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Cisco Wide Area Application Services vs. NitroAccelerator vs. Riverbed SteelHead

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco WAAS

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a WAN optimization option.N/A

    NitroAccelerator

    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    NitroAccelerator installs as a device driver to endpoints to optimize TCP-based connections. The solution is software-based and does not rely on third party proxies, distributed caching, lateral data-movement, or hardware appliances. The vendor states that NitroAccelerator is EPL Certified and approved to run on DoD networks with no known vulnerabilities or direct-competing vendors and is currently accelerating and securing enterprise-level connections all over the world.N/A

    Riverbed SteelHead

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ASan Francisco based Riverbed Technology offers Steelhead, a WAN optimization solution. The new SteelHead 90 series appliances are designed to provide performance, security, scalability, data movement efficiency, and resilient networking.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco WAASNitroAcceleratorRiverbed SteelHead
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco WAASNitroAcceleratorRiverbed SteelHead
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—First year Maintenance & Support (M&S) are included in the license price. For the second year on, annual M&S will be charged at 20% of the original license price.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco WAASNitroAcceleratorRiverbed SteelHead
    Considered Multiple Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco WAAS
    We are already a Cisco organization for network and security products. Cisco provided us discounting competitors just couldn't get to. competitors required more hardware and more complex setup requirements over this product due to our network design. The end result when …
    Incentivized
    Nitrosphere
    No answer on this topic
    Riverbed Technology
    Chose Riverbed SteelHead
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Riverbed SteelHead
    Riverbed Steelhead offers simplicity and fantastic customer support. The performance is a cut above the others as well.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
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    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
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    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
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    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
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    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
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    User Ratings
    Cisco WAASNitroAcceleratorRiverbed SteelHead
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco WAASNitroAcceleratorRiverbed SteelHead
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    WAAS works best for cookie cutter and some unique network design implementations. is best suited for an all Cisco network infrastructure. however, a number of 3rd party network devices can be used and supported when using this product. it's easier with all Cisco. It is priced pretty high to get into and medium to enterprise organizations is best suited to implement this in
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Nitrosphere
    If you have an analytics-supporting SQL Server instance on a VM or bare metal, this is for you. Any large queries will get a massive speed-up. If you're using a DBaaS, then you would need to set up a proxy VM to see the benefits. If you have a transactional-only database, you won't likely see any benefits.
    Read full review
    Riverbed Technology
    If you are dealing with large CAD files on a daily basis "remotely", Riverbed Steelhead makes your home office feel just like the office
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Network file and application optimization
    • VOIP telephony optimization
    • Citrix application optimization
    • Standardized user experience for networking usage
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Nitrosphere
    No answers on this topic
    Riverbed Technology
    • Effectively improves data throughput over VPN WAN connections.
    • Seamless operation.
    • Optimizes a variety of applications. Including, HTTPS, Citrix, Netapp SM and SV, Exchange, etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Administrator GUI user interface is archaic and very dated
    • Admin GUI lacks a bunch of feature support options you have to do via CLI
    • Some endpoint functionality needs to be done at each site instead of from the central admin tool. so redundant effort and can cause site config drift
    • Admin GUI lacks some monitoring and reporting options that would be helpful for support and trouble resolution
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Nitrosphere
    No answers on this topic
    Riverbed Technology
    • 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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We are already a Cisco organization for network and security products. Cisco provided us discounting competitors just couldn't get to. competitors required more hardware and more complex setup requirements over this product due to our network design. The end result when comparing WAAS to others were going to be the same speed, experience, and pretty much the same administration requirements from IT. The added cost savings won us over.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Nitrosphere
    No answers on this topic
    Riverbed Technology
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • saves monthly internet service costs
    • seamless network experience for all users at all sites
    • ok troubleshooting admin portal so some IT skills are required to manage this
    • is costly to purchase
    • somewhat complex to set up but easy to administer once working
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Nitrosphere
    No answers on this topic
    Riverbed Technology
    • Files now open a lot quicker, at near local speeds.
    • We are able to respond to customers quicker as we can get access quicker.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots