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F5 BIG-IP vs. Microsoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    F5 BIG-IP

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AF5 BIG-IP software from Seattle-based F5 Networks is a load balancing and application protection solution suite available on cloud or via virtual editions, on a subscription or perpetual licensing basis.N/A

    Microsoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/AForefront is Microsoft's antivirus offering.N/A
    Pricing
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Considered Both Products
    F5
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    258 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    215 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    255 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    179 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    196 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Norton 360
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Malwarebytes
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    AVG AntiVirus Business Edition
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (265 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (140 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    8.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.7
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.2
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    F5 BIG-IPMicrosoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    F5
    LTM's scope of action goes beyond load balancing. Tools for control, governance, and application enhancement, as well as APIs like iRULE, are very important for day-to-day operations. Furthermore, the F5 BIG-IP WAF offers exceptional security. Advanced firewall and routing functionalities are helpful in more complex environments. O LTM possui um escopo de atuacao que vai alem do balanceamento. Ferramentas para controle, governanca e aprimoramento de aplicacoes e API como iRULE sao muito iportantes para o dia a dia a operacao. Alem disso o WAF do F5 BIG-IP tem uma qualidade de seguranca exceptional. As funcionalidades avancadas de firewall e roteamento ajudam em ambientes mais complexos. This review was originally written in Portuguese and has been translated into English using a third-party translation tool. While we strive for accuracy, some nuances or meanings may not be perfectly captured.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    In large deployments, I have found Microsoft Forefront to be very effective at combating the majority of threats faced by our users. It provides the base platform for catching threats that would otherwise threaten our users and their data. If you have an environment that is under constant malware threat, then a secondary program may be needed as required.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    F5
    • My company is kind of like it's a safe thing if you log in and you provide another second login to get the code to log in, confirm that it's a correct that you are logged into the account and it just provides more for the company
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • SCEP is a light weight client which is minimally impactful on the user end.
    • Forefront's management console provides excellent monitoring and reporting.
    • Setup and configuration is very easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    F5
    • I think a couple of challenges. One, I mean the cost, it's not an inexpensive product, but I think it's probably parity with value, maybe a little on the pricey side of things.
    • As far as features and what we'd like to see more cloud native type experiences like where NGINX and F5 kind of come together, we're moving more of the cloud just like everybody else, and it's a little clunky right now.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • Malware detection is not quite 100%. We have to use a secondary program occasionally.
    • On low ram and weak CPU systems scanning can freeze the machine.
    • The same reporting tools that are on the console version, aren't on the client.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    F5
    Stability of product and easy way to have account manager contact. F5 support team is also always available to help with major issues. Last year during the major OS upgrade F5 team and F5 leadership always shared clear information and F5 team was dedicated to help us to have it closed in record time
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    F5
    It is a good product to use but right now it is lacking the automation of certificates, management of iRules and automation of certain configuration. Also creating an APM policy from scratch with many APM agents take a long time due to slow load times of the GUI and the need to create everything from scratch every time. It's tough to reuse the configuration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    F5
    I've supported F5 for three different companies. Our F5 support has been very consistent, regardless who the customer is. F5 technicians are very experienced and provide good support, even when issues are more related to knowledge than they are with the ability of the product to do what you need it to do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    F5
    Practical cases and hands on , many hours of training with tipical cases
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    F5
    implementation is fine
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    F5
    We are recently not evaluating, but we have started the deployment for WAF and we're using GTM, LTM, you name it. F5, we are using all of them.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    The biggest advantage that MSF and SCEP provide over Norton is: One: Far less client overhead required. Both Norton and McAfee are highly intensive client side when in use. Two: We've had far better luck using the Microsoft system with its detection capabilities, versus the others. Three: It is tied right into the Microsoft updating system, which provides central updating capabilities of av/mal/windows updates.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    F5
    • The F5 BIG-IP has improved all our load balancing needs, we have over 400 LTM VIPs in our environment this all use to be done with DNS round Robin configurations.
    • we have created unique APM solutions to support our external customer base
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • Less turnaround on virus based issues.
    • Helps reduce malware issues over time.
    • Can breed overconfidence in the system, so people don't always try a second tool.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots