VMware NSX Reviews

We just introduced NSX in our headquarters. We have it running in some labs, but no real experiences. We've been using it for six months.

Our objective is to know each features component and how it works. Depending on the business requirements, we would adapt the solution as needed. This is the reason why we work a lot from the maps and then anticipate when we need a new feature for our company.

We like that NSX is integrated with everything. 

The load balancing is a real major opportunity for us. As a CIO, we have 99.9% network security. We would like to optimize this product.

The feedback we're getting from the labs is that the stability is rich and that we haven't had any trouble with it. The stability is really, really good.

We didn't use a service for implementation but we have a consultant to help us get a better understanding of NSX and to teach us the best practices. 

To those who say this solution is complex, I would say it is but not for the key user. You just need to learn the standards and mechanics for your specific product. That means that it's simple even if it's really complex beyond that.

We use NSX in our data center. 

We use the NSX firewall which is great. 

I'd like to see more integration with other solutions. 

We've been using this solution for over two years. 

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

I haven't used technical support. 

I recommend this solution and rate it seven out of 10. 

The most valuable part of NSX is it's very scalable and automated. Our change request time is really low.

For the most part, it's very stable.

The only hiccup is sometimes during an upgrade, there are hurdles that you can have during that time, but overall it's very stable.

Since we're almost 100% virtual, it's been very scalable for us.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to get to a higher level engineer if you need to, but it takes some work to make that case. Usually it happens, but it's a little difficult.

It seems to be very straightforward. Usually a lot of it's handled by the installer. Yeah, very straightforward. As long as you read the design guide, it's easy.

An important reason for selecting was VMware because they're the hypervisor we use and we see them to be a very valuable asset in purchasing something like NSX, and because they're the owner of the hypervisor and they have direct access into the hypervisor. That's very valuable for us. We foresee it being a very reliable product into the future.

An important reason for selecting was VMware because they're the hypervisor we use and we see them to be a very valuable asset in purchasing something like NSX, and because they're the owner of the hypervisor and they have direct access into the hypervisor. That's very valuable for us. We foresee it being a very reliable product into the future.

They developed the hypervisor, which is very valuable to us, because it has saved us a lot of money just on the micro-segmentation piece. That's basically all we use at this point, but the product has more than paid for itself just with that part of the product.

We aren't a service-based company, so in terms of improvement, VMware NSX hasn't improved our company, but we need it for business purposes because we do have clients who give us all these products, and they tell us to evaluate these products in our environment and then give them reports on those products. VMware NSX is a good product, but for us, the solution doesn't add that much value to our organization.

Though I haven't been working a lot on VMware NSX, it's good to have. What I like the most about it is that its console is good, and it doesn't take a lot of effort in terms of doing my daily tasks on it or what it's meant for. VMware NSX is still a preferred product in the market.

An area for improvement in VMware NSX is that it uses up more resources and is heavy on the network.

What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is more automation.

I've been using VMware NSX for more than two years now.

VMware NSX is a stable solution. It's very reliable.

VMware NSX, In terms of scalability, particularly at the enterprise level, is hectic. It's a complex process if you want to scale it compared to its competitors. It still depends, for example, if you've been in VM all your life or if you have been a VM administrator for a long time, you'll take comfort in something new, so people tend to go for it. If it's a new customer, an upgrade, or if the entire organization is going through a revamp, the process is quite complex. On a scale of one to five, I'll rate the scalability of VMware NSX a four.

VMware NSX has great support, and I have no complaints about it. The support for this solution is reasonable.

The initial setup for VMware NSX was pretty straightforward. In terms of our implementation plan, mostly we have standard SOPs that we have laid down for our implementation teams and we stick to those. It would still depend on the environment where we're going to execute it, for example, it could be on-premises or on the cloud, and we'd also take into consideration which type of cloud they have and what other technologies they have in their environment, so based on all of those, the implementation plan and how we're going to approach the implementation changes.

How long the deployment of VMware NSX takes would depend on the client, the environment, and the requirements, but for the basic setup or initial setup where we would just get the box and the do configuration, the IP, etc., that doesn't take more than four to five days.

Our deployment model for VMware NSX used to be on-premises, but now the deployment is mostly on the public cloud.

We used consultants for the implementation of VMware NSX.

I'm unable to give information on the pricing or licensing cost of VMware NSX because I've never been someone who looks into the economic part of any security or virtualization solutions. That's handled by an entirely different team, and I don't even have the slightest idea about the costs associated with the solution, though I've heard pricing for VMware NSX is on the higher side.

We haven't evaluated other virtualization solutions apart from VMware NSX.

VMware NSX is a solution I use at the company very often. My company is a partner of VMware and I analyze products such as the VMware NSX, and I give a detailed report on how the features are, what are the differences between the solution and its competitors, etc.

Deploying VMware NSX requires a team of four, but it would still depend on the skillset. For example, two people can do the work where one is in charge of the networking and one would act as a backup. Currently, my team of five users works on VMware NSX.

My advice to others looking into implementing the solution is to first go through the POC and the documentation before purchasing VMware NSX. Get to know the features best and find out what works for your organization and what doesn't, then take a calculated decision on whether you need the solution because some VMware solutions would be quite heavy on your environment if you are a mid-level enterprise. Other than that, VMware is a trusted name, and it has been in the market for quite some time now, and it's reliable. Though you should also evaluate other solutions, especially in terms of pricing because what I've heard is that VMware NSX is on the higher end, so it depends on what type of fees you want to check off your list. After evaluating all these factors, only then should you make that decision whether you want to go for VMware NSX or not.

My rating for VMware NSX on a scale of one to ten is seven, particularly for virtualization. Technology-wise and implementation-wise, I'm giving the solution a seven.

I would rate the solution a ten out of ten if it was less complex and had more automation. Currently, it's on the heavier side, for example, even the basic agent or basic software takes up a lot of space at the end-user level. VMware NSX should utilize fewer resources when it sits in your environment, so all the other users or other solutions in the environment would have ample resources to use. The solution shouldn't be heavy on the network.

My company is a partner but not a reseller of VMware NSX.

Our main use case is the distributed firewall. NSX can segment every application and server based on the ports they need to communicate externally. Ports that aren't required are inactive, so we activate them for some specific applications. We can get the ports from the application guys, activate the ones we need, and then disable the rest of the ports. We've done other things with NSX, but it's just mostly about the distributed firewall.

We typically run a lot of vulnerability assessments — sometimes spam testing — and get a lot of bad results because some ports are open. I think NSX has significantly cut down on that. Right now, we have been able to fix almost all of our problems with unnecessary ports being opened and related issues. We are secure in this specific aspect, so we can log other options. 

NSX's stand-out function is the distributed firewall. The firewall system is just top-notch, and I haven't seen another solution like it. Aside from that, there are numerous other cases where NSX comes in handy. For example, we've done intrusion prevention and implemented some next-generation firewalls for service training. We deployed some next-generation firewalls inside certain servers. Then we could bring all the traffic down that was meant to lead each server to a specific firewall. The security guys put policies on the firewall for checking signatures and hash values to contain particular security breaches within the server and prevent them from affecting the network. So we could use the particular firewall that we usually use and use it within the server close-up at the data center instead of the VH. 

NSX could better integrate with open-source products. Of course, it integrates with some, but I know many people are uncomfortable deploying NSX with certain open-source solutions, such as Radar. They don't integrate so well, and the integration is usually so complex that many people would rather not use them.

I've been using VMware NSX personally for one year now, but I'm a consultant on this product, so I've deployed it for multiple customers.

We've experienced some bugs with NSX's user interface. For example, sometimes we click something, and it's not clicking. But they put out a lot of updates and patches. Also, they've added some particular boards on the applications. So with every update, they make the user interface more stable. 

You can scale NSX if you have the resources, but it's usually expensive and complex to scale up.

VMware support is great. I would rate their support eight out of 10.

The NSX setup is complex. That's one area where they could improve. Generally, it's too complicated to deploy. You can spend two or three days on it. And if you've never done it before, it might take a week. So it takes a relatively long time and lacks comprehensive end-to-end documentation. We had inadequate documentation when we implemented it, but I think it's better now. Total deployment for us took more than two weeks, but there were some breaks in that time where we stopped working on it. We weren't under any deadline. If we were pressed, we could have finished in four or five.

After the initial setup, NSX doesn't require a whole lot of maintenance. It's mostly troubleshooting, checking error codes, etc. There is no dedicated maintenance personnel specifically for NSX. Some guys in the IT department support this solution along with several other solutions. We have about four to five people handling that side of things, but there are six of us in the whole department responsible for infrastructure.

It's hard to judge with new deployments because you need some time to start seeing a return. But after someone has had one or two years to achieve a mature deployment on the product, they'll generally be happy that they spent the money. After a year, I'm beginning to see the return on investment, but everyone would argue that it's still expensive for the first two or three months.

VMware NSX is expensive.

I rate VMware NSX seven out of 10. If you are considering NSX, I suggest that you practice the deployment and know your use case. Know what you want to do with it and understand why you want to use the product. Identify the security features you want to use and consider what it's doing for your infrastructure. We're still exploring the features. I'm not sure we're using all the features that come with the application. There are so many that we have not used. For now, we're looking at more use cases and expanding on that knowledge.

VMware NSX is used for micro-segmentation. If you have a virtual VMware pool, then you can segment them separately. It is similar to a firewall for virtual micro-segmentation.

I have been using this solution for approximately five years.

I have found the solution to be stable.

The solution is scalable.

We have never had to call technical support, the solution has been good.

We have done three installations and we have not had any critical issues. The time it took for the installation was approximately two days. However, they should provide better documentation.

We have two engineers that do the implementation and maintenance of the solution.

The solution is free and the price for the support can be expensive.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware NSX a five out of ten.

We use this product for software-defined networking. We are a solution provider and we build a platform for our clients that includes it.

The most valuable features are the micro-segmentation and integrated security options.

The technical support could use some improvement.

I have been using VMware NSX for a year and a half.

This is a stable product.

NSX-T is scalable, and we have approximately ten people who use it.

The VMware technical support could be better. They're not always reachable and expertise is not widespread. Especially in Austria, there are not a lot of people who are skilled.

I have not worked with another software-defined networking product.

We had some challenges during the installation and setup.

We implemented this product in-house.

The price of this product is too high.

This is a good solution, but there is always room for improvement.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We support clients who use on-premise VMware NSX. We provide daily maintenance and support for this solution.

We are mostly using it for microsegmentation, which is very good. We now use it on a daily basis. Our clients are very satisfied that we can limit ourselves to NSX without the need to purchasing additional network systems and physical devices.

We can do a lot of things without waiting for the purchase of additional devices, such as setting up VRF on physical devices. We are able to implement a lot of things with the infrastructure code.

The firewall is its most valuable feature.

It is a mature solution that is available for enterprise companies.

We would like tenant segmentation available in future releases.

So far, so good.

We haven't face any problems yet with scalability. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

We were previously using the physical devices from Cisco.

The setup is not easy, but it is doable.

We did it ourselves.

We have been able to save CAPEX with this solution.

We chose NSX because we were looking for a product with network polarization, so VMware was the first choice for us.

PoC the platform before you test it. It is not so bad.

We are using the VVD implementation. It is implemented together with the vRA, vROps, and other solutions.