Cisco Routers vs Riverbed SteelHead

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco has a very easy CLI and most importantly it is known to most network engineers. There is a huge possibility that Cisco solutions are available over the Internet for a particular problem or a use case. Cisco has been improving ever since, however, Cisco can improve in areas such as rollback or error checking mechanism during the configuration, Juniper Networks Routers has done a great job in this area. Cisco is well suited for enterprise environments, however, for Service Provider Networks there are many options available.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Computer Networking Company, 10,001+ employees

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If you are dealing with large CAD files on a daily basis "remotely", Riverbed Steelhead makes your home office feel just like the office

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Kevin Walgren

Technology Lead

LandformCivil Engineering, 11-50 employees

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Pros

Cisco routers offer networks for the WAN, the LAN and the cloud include advanced analytics, optimization security incorporated with them you can have a comprehensive and proven solution.
They are well designed to support coherent optics to drive the convergence of optical layers, as well as systems that offer lower power consumption
They are very reliable for networks that are constantly growing traffic with fixed or modular systems that allow handling large traffic flows
They are quite friendly and easy-to-use computers on their different platforms, whether ios, ios xe, XR

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Jose Manuel Castillo

Post Sales and Network Engineer / Southern Cone

LogicalisTelecommunications, 201-500 employees

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Effectively improves data throughput over VPN WAN connections.
Seamless operation.
Optimizes a variety of applications. Including, HTTPS, Citrix, Netapp SM and SV, Exchange, etc.

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Tim Slater

Manager, Corporate Services and Information Systems

Forest Practices BoardGovernment Administration, 51-200 employees

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Cons

Software-defined radios could be used so that both the radios could be converted into 5 GHz model to provide enhanced connectivity in network congestion scenarios.
Support for low power IoT devices.
Should provide more details about devices connected to the access points such as the risk score of the devices.
Enhanced encryption algorithms and quick firmware upgrades.

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Ravinder Beniwal

Sr. Consultant

UnitedLexLegal Services, 1001-5000 employees

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A reduction in price is always welcomed
Simplify and streamline advanced features and add-on pieces for more detailed traffic analysis
Getting granularity into traffic behavior becomes confusing and very expensive

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Chemicals Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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Alternatives Considered

Cisco routers are great and are the industry standard. They have proven their ability to last and [continually] provide support for their devices. You can go into a lot of IT closets and see old Cisco switches and routers. Why? because they are workhorses and they last. Their compatibility [with] other systems and hardware makes them hard to beat.

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Shaun Stockton

Security Systems Analyst

Council Bluffs Community School DistrictEducation Management, 501-1000 employees

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We tested Cisco eleven years ago in parallel with Riverbed in a PoC. The Cisco configuration was very complex and sticky based on the location. The Riverbed configuration is flexible based on the whole storage. A software client for devices like laptops or tablets is not available for Cisco WAAS, therefore we selected Riverbed based on a PoC.

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