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Arista Networks Platform vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
Arista Networks Platform delivers good ROI, justifies higher costs with long-term savings, especially compared to Cisco and Juniper.
Sentiment score
6.8
VMware NSX enhances infrastructure efficiency, CAPEX savings, cybersecurity, and ROI, but initial costs and security effectiveness have mixed reviews.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Arista Networks Platform offers fast, proficient support, praised for direct engineer access and high customer satisfaction globally.
Sentiment score
6.6
VMware NSX customer service is praised for efficiency and expertise, but improvements in accessibility and responsiveness are desired.
They provide instant support and maintain commitments regarding replacement products.
According to my team’s feedback, we receive extended support from the Arista team.
They were always helpful.
The technical support from VMware NSX deserves a rating of seven out of ten.
Our technicians have a good support experience from the company.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Arista Networks Platform offers scalable, reliable networking for data centers, praised for network capacity, low latency, and intuitive management.
Sentiment score
7.7
VMware NSX is praised for its scalability, robust performance, and efficient network integration, despite some complexity in scaling.
Scalability is a key feature of Arista, owing to the possibilities to manage the entire data center network from a single console.
There is a high level of satisfaction with its ability to scale.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Arista Networks Platform is highly stable with minimal downtime, praised for reliability when following best practice configurations.
Sentiment score
8.1
VMware NSX is highly stable, with strong performance, scalability, and frequent updates addressing most bugs and integration concerns.
For stability, I would rate VMware NSX as a nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Arista Networks needs better documentation, integration, pricing, security, stability, management, community support, and network feature expansion.
VMware NSX faces challenges in costs, complexity, and user satisfaction, needing enhancements in automation, scalability, and security features.
Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements.
Arista Networks is currently less popular as they were initially more focused on data centers than campus networks.
The initial configuration and integration within our existing environment were not easy.
The licensing model is expensive and could be more flexible, especially after Broadcom bought VMware.
The pricing for the product is another area for improvement as I'm not satisfied nowadays.
 

Setup Cost

Arista Networks is costly, with high hardware and licensing expenses, especially compared to Huawei and NETGEAR, affecting affordability.
VMware NSX is viewed as costly, with complex licensing and high initial costs, particularly impacting smaller organizations.
Compared to Cisco, Arista routers are significantly cheaper.
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
The cost of VMware NSX is considered high.
VMware NSX is a little higher in price compared to the competition.
There is room for improvement in terms of pricing.
 

Valuable Features

Arista Networks Platform is praised for its reliability, scalability, Linux shell, efficient management, automation, and unmatched monitoring capabilities.
VMware NSX offers enhanced security, seamless management, and flexibility with automation, scalability, and integration for cloud and on-premises solutions.
Features include plug-and-play auto-discovery, allowing centralized configuration and management.
The most valuable features of Arista include low latency, scalability, and sustainability of the products.
You're building a scalable solution, a secure solution, and a stable end-to-end solution; these are the main measurable benefits VMware NSX provides to the users.
It's robust, stable, and easy to use.
The most powerful feature of VMware NSX is the micro-segmentation that allows us to separate the different protocols our application works with.
 

Categories and Ranking

Arista Networks Platform
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (11th), Data Center Networking (3rd)
VMware NSX
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (8th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (7th), Network Automation (5th), Microsegmentation Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Arista Networks Platform is designed for Ethernet Switches and holds a mindshare of 3.1%, down 4.2% compared to last year.
VMware NSX, on the other hand, focuses on Network Virtualization, holds 44.9% mindshare, down 45.9% since last year.
Ethernet Switches
Network Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

MarekSzafrański - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable for enterprise-sized companies
Speaking about whether the product enhanced our company's data center scalability, I would say that it was a solution that was used in a banking company, where it served as a replacement for Cisco. Though Arista Networks Platform is similar to Cisco IOS CLI, I feel that the former product offers better prices compared to the latter tool. Arista Networks Platform office is more efficient at a lower cost. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The tool is stable and cheaper than Cisco. I would say that Arista Networks Platform is 100 percent compatible with the existing infrastructure in my company. The impact of the tool's network telemetry on our company's troubleshooting practices was just good for the scope for which I need the product. I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
MagdyRaafat - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security and streamlined management drive efficient connectivity
Open source is a standard solution where you take a gray box or white box and put the software from your end. You can do programming with Ansible and make the network work in the software-defined mode, providing automation and management capabilities. I am currently working with VMware. It integrates easily with everything and can work with any system. When discussing micro-segmentation, it enhances security, providing more secure data in your data center while allowing for extra layers of security outside your data center. If you have an ACI, there is communication between locations, keeping your data secure in your data center and throughout the path it takes, such as to SD-WAN or the cloud. I work with cloud solutions including AWS, Azure, GCP, and private cloud. My overall rating for VMware NSX is 8.5 out of 10.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Arista Networks Platform?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?
Currently, Arista is too costly for its customers. Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements. However, we sometimes face challenges when integrating with proprietary protocols and solut...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
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 wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
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...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

7000 Series
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Internet Services
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Networks Platform vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: February 2023.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.