and others might not. So if the automation comes in place, only one person can push all the configurations to the respective devices so that we follow the standards.

We never tried using automation for network troubleshooting, but we tried much automation while provisioning some networks, like new installations. Troubleshooting will come with the packet capture directly. We do some packet captures, but as of now, we didn't automate those. We are looking for automation for provisioning things when new sites come into the picture. We want to automate without doing manual configurations.

The alarms make sure that we are checking everything on time and give us some flexibility to ensure that the device will not go down. So, the alarms might not reduce in the future, but they will give us a trigger point so that we check immediately what is missing. Those are mandatory alarms for CPU alerts. Every time there is a high utilization on the box, it will show some trigger. We'll understand why the CPU utilization was happening. They will show some information on the network regarding why the CPU is being utilized. We can ensure not to repeat that kind of scenario in the future. Sometimes, if the bandwidth utilization from the users is high, we cannot control those alerts. But when such kind of traffic utilization is high, we can increase the bandwidth so that we can reduce those alerts. If you take those steps effectively, then it will definitely reduce your alerts.

Prisma SD-WAN incorporates policy control for event correlation and analysis, which affects our admins' control over events generated on our network.

We have many path policies and QOS policies. It will show which is the better path that needs to be selected while the traffic was going. It also shows the next backup path, if one of the paths fails. We have to configure manually with the path policies, what kind of application requires minimum amounts of bandwidth. Those path policies need to be applied to the iron box. Whenever a user sends traffic via the iron box, it will select those path policies to make an effective decision.

Prisma SD-WAN's policy control for event correlation and analysis helps admins pinpoint issues. Whenever we log in and check, users complain about issues related to packet loss, and we have to load share the network manually. These automated path policies affect configurations. Sometimes, if the internet link keeps on disconnecting, we can see something on the analytics screen that packet drops are high.

Unlike traditional networks, you don't have any kind of analytics. The customer might not take third-party analytics because of the cost. So we don't know the visibility of checking those WAN links, and we simply rely on the ISPs to understand how the WAN link is working. They tell that there is no issue with the WAN links and everything is fine.

There might be some milli-seconds of packet loss which cannot be shown on the ping reserves. So this analytics gives a lot of information to the administrator to understand the issue. We can ask those people to understand this issue, and they can resolve those things by seeing those analytics. Prisma SD-WAN is the web solution that helps the administrator to understand the issue and resolve it.

Prisma SD-WAN enables branch services such as networking and security to be delivered from the cloud. They also have virtual solutions that they can provide, but we never use those virtual solutions.

Prisma SD-WAN is a very good product. It gives lots of benefits to the enterprise network by deactivating the costliest MPRS networks. Even non-technical people can understand the packet flow and easily see what is happening by seeing the analytics of the link.

Overall, I rate Prisma SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

The solution is used for multi-cloud and remote access for workers. On top of that is the CASB use case. We are going for zero-trust. If you want to implement zero-trust, this approach is very successful.

The mix between the normal gateway of my firewall and the other branches or the head office firewall is great. The gateway is available on the cloud which allows you to gain access from anywhere and still connect to your home gateway. 

Also, if I want to access a resource on the cloud, it can be accessed from the nearest EU tower data center right from London, not from here where I am.

Its connectivity and security are great.

The initial setup is easy.

I'm happy with it as it is. Maybe they could introduce some new features that make things easier. That said, for me, I didn't find it lacking in any major way. It gives me all that I really need. 

I'd like to see them move more towards CASB.

The solution does do a lot of frequent updating. 

I've used the solution for about two years now. Since they started, I've been using it.

The solution is both stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We mostly deal with medium and large-sized organizations, specifically in retail and multi-national branches. It works well and can scale to meet the needs of businesses of that size. 

It should scale well. We don't have a large implementation - which I would consider as 100 branches or more. Until now, we've been able to handle 35 to 36 branches without issue.  It should scale. I haven't had issues yet in this regard.

Palo Alto support is good. We are an old Palo Alto partner. We're not a customer, however, instead, we have our own setup with Palo Alto. It's not a limitation. They're good. Technical support has been amazing for us. 

I have used both Prisma SD-WAN and Juniper Contrail SD-WAN.

We found the initial setup to be very simple and straightforward. it wasn't overly complex or difficult. 

That said, it depends on how many sites it allows and what the complications related to that might be. If your setup is not ready, and you need to work on it, normalize it, and baseline it, it could take longer. That's it.

For us, for 20 sites, it took us two days to complete with just one resource.

In terms of maintenance, we receive the updates automatically. This is scheduled for the weekends. It's non-disruptive. The updates are frequent. They happen frequently and mostly on the firewall, or the ION itself.

The solution is expensive. Its competitor, Zscaler, is far less expensive. It's half the price. I haven't however, tried it to compare them. 

It's sort of like iPhone versus Android. They are both phones, yes, however, I don't care about the money, I care about the product. I'll choose an iPhone even if it is more expensive due to the fact that I love the experience I get from Apple. The same is true with Prisma. It's not cheap, however, I really appreciate the service they offer. 

There are different ways they can deliver their services, and these have different costs associated. There's Prisma Access, Prisma SaaS, and Prisma Cloud.

We are a Palo Alto partner. 

We are a system integrator and not a customer. We're selling to customers right now.

We are using the solution with a SASE subscription, Prisma Access.

I've used both on-premises and cloud deployments. 

I'd recommend the solution to the users and companies. It comes with all the security and the good direct point to the cloud application as well.

I would rate the solution at a ten out of ten. It's a really great product.

Prisma SD-WAN is intuitive. We have a better idea of the different tools we can use and jump between the menus quickly. 

The tool needs to work on price and complexity. 

I have been working with the product for about two weeks. 

I rate the product a seven out of ten.