SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs VMware NSX comparison

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SolarWinds Logo
1,923 views|1,511 comparisons
93% willing to recommend
VMware Logo
1,313 views|838 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and VMware NSX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs. VMware NSX Report (Updated: May 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
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 installation is straightforward.""The feature that I really enjoy is the ability to script changes across all of your devices.""The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and best practices. Automation capabilities have greatly impacted workflows, enabling tasks such as configuration backups, template deployment, and firmware upgrades to be automated, thereby streamlining processes and saving time. Compliance reporting features provide valuable insights into network compliance, offering pre-built security audit reports and customizable options to meet specific requirements.""The scanning features have proven to be highly valuable, particularly due to the comprehensive information they provide.""Its main functionality is highly beneficial as it centralizes the management of configuration items across the network.""The most valuable Real-time fault detection is beneficial as it enables the identification of changes made to a device's configuration through the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. This makes it easy to pinpoint which configurations were added or removed, potentially causing network issues. Such changes are saved in logs for future reference.""This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to store all the device configurations for the various network devices in NCM and making it easy for us to retrieve and look them over.""SolarWinds NCM provides updates on the status of your network infrastructure. If any issues arise, such as a link failure or a device going offline, you will receive notifications and alerts. Additionally, if someone unplugs a cable, SolarWinds NCM will detect it. It also features a Topology Mapper that displays the connectivity of your network devices, giving you a visual representation of the network's structure. With SolarWinds NCM, you have a clear understanding of what's happening within your network and can generate comprehensive reports."

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"The most valuable features are ease of use and user interface.""NSX can reduce costs and has good service. It is easy for you and your users to use.""The security offered by VMware NSX is the most valuable, plus it's a feature-rich product that's straightforward to install and configure.""I have found the solution to be stable.""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 organization of it is logical, useful, and intuitive.""The best part is the blueprint creation where I can create their things and then move on to the target environment.""It is a stable solution...The solution's initial setup process was easy."

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Cons
"Improvements are needed in the automatic network mapping function.""The only thing that requires some experience, and training doesn't fix, is how to set up your custom policy-based reports to check compliance.""It would be great if they include a network service manager, network performance manager, or a privileged assessment in the next release.""I would like to see more integration tools. Something like dialysis, for example.""The third-party plugins available in the solution could improve. I have received some issues with the templates.""I'd like to see additional features like support for devices that don't use CLI for configuration backups, expanded inventory support for other vendors beyond Cisco, and compatibility with newer SD WAN devices. These enhancements would further improve the product's versatility and utility for users. we hope for future enhancements, especially in supporting security devices that lack CLI backup options.""When it comes to the way of managing the network devices, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager should provide the simplest way that devices can relate to the server. For example, when we want to get the devices on board, we go by SSH to make the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager create the connectivity with the device. After that, we pull the configuration. It would be helpful if they could combine both so that everything will be done in one step.""Our experience has shown that most of the problems we've had with SolarWinds NCM are related to software issues."

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"The network-extending capabilities for the physical environment need improvement.""In the next release, they should enhance the visual interface. With NSX-T, it's difficult to communicate between the public cloud and the container.""Going through and getting more features sets from the routing protocols is definitely necessary for the future.""There were some issues with finance and other accounting.""It still needs to grow. There are still some features that it doesn't do, like it doesn't do multicasting.""It was stable for one year, there was no impact. In the last two months, we had two big incidents.""The cost of the solution has room for improvement.""The initial establishment can be complex."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "With a minimal bundle, we pay about $3000 a year in licensing costs. If you have multiple devices in your network, you must buy the bundle, which is 100% identical for your infrastructure. If you have 15 devices, you need 15 licenses, for example. That's one bundle. You don't pay for anything over and above that."
  • "You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."
  • "There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."
  • "I have a yearly subscription."
  • "In Africa, the cost is a major factor in decision-making for many companies. As a result, some companies may choose cheaper solutions, even if they are open-source, over more expensive ones, such as SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. However, as an engineer, I believe that the functionalities and services offered by SolarWinds justify the cost. Nonetheless, many companies in Africa may still view the prices as unaffordable."
  • "There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
  • "The price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."
  • "We have to pay additionally for its support and maintenance."
  • More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 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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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and best… more »
    Top Answer:I'd like to see additional features like support for devices that don't use CLI for configuration backups, expanded inventory support for other vendors beyond Cisco, and compatibility with newer SD… 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
    3rd
    out of 22 in Network Automation
    Views
    1,923
    Comparisons
    1,511
    Reviews
    12
    Average Words per Review
    675
    Rating
    8.3
    4th
    out of 22 in Network Automation
    Views
    1,313
    Comparisons
    838
    Reviews
    35
    Average Words per Review
    423
    Rating
    8.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SolarWinds NCM
    VMware Nicira
    Learn More
    Overview
    Before you monitor your network, configure it! A reliable and secure network starts with carefully planned, executed, and monitored network configuration and change management. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) saves time and improves network reliability and security by managing configurations, changes, and compliance for routers, switches, and other network devices from Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, Brocade, Aruba, Rukus, and more.

    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
    United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
    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
    Manufacturing Company25%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Sports Company13%
    Healthcare Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Government12%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Retailer10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business48%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise30%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise64%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise54%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise64%
    Buyer's Guide
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs. VMware NSX
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is ranked 3rd in Network Automation with 22 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 4th in Network Automation with 94 reviews. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is rated 8.2, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager writes "Streamlines network configuration and compliance processes through its centralized dashboard, although its compatibility with multi-vendor devices may present limitations". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Allows for seamless micro-segmentation and the support is exceptional". SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is most compared with Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Prime, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, OpenText Network Node Manager i and IBM Tivoli NetCool, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Nutanix Flow Network Security, Illumio, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Cisco ACI and Trend Micro Deep Security. See our SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs. VMware NSX report.

    See our list of best Network Automation vendors.

    We monitor all Network Automation 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.