VMware NSX Reviews

We are using VMware NSX for network security.

It is used for Tanzu, it is successful for our Kubernetes environment.

The most valuable features are ease of use and user interface.

The security feature for the Kubernetes environment can be improved.

I have been using this solution for approximately one year.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable. 

We have approximately 10 users using this solution in my organization.

We have been satisfied with the technical support. They were able to solve our problems. However, they could be faster.

Positive

The installation is straightforward and it took approximately two days.

We did the implementation ourselves. We have a manager and an administrator that does the maintenance of the solution.

There is a license required for this solution and there is also a support license available. 

The price of the solution could be better.

I would recommend it to others.

I rate VMware NSX ten out of ten.

Some of NSX's most valuable features are:

• Its distributed firewall
• The we can actually extend Layer 2 networking across datacenters, and also Layer 3 networking, which comes along with it.
• The routing and switching.

They could branch out to the physical layer. Today, it's just the virtual layer, and they're starting to talk about the physical layer. We'd like to see the physical layer incorporated.

We've been using NSX now with Layer 2 stretching for approximately 10 months. We're getting ready to really ramp up the DFW, which is the distributed firewall piece, which we and our security team are very excited about.

NSX is a very stable product.

We've already scaled it across two data centers. We'll be incorporating two additional data centers, to give us that footprint, or IP address migration across four data centers. So, it's quite scalable.

The tech support for NSX is awesome. We are a premier production customer for VMware, therefore the tech support and the tech support representatives don't start a lower level. We start at the mid-level of the tech support engineers. Thus, we get answers very quickly. We also work with our technical account manager who knows what we're doing and what we've got coming up, so he's able to push things for us on the tech support side.

Our tech support's awesome.

The most important criteria when selecting a vendor (like VMware), it's important to us that they have the following:

• Their name recognition.
• The support that they provide.
• Their placement in the industry as a leader.
• The things that they're doing with NSX, which are phenomenal.

We're a supporter of VMware, and likewise they're a supporter and a partner with us and what we're doing.

It's really a great product. It fits all of our needs. Everything that we've asked it to do or asked VMware to help us get done with it, we've been able to do. Therefore, we're very excited about the product.

I was part of the NSX troubleshooting team from VMware, where we worked with different customers to troubleshoot their NSX operational issues. Also, I was part of the design and deployment team. We do PSO projects and migration for customers.

The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the DFW (distributed firewall). The distributed firewall is much better and more powerful than the physical firewall because it's applied at the beginning level.

The software-defined version of VMware NSX contains all the security features like IPS and IDS. In the physical space, you have to get separate IDS, security, or load balancer products. VMware NSX provides several features like VPN, load balancers, DFW, and gateway firewall.

Since most people are very much used to physical networking, they find it difficult to use VMware NSX in the initial stage.

I have been using VMware NSX for the past six years.

The solution's stability is very good compared to its older versions. It is advisable not to go in a production environment with the latest version because it might sometimes have new features that can break.

I rate VMware NSX a nine out of ten for stability.

We can easily scale the solution with the current product version if we have more users.

I rate VMware NSX a nine out of ten for scalability

The solution's implementation is easy.

The initial phase of deployment involves deploying three NSX Managers. Then, you have to plan to do a lot of things like configurations and routing. If you have everything ready for configuration, you should be able to complete the VMware NSX installation in a month.

In the case of daily deployment, it depends on how much we are deploying and how many configurations we are doing. Two weeks should be more than sufficient to complete the configurations if we do it daily.

VMware NSX is a cheaper product compared to its competitor, Cisco.

Since most people are very much used to physical networking, they find it difficult to use VMware NSX in the initial stage. However, once you start using it, you'll be very much fond of the particular product. VMware NSX is very easy to manage.

You can deploy the solution on the cloud or on-prem, depending on the customer's requirement.

When changing from the physical to the virtual space, you have to plan the routing part. You'll have a hardening of networks in the physical space. However, when you bring it to NSX, everything is at the hypervisor level in the virtual space. That's one thing you will have to plan because a few critical applications might require a VLAN-backed network.

They have a restriction that they can't move it to the overlay networks and must remain in the physical VLAN. We have to plan properly for migrations because improper planning can break the current network or operations.

It would be good if users use all the features in the solution to have everything in one place. Users can access the web UI to manage security, load balancer, and VPN protection.

Overall, I rate VMware NSX an eight out of ten.

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.

It is helping me get an entire blueprint done of the source and the target. I was able to make it into a catalog and can set up anything on the cloud quickly. 

The best part is the blueprint creation where I can create their things and then move on to the target environment.

The price is pretty high and their product stack forces me to use the feature set compared to all the others out there in the market from India. They could do more with cloud management, I need some third-party tools.

I have been using VMware NSX for the past four years.

VMware NSX is a stable solution.

The scalability is not a problem.

It was complex, but we worked on all the templates and now it is easy.

I would recommend getting your case worked out well before you get into any customer environment. When it comes to an out-of-the-box feature set on the website, it is not how it really works. Do the POC before you go into a real-time production implementation. I would rate VMware NSX an eight 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 moving from physical to VM infrastructure.

This solution has given us the ability to move from a physical to a virtual server estate with all of the expected VM benefits of decoupling servers from dedicated hardware.

The most valuable feature is the ability to create, develop, and deploy servers in minutes to hours, rather than days.

It could be cheaper!

I have been using VMware NSX for seven years.

Our customers had multiple data centers in different locations. Now, with NSX we built one fabric over an IP transport, like WAN internet. When we created the switches, it spread out over the data centers which are the configuration and the management of the underlying network for the VM workloads.

The reusability of the objects for the switches has improved our client's organization. For example, if I do some sort of vMotion, there is no need to recreate the portal groups on the other sides. We have one centralized NSX Manager which is managing those controllers on those sites.

The most valuable features would be the easy management and the possibility of using our existing vSphere environment so that we don't need to purchase a new hardware.

Layers 4 and 7 load balancing are good. We like that it's integrated with the vSphere. This means that we can see its full capabilities because of the full visibility of the kernel on the NSX management.

Microsementation is really powerful. With the existing networks of the legacy networks, we need to build a firewall between the segments in order to do microsegmentation but now having, for example, one VLAN connected to multiple VLANs, I can do micro-segmentation between the workloads even with the ushering the same segments.

I would like them to make integration with other vendors easier.

It's pretty stable. Just deploy it and just forget about it. It's also robust, flexible, and scalable. 

Scalability is really easy. We can scale within an hour. We can scale either new controllers or add new hosts to the fabric.

We haven't had to use their technical support yet, which is a good thing.

I'm involved in the decision making. My boss would say that it's time to advance the customer so we'll look into a solution.

We were already a VMware-based customer so our first option for an SDN solution was to go with NSX. 

The initial setup was straightforward. It follows a certain structure and you won't miss a step. It's all on the same level, step by step.

It has saved us CapEx. They should adjust the license for NSX so that we can invest in the infrastructure or purchasing of new hardware. This solution is reasonably priced compared to other vendors.

Our customers usually compare NSX to Cisco ACI. The main issue is the underlying network that VMware does not provide visibility to. They chose NSX because they were already VMware customers and they already had vSphere. The second reason they chose NSX is because of the powerful features like microsegmentation, as opposed to relying on other vendors to manage the microsegmentation feature.

I would rate this solution an eight because of its ease of deployment. I'm a partner so this is what I mostly care about. Also because of the ease of scalability.

If you're looking into NSX or similar solutions I would recommend you to first learn about vSphere and other VMware products because it's essential in order to implement NSX. Without that knowledge, it would be hard for you to understand.

And to those who think NSX is complex I would say it's not. You need to try it and see.