We compared VMware NSX and Check Point CloudGuard Network Security based on our users' reviews in six categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Comparison Results: VMware NSX's setup process is intricate and time-consuming, while Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is praised for its simplicity. VMware NSX boasts advanced features like virtual switches, micro-segmentation, distributed firewall, and integration with VMware Hypervisor. Conversely, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security receives accolades for its VPN Blade, IPS Blade, URL filtering, and Applications Control Blade. Both products are considered pricey, but Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers good security and value. The ROI for VMware NSX is generally positive, while Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has demonstrated a valuable return on investment. Customer service and support for both have received mixed feedback.
"The tool's most valuable features are threat prevention and protection mechanisms."
"The multiple virtual firewalls on one box are extremely useful and the interconnection with virtual switches is simple and easy to understand."
"The most valuable feature for us is the ability to run the gateways as virtual machines in our virtual data center. The tool protects the virtual data centers."
"It is dynamic and agile, and its features and utilities continuously improve and evolve."
"All the features that we subscribe to from CloudGuard NGTP are valuable. All the threat prevention and access control features give us the network security that we expect."
"I find it really useful that CloudGuard supports all the main players on the Public Clouds market including AWS, GCP, and Azure, as well as some exotic ones like Alibaba Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and IBM Cloud."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring. We can easily monitor what kind of stuff comes over to our network and we can then check the dashboard and work accordingly."
"I like the firewall and the virtual machine. I also like that it's compatible with Amazon Web Services and Azure."
"Their technical support is very good. They help us figure out solutions when we have problems."
"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."
"The Distributed firewall is simple to add to the network and rules are easy to implement."
"The security offered by VMware NSX is the most valuable, plus it's a feature-rich product that's straightforward to install and configure."
"The best part is the blueprint creation where I can create their things and then move on to the target environment."
"The microsegmentation is great, and the security team thinks it is great."
"The most valuable features are stability and low cost."
"I really like the management dashboard, the tailor-made assurance, the telemetry, and the ease of integration with all other solutions of VMware, such as vSphere."
"We miss full blade support for all blades that are compatible with the cluster. Especially notable is the lack of support for Identity Awareness in active standby environments for customers. In our setup, transitioning to Connective clusters would be preferable for maintaining connections during failover situations."
"There is room for improvement in the integration with PaaS services from the public cloud. It would be very helpful."
"We faced issues while upgrading our CloudGuard Network Gateway. When we tried to use the template that Check Point offers on their site, it was not available for the second to the latest version, so I was forced to upgrade my management server. That was very challenging for us."
"The challenge mainly revolves around the slower functionality of virtual IP switching in Azure Virtual Network compared to on-premise solutions. On-premise, switching between clusters is faster, taking only a few seconds, while in Azure, it can extend up to five minutes. The downtime is a concern for us."
"Clustering in Azure is a bit different, not using the Check Point cluster but relying on load balancing. It's not as instant as I'm used to; in Azure, it might take around half a minute to a minute, and during this time, services could be down. The delay is attributed to Azure using its load balancing mechanisms instead of the Check Point cluster."
"The networking system updates, when delayed, can lead to misconfigurations and data loss."
"The cost is relatively high compared to the cost of other products in the market."
"In the next release, including VRF support would be highly beneficial."
"I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow."
"The network-extending capabilities for the physical environment need improvement."
"If there are other solutions already in place, it can be difficult to implement."
"It might be nice to have more AI in the future."
"It lacks full knowledge of physical side of the network topology."
"A room for improvement in VMware NSX is that it has some security vulnerabilities, which means my company has to apply the patches every once in a while."
"The solution is complex but for the key user, it's not really complex. You just need to learn the standards and mechanics for your specific product."
"There are always issues integrating with Cisco."
More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Pricing and Cost Advice →
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is ranked 5th in Cloud and Data Center Security with 121 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 1st in Cloud and Data Center Security with 94 reviews. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is rated 8.6, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security writes "Highly reliable, great visibility, and centralized management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Allows for seamless micro-segmentation and the support is exceptional". Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is most compared with Azure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Cisco Secure Firewall and Fortinet FortiGate-VM, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Nutanix Flow Network Security, Illumio, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Cisco ACI and Cisco DNA Center. See our Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. VMware NSX report.
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