SaltStack vs VMware NSX comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SaltStack 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 SaltStack vs. VMware NSX Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 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
"We monitor the configurations against CIS standards. We run CIS benchmarks and maintain configurations with higher CIS values for each server.""The ability to programmatically describe the desired state of a single, or an entire fleet of servers, on-premises, and in a cloud environment.""The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to provide environmental security.""It is a highly stable solution.""I want to build automation that is intelligent, part of the fabric of our environment, and is somewhat self-sustaining. I think SaltStack can help me do this.""The automation functionality has been most valuable. With a click of a button, we are able to automate provisioning, the build of new hardware and apply patches. These are all extremely important and differentiated tasks that can be automated in SaltStack.""SaltStack has given us the ability to deal with systems at scale and rectify issues at scale."

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"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.""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.""Technically, VMware NSX is more advanced technology-wise when compared to others. We have been studying it and so far, so good. We know that the NSX product is superior when it comes to software virtualized networks. </p> <p>If you are looking to work with new and future technologies, then NSX is one of the best options. It costs less for power consumption since it will be a virtual network and not a pure physical network that consumes more energy.""This solution comes with an API that can easily integrate with other solutions.""The most valuable features are stability and low cost.""During our experience, the solution has been stable.""The organization of it is logical, useful, and intuitive.""Their technical support is very good. They help us figure out solutions when we have problems."

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Cons
"Web UI.""Its configuration process could be better.""This solution could be integrated with more hardware for an improved offering.""There is a little bit of pain when it comes to libraries and what is needed to run the product.""It is difficult to set up.""A hardened set of tests would be much appreciated.""SaltStack's features are minimal."

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"If you're worried that NSX is too complex, I would tell you to take another look. If you compare NSX to a similar solution you might find it to be a bit more complex. Usually, the guy that comes in to implement NSX isn't the network guy and will lack the knowledge for the program. He can lack the knowledge for this program and will therefore think it's complex. You need somebody with network experience.""The technical support could use some improvement.""We have been satisfied with the technical support. They were able to solve our problems. However, they could be faster.""It might be nice to have more AI in the future.""We have done three installations and we have not had any critical issues. The time it took for the installation was approximately two days. However, they should provide better documentation.""The setup is complex and should be made easier.""VMware NSX could improve by having more compatibility with other none Window-based operating systems.""The next release of NSX should try to make Kubernetes and container integration a little easier than it is now. It's quite a complicated process."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "So much can be done with the Open Source side, and especially for smaller shops. I personally think the pricing for Enterprise is hard to justify."
  • "The pricing for this solution is roughly 20% lower than the competitive products in the market."
  • "The solution is free of cost."
  • "It is an open-source product."
  • "SaltStack is an open-source product."
  • More SaltStack 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:We monitor the configurations against CIS standards. We run CIS benchmarks and maintain configurations with higher CIS values for each server.
    Top Answer:SaltStack's features are minimal.
    Top Answer:We use SaltStack for configuration management, where we maintain configurations of 150 servers. It also helps with file integrity monitoring.
    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
    6th
    out of 22 in Network Automation
    Views
    718
    Comparisons
    407
    Reviews
    4
    Average Words per Review
    225
    Rating
    7.8
    4th
    out of 22 in Network Automation
    Views
    1,427
    Comparisons
    922
    Reviews
    34
    Average Words per Review
    416
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    VMware Nicira
    Learn More
    Overview

    SaltStack is an intelligent IT automation platform that can manage, secure, and optimize any infrastructure—on-prem, in the cloud, or at the edge. It’s built on a unique and powerful event-driven automation engine that detects events in any system and reacts intelligently to them, making it an extremely effective solution for managing large, complex environments. And with the newly launched SecOps offering, SaltStack can detect security vulnerabilities and non-compliant, mis-configured systems. As soon as an issue is detected, this powerful automation helps you and your team remediate it, keeping your infrastructure securely configured, compliant, and up-to-date.

    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
    IBM CloudTD BankScotiaBankLinkedIneBayLiberty MutualTargetHyattCyxteraNetAppFacebookLyft
    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
    Computer Software Company46%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    University8%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Retailer10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise37%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise65%
    Buyer's Guide
    SaltStack vs. VMware NSX
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about SaltStack vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    SaltStack is ranked 6th in Network Automation with 33 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 4th in Network Automation with 93 reviews. SaltStack is rated 8.2, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of SaltStack writes "Orchestration tool that powers automation of processes with the click of a button". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Works well and allows us to do micro-segmentation and create policy rules". SaltStack is most compared with VMware Aria Automation, HashiCorp Terraform, Microsoft Configuration Manager, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat Satellite, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Nutanix Flow Network Security, Cisco ACI, Illumio, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation and Cisco Secure Workload. See our SaltStack 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.