We performed a comparison between Citrix NetScaler, F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), and Loadbalancer.org based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about F5, Citrix, HAProxy and others in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)."I like the monitoring ability as it enables me to identify when an internal (load-balanced) resource is having issues before it becomes a problem in production."
"Citrix NetScaler offers robust security features, including SmartAccess and customizable policies, making it a reliable choice for safeguarding user data."
"I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us."
"Content Redirection and SSO integration with Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop. The GUI was wonderful."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Helped us a lot with load balancing."
"The program is easy to install and to set up."
"I like the ease of use. It's easy to manage. I also like it's ease of use with virtualization technologies with applications."
"Valuable features include Link Controller and Server Load Balancer."
"The most helpful thing is that it's open-source. It's very easy to program and customize."
"The most valuable feature is being able to manipulate the iRules, so you can send traffic to different avenues."
"I have Big-IP change and control manager, which give me the roll back option. Therefore, I can view the last things which happened on the device."
"Routing and load balancing are its most valuable features."
"The setup is pretty easy."
"We are fond of the load balancing feature for DNS and servers."
"The most valuable features are DNS, APM, and ASM. Additionally, it is easy to use and you have a lot of flexibility to use the solution within a network."
"The support we have received from Loadbalancer.org has been good."
"We can more easily set up a test environment, because you can easily configure your forms. It makes it more flexible for us, to convert our test environment to a production environment, without having to change DNSs on the outside. You just configure the forms on the inside. So without changing the actual endpoint for the end user, we can create completely different networks in the background."
"The user interface precludes need to be well versed with Linux IPVS command line. This make it easy for junior team members to participate in managing load balancing needs."
"For now, it's stable."
"With basic network knowledge, our required system functionality can be configured and maintained."
"The connection that this solution helps our servers maintain has been most useful."
"We now get notifications when pool members go down, and we eliminate our downtime by not sending traffic to downed pool members."
"We have about 30,000 connections going through at any one time and it's fine, it doesn't seem to sweat. It doesn't get overloaded."
"There are certain features that are very useful and Citrix makes you pay a bit more for them."
"I think there is always room for improvement in this type of solutions. For example, I think the GUI should be easy to understand."
"I would like to see them make it easier to do some of the more complex things. For example, a web re-direct requires two pieces to it. You have two ports and when people want to go to a web page, they just type in the webpage that on the backend it will redirect them to a secure link. The initial setup of that is cumbersome because you have to do it twice. There are things that can be replicated. The IP address, for example, is the same. This change would go a long way. Don't make me do it twice and don't make me have to read tons of documentation to figure out how to do it. Ease of configuration for some of the more complex processes would be a good improvement."
"Reducing the overhead required for AppFlow data collection, specifically for HDX Insight, would be a huge improvement."
"We face challenges with the solution's firmware upgrades frequently."
"I will try to migrate all the tools to the cloud because there is more lab and more VPN scalability available in the cloud. It is not available on-premises."
"It does not have a sandbox cloud service and antivirus. It should have on-prem or cloud sandboxing and antivirus."
"I would like to see more integration for single sign-on."
"There is a challenge in Pakistan. This is when there is a hardware failure. Sometimes, it takes more time to get a replacement because it is sent out from the U.S. or some other regional outpost. Thus, it takes two to three days to receive a replacement."
"Currently, the product offers everything we need. I can't recall any features that may be lacking."
"The SharePoint SSO part has some room for improvement."
"If they made it easier for engineers to get F5 training then it would be better."
"The price for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is very high. This aspect could be improved."
"I would like to see F-5 implement a regular routing like in other Linux-based devices. When we try and integrate in some complex networks, we have to use some additional routing scenarios from a Layer 3 perspective, then we have some problems. It would be great if this were fixed somehow."
"An expensive solution for the minimal features we use."
"The ASM administration is quite complex. The topic itself is pretty complex, so it is not easy to provide a nice, clean interface. There are a lot of references and dependencies in-between the different subareas."
"The configuration is somewhat complicated. Someone who does not know the solution may find this challenging."
"The solution can be a bit pricey."
"The interface from Loadbalancer.org should be improved."
"We could enhance the security aspects of the load balancer."
"It would be great if there was a way to gain access to the graphing data, to create custom reports. If we had a way to use the graphing data, we could use it to present certain information to our client, such as the uptime status for their service."
"The configuration is somewhat complicated. Someone who does not know the solution may find this challenging."
"If I have to say something, I suppose they could add an automated configuration backup to an FTP location (or something similar) so you don’t have to manually do it. I don’t see this as a problem, of course, as the configuration rarely changes and we only need one backup, but maybe for other users that feature would be handy."
"I would like a notification when a new version of the software is available. They told me to sign up for their newsletter, but I have not received any notification for a newer software version."
More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Pricing and Cost Advice →
