Meraki SD-WAN vs VMware NSX comparison

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2,021 views|1,277 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
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1,892 views|1,188 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Meraki SD-WAN and VMware NSX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Meraki SD-WAN vs. VMware NSX Report (Updated: May 2020).
769,662 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: What is the biggest difference between VMware NSX and Meraki SD-WAN?
Answer: We are currently reviewing various SD-WAN vendors for our infrastructure and what I found lacking with Cisco Meraki is that you cannot use Active/Active HA with two MX devices. Only HA is available with one device which introduces a single point of failure for any network. There is also up to 5 minute failover time for Active/Active circuits which in my opinion is quite long compared to other solutions which are nearer instant.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The centralized console manageable from the cloud is one of the advantages.""The solution is pretty easy to configure.""Meraki SD-WAN is scalable.""The solution is stable.""Meraki can react fast to emerging trends.""The solution is easy to use.""The management system is one of the best available.""I like the entire set of features and the analytics."

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"The solution is very stable and reliable.""NSX extends Layer-2 scalability on Layer 3, covering the vRO and extending the capability on Layer 3 by decapsulating using a new mechanism. NSX-V was designed to use with VMware products and Success 360, providing more flexibility toward different levels of cloud, containers, and components. NSX-T gives you the ability to stretch your network across different view locations. If you have multiple sites, you can connect them using NSX-T.""The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the ability to set up virtual networking environments.""One of the big improvements between the NSX-V and NSX-T is that in NSX-T you are no longer dependent on V-Center anymore.""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's customer service is good.""The performance is good.""NSX is good in managing security or controlling the security and the access control for each single VM."

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Cons
"The solution lacks controllers.""The solution could be improved if it added more features, especially monitoring and reporting features.""There are currently issues with NAT-Unfriendly situations on G4 networks that should be resolved.""This solution can only support up to two WAN ports.""The integration with other tools must be improved.""Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.""This vendor has issues with the supply chain that need to be improved.""We have had some problems doing the implementation."

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"It could be cheaper!""The support from VMware NSX could improve.""One drawback is this solution requires a lot of other products in the VMware ecosystem to have a full end-to-end operation orchestration monitoring. You have to buy a lot of add-ons to fully utilize the functionality.""Just being more knowledgeable about the different functions.""Nowadays, NSX supports the KVM and ESXi hypervisors only. It should also support Hyper-V and Citrix hypervisors.""Some configuration maximums are limiting to the user, especially when it comes to the deployment of very, very large environments.""The setup is complex and should be made easier.""VMware NSX only supports some platforms like KVM."

More VMware NSX Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Meraki solutions come with a choice of several different subscription options including one year, three years, five years, seven years, and ten years."
  • "The licensing fees are approximately $1,000 USD annually."
  • "The pricing is fair, but if they can make it less it would be even more attractive."
  • "Any license you buy until January 2021 gets you an extra year for that purchase."
  • "like everything else, it's negotiable."
  • "If you purchase a Meeraki box, you have to purchase a license, and it's already the basic license, you will have you SD-WAN included."
  • "This solution is more expensive than competitors."
  • "From the perspective of the customer, the price is not terribly cost-effective."
  • More Meraki SD-WAN Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing and licensing could be improved as we are a government entity. Lower pricing could always help."
  • "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 have saved man-hours and decreased our security exposure."
  • "We can't go without NSX, so it's invaluable from this perspective."
  • "The solution is very expensive."
  • "The licensing fees are expensive and we pay on a yearly basis."
  • "It is an expensive product, but cheaper than some competing solutions."
  • "The price of this product is too high."
  • More VMware NSX Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Paul Wright
    it_user977133 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user977133 (Principal Consulting Analyst with 11-50 employees)
    User

    VMware NSX is VMware's data center networking platform that supports among other things VxLAN that provides micro-segmentation to ensure optimal performance and security (both north/south and east/west). VMware SD-WAN solution is through their acquisition of Velocloud, which is the market leader in the space. Meraki SD-WAN is owned by Cisco. Meraki SD-WAN is a simple, quick to implement, all-in-one solution that is cloud managed and great for smaller offices. Cisco's higher end, feature rich SD-WAN solution is through their Viptela offering. Cisco's leading data center offering is ACI. Many SMBs are going with a managed service that use Cisco or VMware's solution. Cisco and VMware do not integrate well, so it is best to choose one vendor or the other.

    Denis FERRAND - PeerSpot reviewerDenis FERRAND
    Real User

    VMware NSX is all about Software Defined Networking ie virtualizing the 7 layers of switches/routers that we know in the physical HW world. VMware is very successful with this technology acquired from NICERA. SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined WAN which is about networking but NOT at the local level, it is a wide area network. For this VMware made another acquisition which is VeloCloud. Cisco Meraki SD-WAN and VeloCloud are both in the magic quadrant and therefore competing.

    GaurangPatel - PeerSpot reviewerGaurangPatel
    Reseller

    Well, both products are very good but if you are looking for only SD-WAN Feafure than Cisco Meraki is the perfect solution: it's easy to manage, easy to deploy and deep insight at the packet level.

    VMware NSX is the complete package of comprehensive features like Application Load Balancing, routing, switching, micro-segmentation and many more but at a cost! It's very easy to manage from a single pane of glass.

    in a nutshell, if you want Application-Aware Load balancing and wan optimization which should be easy to manage and deploy than Cisco Meraki is the right product and if you are looking for a fully integrated solution and have a deep pocket then you should choose VMware NSX.

    Ben Vaux - PeerSpot reviewerBen Vaux
    User

    Meraki SD-WAN is ranked 2nd in Software Defined Networking (SDN) with 11 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 1st in Software Defined Networking (SDN) with 19 reviews. Meraki SD-WAN is rated 8.0, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Meraki SD-WAN writes "Enables us to get valuable information from the system without having to go into every single device". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Enables us to identify problems before they manifest, but they should develop more advanced features". Meraki SD-WAN is most compared with VeloCloud, Cisco SD-WAN and Cradlepoint NetCloud, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Cisco ACI, Cisco Tetration and Nutanix Flow.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It's made managing our client's networks extremely easy, regardless of my location. Being able to hop on my cell phone to see what's happening on a client's network makes everything much more… more »
    Top Answer:For a pure SD-WAN solution, the pricing is competitive. However, our clients are on the lower tier in terms of budget, viewing IT more as a necessary expense rather than integral to their business… more »
    Top Answer:It is effective and easy to set up, although a bit expensive, but it gets the job done with a simple configuration. However, Meraki isn't as flexible for more unique needs but works excellently within… more »
    Top Answer:There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server where… more »
    Top Answer:Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch… more »
    Top Answer:The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
    Ranking
    Views
    2,021
    Comparisons
    1,277
    Reviews
    23
    Average Words per Review
    451
    Rating
    8.5
    2nd
    Views
    1,892
    Comparisons
    1,188
    Reviews
    34
    Average Words per Review
    421
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    VMware Nicira
    Learn More
    Cisco
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    Overview

    Software-defined WAN is a new approach to network connectivity that lowers operational costs and improves resource usage for multi-site deployments, allowing network administrators to use bandwidth more efficiently and ensure the highest possible level of performance for critical applications without sacrificing security or data privacy. For more information on deploying and configuring SD-WAN on the Meraki MX Security Appliance, see the Meraki SD-WAN Deployment Guide.

    VMware NSX is a full-stack network and security virtualization platform that enables the virtual cloud network. NSX provides a software-defined process for networking that expands throughout cloud frameworks, data centers, and application structures. Users can join and secure applications within their container and multi-cloud infrastructure and their data center. With robust automated provisioning, the platform offers dynamic flexibility and scalability without compromising on network speed or agility.

    VMware NSX recreates the whole software network model so that users can create and deliver apps quickly and securely. Users can customize security policies and leverage IDS/IPS to block against lateral threats. These security policies can be managed throughout private and public clouds from one pane of glass, no matter where your applications run. By consolidating networking and security tasks into a unified platform, users can save up to one-third of their budget.

    VMware NSX Use Cases

    VMware NSX brings the operational model of a virtual machine to users’ data center networks and revolutionizes the foundations of network and security operations. There are a number of use cases, including:

    • Containers - Similar to VMs, users can offer unified, full-stack networking and security for microservices and containerized apps. This includes the ability to micro-segment, use container networking for Kubernetes, and offers complete visibility for microservices.
    • App Delivery - Users can deliver infrastructure as code while also accelerating app delivery with blueprints that can automate the management of security and networking resources.
    • Security - With zero-trust security in public and private cloud environments, users can reduce attacks, lock down critical apps, and design a logical DMZ in software.
    • Load Balancing - Users can update their data centers from legacy load balancers to software load balancers and SDN automation, creating savings of over 50%.
    • Multi-Cloud - Expand networking across clouds and streamline multi-cloud operations with multi-cloud use cases, including rapid workload mobility, seamless data center extension, and multi-DC pooling.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Through a policy-driven approach, VMware NSX provides VMware technologies to assist with network and security visualization in a unified solution. Users particularly like the distributed firewall and the management dashboard.

    Kolawole O., a systems engineer at a tech services company, writes, "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."

    A head of business development and partners management at a comms service provider notes, "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."

    Sample Customers
    École Jeannine Manuel
    City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider26%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm9%
    Educational Organization9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Retailer6%
    Construction Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Retailer10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business44%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise41%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise59%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise65%
    Buyer's Guide
    Meraki SD-WAN vs. VMware NSX
    May 2020
    Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki SD-WAN vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: May 2020.
    769,662 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Meraki SD-WAN is ranked 1st in Software Defined Networking (SDN) with 60 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 2nd in Network Virtualization with 93 reviews. Meraki SD-WAN is rated 8.2, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Meraki SD-WAN writes "Very stable security, great service, and the best for VPN management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Allows for seamless micro-segmentation and the support is exceptional". Meraki SD-WAN is most compared with Cisco SD-WAN, VMware SD-WAN, Omada Cloud SDN and Cradlepoint NetCloud, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Nutanix Flow Network Security, Illumio, Cisco ACI, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation and Cisco Secure Workload. See our Meraki SD-WAN vs. VMware NSX report.

    We monitor all Software Defined Networking (SDN) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.