Citrix SD-WAN vs Symantec Proxy comparison

Citrix SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), WAN optimization, and WAN edge solution. Citrix SD-WAN is recognized for providing a robust, trustworthy user experience so that an organization's distributed workforce can deliver the best possible outcomes at all times. Organizations can easily deploy solid security protocols wherever needed and also have the option to choose from a diverse choice of security options with unified security service and seamless integration with today’s top next-gen firewalls.

Citrix SD-WAN provides a single cloud-based user dashboard that enables organizations to easily manage their WAN, prioritize and audit applications, and configure security protocols. Citrix SD-WAN enables users to easily manage hybrid multi-cloud processes by improving applications and automating connectivity. Citrix SD-WAN gives organizations tremendous flexibility for deployment from public clouds, data centers, home offices, and branches.

Citrix SD-WAN is the basis of the Citrix consolidated process to SASE (secure access service edge) combined with cloud-delivered security and zero-trust network access to provide organizations with safe, trustworthy, secure access to each and every application anywhere, using any device.

The Citrix SD-WAN solution is made up of three basic components:

• Two software editions.
• Cloud-hosted (or on-premises) orchestrator for clear visibility and unified protocol management.
• Appliances: data center, home, branch, physical or virtual.

Citrix SD-WAN Orchestrator

The Citrix SD-WAN Orchestrator can be on premises or cloud-hosted and is a multi-tenant management service offered to Citrix partners and do-it-yourself enterprise organizations. The dashboard delivers a comprehensive view of your organization’s SD-WAN network concerning the functionality and usage of every site. The intuitive dashboard delivers a summary of uptime of the overlay and underlay paths, usage trends, and network-wide alerts.

Available application-centric policies: quality of service (QoS), firewall policies, and application-based traffic steering can all be easily configurable globally or per site.

Reviews from Real Users

“With SD-WAN, they have all the features and benefits they need to send live streaming information to the database and to headquarters without requiring a server at each site. Our other clients have various sites with just one type of communication, say a radio or a mobile network. SD-WAN helps them to combine and get a better bandwidth to balance all their applications and services.” - Business Consultant at a tech services company

“We needed to create some kind of network that was distributed through data and media or big files. It was a retail company, so there were branches, and the branches needed to connect to HQ. We provided HQ and each branch with Citrix SD-WAN. We tried to use it, and it worked well. The transmission was good, and they were losing less data.” - Ruslan M., SMB Sales Director, Regional Business Development Department at Softline

Symantec Proxy is designed to provide web security, web access control, and secure web gateway functionalities for organizations. It helps protect against web-based threats, enforce web usage policies, and provide secure access to internet resources.

Symantec Proxy Benefits:

• Easy to use
• Comprehensive security features
• Ability to block malicious websites and applications
• Efficient management of network traffic
• Scalable and compatible with various operating systems and devices
• Highly rated customer support and technical assistance

Symantec Proxy Features:

• Web Filtering: Symantec Proxy offers web filtering capabilities to control and manage web access based on predefined categories or custom policies.
• Malware Protection: The solution incorporates malware detection and prevention mechanisms to identify and block web-based threats, such as malware, viruses, and phishing attacks. 
• URL Filtering: Symantec Proxy uses URL filtering to categorize and assess the reputation of web domains and URLs in real-time. 
• SSL/TLS Inspection: The proxy solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection to examine encrypted web traffic for potential threats or policy violations. 
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Symantec Proxy may include data loss prevention capabilities to prevent the unauthorized exfiltration of sensitive data through web channels. 
• User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports user authentication and access control mechanisms to enforce user-based policies and provide secure internet access.
• Reporting and Analytics: Symantec Proxy provides reporting and analytics capabilities to monitor web usage, user activities, security events, and compliance violations.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Symantec Proxy users. 

PeerSpot user, Consultant at a financial services firm, says that Symantec Proxy "...enables us to manage bandwidth for users based on their privilege levels. For example, if a user wants to use a certain application or resource, we can provide access based on their privileges."

PeerSpot user, General Manager & founder at a engineering company, writes that Symantec Proxy has "A complex deployment, no proper user reporting, and a proxy component that works."

Muhammad Salahuddin, Unit Head - Network and Security Solutions at FPM Solutions, states that Symantec Proxy has "Good URL filtering but is expensive and doesn't have good technical support services."