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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AF5 Networks offers the F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager, a firewall software combining a number of features including DDoS, DNS security, and other protections.N/A

    FireMon

    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    FireMon is a real-time security policy management solution built for today’s complex multi-vendor, enterprise environments. Supporting the latest firewall and policy enforcement technologies spanning on-premises networks to the cloud, FireMon delivers visibility and control across the entire IT landscape to automate policy changes, meet compliance standards, to minimize policy-related risk. Since creating their policy management solution in 2004, FireMon states they've helped…N/A
    Pricing
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Considered Both Products
    F5
    No answer on this topic
    FireMon
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    13 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
    Features
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) and FireMon
    Feature
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    5.6
    3 Ratings
    42% below category average
    FireMon
    -
    Ratings
    Identification Technologies2.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Visualization Tools1.83 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Inspection5.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console2.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    VPN10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    High Availability3.63 Ratings00 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection2.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Proxy Server10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    7.9
    (69 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.8
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.7
    (17 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.9
    (48 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)FireMon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    F5
    We were able to eliminate a firewall from our network architecture by integrating the module into our existing F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM). This allowed us to save on tech refresh costs, since the F5 was able to handle the module without much additional strain on the device. However, if a firewall had features that the AFM lacked, then using that firewall in tandem with an F5 would be preferable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    FireMon is best used in a large environment (for example, I have >100
    firewalls in my environment). It's best used when trying to improve
    security posture and showing changes in firewall security over time. It
    might not be the best choice for smaller environments or those that aren't concerned about security management.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    F5
    • Load balancing using pools
    • SSL offloading
    • iRules for threat handling
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    • Give good real time reporting for anyone making a change to any of our firewalls
    • Provides good reporting tools that are out of box
    • Provide good customization tools that is specific to our needs
    • Upgrades are a simple process and support does relatively well with assisting us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    F5
    • The GUI icons are very small and Overall UI can use some refreshing
    • The training on the tool is not easily available and mostly involves a high cost
    • The support or third party implementation teams could use some improvement
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    • Some features could be added to the existing functionality which include NAT rules usage
    • Rule expiration normalization from firewalls rather than entering them in rule documentation
    • .csv exports of the files from the firewall pane only gives usage for 30 days by default and that should be increased
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    The shell is locked out and we can't run any general centos commands. The implementation and maintainence of the arch is very complex. Even with the right identifiers on log messages the log collection keeps failing. The warning messages on the device are ambiguous. The log messages on firemon are a bit confusing and don't show the exact issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    F5
    While parent policies help simplify the deployment, the UI definitely could be more straight forward and simplified for troubleshooting and tuning
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    It save me time and I'm able to have the review - review the rule independently with using my time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    FireMon has been relatively stable overall. However, there have been a handful of times where we had issues with the console. For example, we couldn't update which devices to include in a security assessment. The initial suggestion from support was to just reboot it. It seems like there weren't many other options available such as to restart services before going to the extreme of a complete reboot.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    I'm not sure we have the largest implementation of FireMon out there but we do have a few 1000 devices being probed by FireMon. Overall, the system's performance has been rock solid. The console refreshes quickly and reports are generated within an expected timeframe.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    F5
    F5 Advanced Firewall Manager has been a solid, strong solution to both keep our systems safe and being seamless for our end users. Most of the time, the end-user is not impacted and does not even know F5 Advanced Firewall Manager is running which is exactly what we are looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    FireMon technical support is awesome! They respond quickly to our requests and they are well trained and very knowledgeable about the tool. Some issues have to be referred to the development team, but technical support largely provides solutions for any issues that we may have.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    Implementation is fairly simple. Most issues can be resolved by referencing manuals.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    F5
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a bit easier to initially set up than F5 Advanced Firewall Manager but not as robust in its ability to manage different devices with different profiles. Different machines need different access and F5 Advanced Firewall Manager is better at allowing flexibility in identifying different devices and managing what they can access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    I has worked with AlgoSec and while they are very similar product, I find the FireMon is easier to understand and get rolling with. While both require some learning, FireMon is by far the easier one. Once you have an understanding of how things are arranged and labeled you can easily import firewalls and begin to work on them to improve them
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    Firemon Is easily scalable and maintainable with any size team. Although it requires some tech debt, it is well worth the time to invest to ensure compliance is visible and reports are accurate. Although our environment is very large we do not fully utilize the scalability of the Firemon product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    F5
    • When we had to decide on whether to buy different hardware our team were all in support of renewal for F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager]
    • F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] requires proper training on tools and clear concepts of packets, headers, and content to create WAF policies
    • Overall, we are satisfied by the ROI provided by our F5 AFM and GTMs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FireMon
    • FireMon's Compliance Reporting provided an immediate and tangible benefit
    • FireMon helps identify egregious or erroneous rules quickly across multiple platforms
    • FireMon took our audit process from an Excel spreadsheet into a far more advanced process with readily available context for reviewers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots