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Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
9th
Ranking in WAN Edge
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (23rd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (19th), IoT Security (6th)
SteelConnect EX Enterprise ...
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
24th
Ranking in WAN Edge
21st
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is 2.7%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall2.7%
SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN1.1%
Other96.2%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Jennifer  Bernice - PeerSpot reviewer
Dotnet Developer at Kohl's
Centralized firewall management has saved time and improved network security across locations
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall could be improved as it has a very high learning curve. It is definitely not a one and done firewall, as a one and done firewall requires a lot of dedicated time to get the machine running the way you want. To improve Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, there should be a lot of tutorials and videos online to help new users. Multiple ways to configure for the same service or feature takes time to determine your customized build. In addition to previous points, the interface can sometimes be clunky when trying to determine how it is organized or arranged.
Jason Best - PeerSpot reviewer
Data center network architect at Cloudwire
Analytics feature is very granular and comprehensive, although complicated to use
It's like an SD-WAN project basically. You really need to make sure that the product matches the needs of what the customer's trying to achieve and their overall strategy to meet their core business requirements. I think a certain customer made a mistake in choosing this solution because a large part of their network was Cisco and they had firewalls that were from Fortinet. I think they would have been better off and it would have been better from a CAPEX, OPEX point of view. It would've been more advantageous for them to have maybe chosen a Cisco or Fortinet solution based on their existing environment. Make sure you understand your network correctly before you try to implement any SD-WAN solution. That was one of the good lessons I learned about SD-WANs with this specific product. I wouldn't say it was a fault of the product. I would say it's more a fault of the CTO who tries to do things quickly without taking into account the existing environment or give the internal faculties the time to provide real low-level design implementation. It was more of a management mistake than from their technical team. In the next release, I would like to see things like integrated security but with local internet breakout instead of using third party solutions like NetScaler or Palo Alto. I would also like to see the integration of things like a VPN so that if you have remote sites where you might have remote workers that need to access the site from home or something, there's a VPN solution. Those are two key features and hotspots in the sort of global crisis. I would rate Riverbed a seven out of ten. I could never give any solution a 10 cause they all have good and bad points. To get any solution to a ten is pretty much impossible. If I was to rate it against others like Fortinet, I would probably give Fortinet an eight or nine. Again, I think you have to be careful because it's very subjective. I think it really depends on the type of environment, the type of customer you're deploying the SD-WAN solution for, and from which perspective you're looking at like if you an operator, if you're a large enterprise, if you're looking for a plug and play type solution. If you're looking for more of a security solution, I would go for Fortinet. It's kind of tough to say. I'd probably put the clouds a little bit ahead of the game because it does what it's supposed to do and easily. It's a little more of a plug and play type solution. Fortinet, for example, is more complex. I put it in a close second place, it's better from a security perspective. It has integration with FortiGuard. After that, I would put Riverbed in third place.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Inbound and outbound traffic analysis, rule creation wizard, and the GUI portal are among the key features."
"Inbound and outbound traffic analysis, rule creation wizard, and the GUI portal are among the key features."
"Easy integration with some other systems like LDAP or Active Directory to manage other permissions and the division of external access and internal access."
"Scalability is always good because the company wants to be able to handle large customers."
"Their GPS possibilities and the security that it has, especially the SD-WAN functionality, is very good."
"What I like best about this product are the support and the features."
"Add-on features such as Virus Scanning, ATP, and web filtering add another level of protection and block malware before it gets to the end user."
"The most valuable features of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall include antivirus protection, anti-DDoS, and IPS."
"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use. If you're really interested in knowing what's happening on your network, it's a very good solution. That was the .NET Profiler part of the solution."
"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use."
 

Cons

"However we found the product a little harder to configure than others, and so it´s not a product for unskilled/inexperienced administrators."
"The administration UI could be better. It should also have better application detection policies."
"The price could be better."
"The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others. It is a bit complicated and could be improved."
"The interface of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is not as user-friendly as others."
"The price is a bit higher than other vendors."
"The management program is something that only certain people understand."
"We are, however, not completely satisfied with their link redundancy handling capabilities."
"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routine perspective, things like RSPs line support. It was supportive but not really supportive."
"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routing perspective, things like RSPs line support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a product with a very transparent model of licensing. In the sense of hidden expenses, they do not exist with this model. ​"
"The platform is inexpensive compared to other vendors."
"We pay around 150 to 200 Euros per year and there are no additional costs."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. There is an upfront purchase price, and there is also an annual maintenance fee. There are no additional fees."
"It would be nice if the pricing and licensing offered for less."
"Purchasing through AWS Marketplace was good. We did it because it was easy."
"Pricing and licensing are fine. It's worth the value because every four years, if I buy any other product, I have to replace my hardware. But with Barracuda I get a free hardware upgrade. Today I'm using Xbox. After four years I can take another Xbox or a Ybox."
"In general, it tends to be cheaper than most solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
My experience with pricing is that while the licensing cost can be reduced and is somewhat costly, the price is good and affordable.
What needs improvement with Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
There is room for improvement in terms of response time and first-level support quality. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall needs to learn from FortiManager and Palo Alto, as I see that they have automati...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall?
My main use case for Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is that we purchased it to replace our current Cisco firewall tool. We have always suffered issues trying to manage the Cisco firewall, which is the...
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Also Known As

Barracuda NextGen Firewall, Barracuda CloudGen Firewalls
SteelConnect, Riverbed SteelConnect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ARZ, Bauer, CBCX Technologies, Diamant-groep, Eissmann Group Automotive, European Youth Olympics, Exalo Drilling, FineLine Technologies, Geocell, Grimaldi, Infront Sports & Media, Odlo, Schenker Deutschland AG, Tilak, Verbandsgeneinde Zell, Conservas El Cidacos S.A., Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medicine Management, Erwin Muller GmbH, Info-Tech: NGF is Champion, Schoellerbank, IZB Informatik-Zentrum, RHI AG, Berglandmilch, Antenne Bayern, Sanochemia
Roxtec, Software Solutions Company, Rignet
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.