VMware NSX Reviews

VMware NSX is used for server virtual machines.

The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the ease of use and its user friendly. For example, it is simple to change the subnet masks.

The solution could improve by having a more streamlined setup.

I rate VMware NSX for approximately one year.

The solution is highly stable.

We have approximately 2,000 users using this solution.

VMware NSX scales well.

I have rarely used the support of the solution.

I rate the support from VMware NSX an eight out of ten.

Positive

I have not used a similar solution to VMware NSX.

The installation process for VMware NSX can be intricate. We obtained the executable file for the specific server we intended to install VMware NSX and then proceeded to configure it. This involved ensuring that the IP and ID matched the installation, as well as completing other necessary details such as setting up the gateways.

We are using the free version of the solution.

We have 10 analysts and administrators that do the maintenance of the solution.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware NSX a nine out of ten.

The primary use case is the microsegmentation of all our infrastructure, which is a huge bonus. It's performed well.

The microsegmentation allows me to sleep at night. My job is reducing risk, plugging security holes, and working with the automated layer security. Even if somebody spins up a new server, it has to have a tag in NSX. Therefore, all the security rules are already applied across the infrastructure or automatically applied to new machines. It doesn't generate any new security holes if people have new products. It gives peace of mind that project managers are not screwing up my entire security posture.

Automation, because we're constantly onboarding massive customers. We have our own management system, which integrates nicely with NSX. Therefore, we've built an automation layer so we can deploy and completely secure new customers in a hosted environment within a couple of minutes.

Microsegmentation is incredible. It's the only way to go for managing networks long-term.

The security benefit has been huge.

I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow. 

The stability has been great. I have had no problems with it. It is a robust solution.

We manage a huge infrastructure, and it has not been a problem for us. It has caused no issues.

We generally load balance with separate hardware. With the normal traffic that we see between virtual machines, they never leave the host. So, there are no real issues there. We will use separate, dedicated hardware, because we are at such a scale that our customers prefer to have separate load balances in the hardware.

We jumped onboard with NSX right when it started. VMware worked with us when we had issues or made suggestions to the point that we were invited as a partner to 2016 VM World, because we contributed so heavily into NSX. It has been nice to see the things our potential pain points that we were having with NSX at the time be implemented into the product. Now, it's just seamless, which is great.

We just bought it off the shelf and implement it ourselves.

We have saved man-hours and decreased our security exposure.

We haven't had to hire a dedicated network engineer because NSX handles 90 percent of it. The reduced overhead in terms of managing networks has been the biggest plus. 

We haven't had to buy additional switching capacity.

Get it in your environment as soon as possible.

Network segmentation is hard. A lot of businesses still use the traditional three-tier system, because it has been proven, but it isn't particularly robust or secure. Realistically, it's a natural step in terms of network management to move to micro-segmentation. It just makes sense.

If someone is worried that the solution is too complex, they should hire people with experience.

We use the solution for our DMC firewall to micro-segment the networks for the CRUD matrix.

The most valuable feature is the integration with the firewall.

The cost of the solution has room for improvement.

I have been using the solution for three years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

We have around 4,000 people using the solution.

The technical support is sometimes delayed but they always resolve our issues.

Positive

The implementation was completed by a vendor.

The cost of the solution is a bit high.

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

The maintenance is done by our vendor.

The solution is great and I recommend it.

Have used this solution to implement PAS (PCF) and have also used it for Native Datacenter networking as part of DC refresh.

Have worked on multiple organizations with VMware NSX. It heavily depends on the use case of the solution and how well you are able to use all the features of the product. When using for K8s container platforms or a networking backed for on premises cloud using a CMP(VRA, VIO) then VMware NSX is the best SDN solution but If an organization is not able to use NSX to its full potential (Switching, Routing, Load-balancing, Firewall, IDS, IPS etc.) then its not worth it.

Logical routing, switching are  overall good feature of this SDN solution especially when using CMP's and distributed firewall is very attractive features for micro-segmentation.

In rare situation there are  mismatch in the control plane data and dataplane data i.e. the details and what you actually see on the transport note. This is rare but time consuming to troubleshoot . Additionally, there could be better integration between VMware Cloud Federation (VCF) and NSX-T. Currently, there are some limitations, for example, VCF allows just one overlay transport zone. Also there is not upgrade path from VCF 3(NSX-T 2.5.x) to VCF 4 (NSX-T 3.x)

I have been using the solution for approximately five years.

The stability is good and is getter better after each new release.

The solution is scalable. In the 2.4 version, the controller got merged to create the cluster manager, it now is even better.

The technical support was pretty good, but recently I have had quite a few bad experiences with the support. But that really depends on the account and geographic location and multiple other factors

We have using Cisco ACI  and it is a strong competitor. When you are not using NSX NCP then everything that you need from SDN prospective can be done in Cisco ACI except for the distributed firewall at the vnic level.

The initial installation feels at first a little complex because there are a lot of components, but when you get the understanding after a short time, it is fine.

I was not involved in the purchase of the solution but I hear it is on the expensive side. That is why quite a few companies are moving towards open source because there are multiple solutions such as NginX, that can do the load balancing, and Calico and Flannel can do your logical switching routing.

If there is already VMware environment then it makes sense to use NSX-V, NSX-T as it can be integrated with other VMware automation products. But if approach it towards opensource then other SDN solutions like flannel, Nginx etc. can be evaluated depending on the use case.

If you are wanting to implement this solution I would advise if your project supports it then definitely. You should have a solid use case, the solution is rich in feature sets and you should use all of them. Then only is it worth the money, if you are just buying it for your logical switching and routing, then it is not worth it.

I rate VMware NSX a seven out of ten.

I primarily use NSX for micro-segmentation, security, and load-balancing.

NSX's stability could be improved.

I've been working with NSX for six years.

I would rate NSX's stability eight out of ten - there's room for improvement.

I would rate NSX's scalability eight out of ten.

The initial setup is easy and takes between one and five days.

I would give NSX a rating of seven out of ten.

We use NSX as a security solution. The solution is deployed on-premise. We are using version 6.4 of NSX. 

The solution is easy to use and is good for management control.

It isn't easy to deploy.

I have been using VMware NSX for almost 10 years.

We currently have 2,000 users.

The solution is scalable.

I haven't used technical support. If I have a problem, I find out what the best practice is.

We previously used a different solution for server virtualization, but we switched to NSX.

The solution was easy to install but not easy to deploy. 

We have a technical team. The time it takes and the amount of people needed for maintenance depends on the solution that is deployed. Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it takes more than one day.

The subscription is on a yearly basis.

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.

Our primary use case is the integration with the platform, so we can use it to orchestrate everything from a single console. That's the magic of having everything in one single dashboard. 

Our customers can see how much easier having multiple integrations on a single dashboard can be for them. The speed and agility of the implementations is another way it has helped improve our clients' organizations. It's easy to monitor exactly what is missing and the speed of implementation. 

We can manage and interact with different network devices, not just the local environment but also in the remote environments. It's very effective in how easy it is to manage and orchestrate all the different devices with the different types of requirements we have. NSX is a great platform to have everything in one single pane of glass.

The easy integration and management are the two most valuable features.

In regards to Layer 4 and 7 load balancing with a solution, for us, it's about the continuity. We look for different ways to create something similar while making improvements. We like to include different services and make sure that we have high availability, not just in our closer environment but also around multiple environments.

Microsegmentation is important. We cap it depending on the compliance and regulations that are in the systems for every single company's requirements. It depends on the size of the customer, but I don't see a reason not to use it. We cap it based on industry, size of a company, and the compliance regulations that the company requires. Also, we consider the nature of the industry, although the reality is that security applies to everybody. Some industries take it more seriously than others because of their policies, rules, and regulations that they have to comply with. Ultimately, security is an issue that affects everybody and is important for all to have.

The engineering team has room for improvement. They should have more of a Knowledge Base about different case studies and should develop more advanced features. These kinds of improvements will change the way things get done.

The stability is great. That's one of the things that we can quantify and leverage through NSX, because it's less complex. We have the availability to manage multiple things at the same time. We can identify problems before they manifest. 

Their technical support is great but I believe that it also has to do with the relationship that we've built with the technical support staff. We're not afraid to have conversations. Most people try to figure things out by themselves but we don't hesitate to reach out to technical support. They have an intelligent team.

We based our decision to switch solutions on an analysis we did. We based this analysis on what we are missing and what the impact is of not having it.

In the beginning, implementation was quite challenging. Once you know your way around it, it becomes a lot easier to navigate. Every master was once a disaster. The beginning stages are the most challenging but as you pass through the initial starting point, you begin to realize how easily it can be integrated with multiple devices. 

I have been in technology for 23 years and I see the constant evolution of not just the portable technology but also the management. I believe that adapting to the multiple levels of security inside of the business management is a challenge for different vendors.

We look at different vendors for our customers. It depends on the compliance and regulations that are in the systems for every single company's requirements. Every company will have specific needs for certain features that other options do or don't have. 

This solution has helped our clients save CapEx. The agility and speed of the implementation offer CapEx savings. 

It does and doesn't prolong software refresh. It does because there is better integration with the product. It doesn't because there are new features developing and people like to replace their hardware. They will have better chances of getting more value out of their software solutions because now they can reach more control of multiple functionalities. I would approximate that it saves the hardware for around two to three years.

I have rated this product a seven because this product still needs to evolve. It's a good product but it's not great. 

If you are considering NSX or a similar solution I would advise that you have to adapt or die. Technology is emerging with different features. It is important to be in that conversation. You've got to move into the new trends. There are multiple solutions, and there will be different brands with different features but ultimately you have to find a solution that will meet your exact needs. 

To those who say NSX is complex, I would say that every master was once a disaster. In the beginning, it's going to be challenging. When you start something new, it very might well be a disaster and you will probably find it hard to navigate. Once you overcome the complexity issue, it's just a matter of perception. It's not really complex, despite what you may think. The solution is evolving, getting better. This is a smarter way to do things. This solution is at another level. 

We are using VMware NSX primarily to enable address mechanisms in terms of having to provide the workloads publicly.

In India and similar regions, the CSP faces a significant challenge. The primary issue is related to network address cancellation, which requires private to public IT mapping and the use of the CSP's own IP address space. VMware NSX has been effective in addressing this problem, along with the virtual firewall's ability to function as a network firewall. This has helped to minimize the need for customers to take responsibility for their network security. In these regions, customers expect full-service solutions and do not typically embrace DIY approaches. An analogy for this situation is that if a customer buys a toothbrush from you, they might expect you to brush their teeth for them.

VMware NSX's overlay network is its most valuable feature, as it aligns with any network philosophy and allows for efficient addressing mechanisms. Additionally, the ability to extend the on-premise network into the provider space is beneficial. There are many features provided.

There is room for improvement in VMware NSX's workload management, particularly in the orchestration layer and in managing workloads across multiple clouds.

Additionally, where workload management could be improved is in the ability to federate workloads seamlessly between different control panels. For example, if I am using VMware vCenter as my control panel and have partnered with a non-VMware provider, I should be able to manage my workloads as a customer without having to worry about orchestration. This is an area where there is potential for improvement.

I have been using VMware NSX for approximately eight years.

The scalability of VMware NSX is similar to other solutions. It is scalable.

I rate the scalability of VMware NSX a seven out of ten.

We did not have local support to go to in India. There is no support center here.

I have used Qumulo but we needed to buy a switch for it which was not favorable.

The initial setup of VMware NSX is not complex. If someone has an understanding of how networks work it will be easy. It can take some time to be completed. For example, to configure the solution with the correct commands.

The implementation time can vary depending on the clarity and complexity of the requirements.

When comparing VMware NSX to OpenStack, VMware NSX is simpler to implement.

I rate the initial setup of VMware NSX a six out of ten.

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.

We evaluated other options before choosing VMware NSX.

VMware is a pioneer in virtualization, they are good at what they do. They score high overall in capability.

I rate VMware NSX an eight out of ten.