Big Switch Networks vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE comparison

The compared Big Switch Networks and NETSCOUT solutions aren't in the same category. Big Switch Networks is ranked #9 in SDN , and holds a 4.1% mindshare in the category. NETSCOUT is ranked #19 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Big Switch Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of NETSCOUT users who would recommend it.

Big Switch Networks

Read 1 Big Switch Networks review

208 Views
157 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Read 49 NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reviews

2,483 Views
1,733 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Big Switch Networks

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Big Switch Networks and NETSCOUT nGeniusONE based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Aviatrix, TP-Link and others in Software Defined Networking (SDN).

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined Networking (SDN) Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

April 2025

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Helped 851,042 peers since 2012

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

Big Switch Networks

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Networking (SDN) (9th), Network Packet Broker (NPB) (5th)

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (19th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Big Switch Networks is designed for Software Defined Networking (SDN) and holds a mindshare of 4.1%, up 3.8% compared to last year.
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, on the other hand, focuses on Network Monitoring Software, holds 1.6% mindshare, up 1.6% since last year.

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Jason Best

Data center network architect at Cloudwire

A flexible solution that can be integrated with third-party solutions whilst maintaining its automated nature

I think if I was to say something that could be improved, it would be a multi-data center nature of the implementation. Meaning, having an active-active data center with multiple entrance-exit points. I think that feature could be improved to provide a kind of anycast gateway solution into the functionality that would make it a lot more flexible and versatile. Maybe also making the solution a bit more like the NSX-T from VMware, more on the logical part of the solution, like micro-segmentation and the ability to have a distributed firewall across the whole solution, to implement it in an easier way than they currently do with the security aspect of the solution.

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Ruslan Melnyk

Business Unit Manager at BAKOTECH

Useful for network performance monitoring

My manager can explain the use cases attached to the product. I am a unit leader in my company, and I don't sell the product directly to our partners or customers. In my company, I manage certain processes and a team while building, developing, and providing them with a direction for the market. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a good solution for network performance monitoring since it is not cloud-based. My company sells NETSCOUT nGeniusONE in eight to ten countries. I think the solution is not good for capacity planning, but it is better to help find problems in applications because not every infrastructure is good at managing working applications. I think it is a solution meant for applications. The tool is useful for solving problems attached to applications. The tool's real-time network monitoring capability was used when the product was more reactive. In our company, if we use real-time monitoring, then we need to deal with raw traffic. In our company, if we don't see any problem in the real-time systems, we have the possibility to rely on the tool since it acts like a time machine for us, which can allow us to get back to the areas of problem and solve them. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. For many users, it can be a good monitoring system that can be scaled up in the future. I think it is a good product to start with when working systems in an environment. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is another tool used to manage raw traffic, and I find it to integrate well into our customers' network. I am not using it actively on the system. I use the tool for network packet brokers. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I liked about the solution is the quick and easy way you can build a network data center fabric."

"From the standpoint of VoLTE and related things, it's providing visibility into the network and how it operates."

"Packet decode and bandwidth analysis reports are the two most valuable features."

"The packet capture is the most valuable feature for us. It gathers data from the device. In case somebody has a problem, I can go back X amount of time - days, hours - and get the data to do real troubleshooting."

"The ability of the dashboards is useful for discover, mapping and understanding of application behaviour."

"It catches bigger issues on a weekly basis. That's how often we find something big enough that the only reason we know about it is because of the nGeniusONE. The bigger issues are mostly security-type issues: Odd traffic leaving our network or coming into it, that has found its way past a firewall."

"The quick drill-down views are similar to Wireshark views. Those are quite nice, with the views on how you interpret some of the data. The granularity of how far you can drill down into milliseconds or microseconds is a very nice feature. It actually stores quite a lot of data in its database."

"Deep packet inspection is probably the strongest feature."

"Valuable features include data threat detection, network analytics, and overall bandwidth monitoring."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pros

Cons

"I think if I was to say something that could be improved, it would be a multi-data center nature of the implementation."

"Some of the filters could be easier to see and to set up. That's the only thing that I've ever had any trouble with."

"I would like to see improvement in the user experience. It's hard to manage it. We need a dedicated, highly-qualified person, compared to similar tools. Obviously, it's in a higher bracket, salary-wise. That's something the NETSCOUT team needs to focus on. It's a completely niche-skill technology, where we need to have the skills to manage, maintain, and deploy it."

"They can improve still on the workflows, document their workflows that are commonly used... We don't know some of the workflows yet, and it's not something that you can just read up in the manual. There is some stuff in the help manual and online, but it's to a point where you need to purchase extra training and services from them. You can't just go and read up on it yourself and learn from A to Z..."

"On a network the size of ours, the loading times seem a little extensive, 20 or 30 seconds to load up some graphs."

"The current solution is not easy to scale, because it is an appliance-based solution. So, you have to swap everything out."

"The single pane of glass view is a challenge. I like the graphics, they're easy to understand, but when more digging is required, it's more complicated to get what I'm expecting."

"I would love to have them reassemble fragmented packets. That would be a very big plus in my book."

"The technical support could improve a bit with quicker responses for early on questions. What I think are simple questions are taking a long time to get answers to."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost depends on the number of switches that are going to be licensed to run the software."

"It is a little overall pricey and expensive, but you get what you pay for."

"It is very expensive, but it's well worth the money."

"The product is too expensive compared to other products."

"Make sure you get the low down on your licensing and understand the licensing requirements before making a purchase, especially when it comes to an upgrade. Make sure that it suits your needs before you commit to it. For example, we purchased ATA at version 6.2.1. At that time, the licensing covered everything we need. NETSCOUT comes out with 6.2.2, stating that in order to upgrade, you had to purchase CyberStream licensing. Now that requires some additional funding from both a capital investment and a maintenance cost. That's something that should have been said, "Well, if you want these additional features, you will need to purchase these CyberStreams." Otherwise, we should be allowed to continue on the basic operations as it is now through the newer releases without being stuck."

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product may come across as a cheap tool for some, while it may seem costly for others."

"The biggest problem we have with this product is the expense."

"Like any company, we always want better pricing. The pricing is okay, but it's not a cheap solution. When you want to deploy it across an enterprise as large as ours, you go into seven figures. It's not a cheap solution to get out there."

"Their pricing is very competitive with other solutions... But what I like about NETSCOUT's licensing is that it's shared across all their platforms. They don't create a new licensing scheme for every one of their products. So for nGeniusONE, you buy a certain license level, and it works on all of their products."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

University

10%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

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Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.

See all answers

What do you like most about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

The pricing is a bit high yet not overly expensive. The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.

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Comparisons

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Compared 19% of the time

Ixia Network Packet Brokers vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 17% of the time

Niagara Packet Brokers vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 10% of the time

Pica8 vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 7% of the time

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Dynatrace vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 12% of the time

Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 10% of the time

ThousandEyes vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 8% of the time

Ixia Network Packet Brokers vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 5% of the time

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

April 2025

Download Big Switch Networks product report

Buyer's Guide

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

April 2025

Download NETSCOUT nGeniusONE product report

Also Known As

No data available

NETSCOUT nGenius, nGeniusONE

Overview

Big Switch Networks is at the forefront of the next-generation of networking technologies. By combining industry standard switch hardware (“white box / branded white box “brite box”) with intelligent SDN control software, the company is delivering next-generation data center networking fabrics for the world’s most advanced data centers looking to achieve unmatched degrees of network automation at cloud-competitive price points.

Big Switch Networks has two data center networking solutions: Big Cloud Fabric, a data center switching fabric for OpenStack clouds or VMware virtualization environments, and Big Monitoring Fabric, a network packet broker that enables pervasive security and security, monitoring data center traffic for inline or out-of-band deployments. Big Switch is taking three key technologies: vendor agnostic switch hardware, SDN control software, and core-and-pod data center designs –and leveraging them for use in next-generation data center switching and monitoring solutions designed for use in enterprises, cloud providers, and service providers.

All Big Switch solutions run on high-performance open networking switches from Accton or Dell Technologies and leverage centralized SDN controller software for fabric-wide control and management. Big Switch Networks has two solutions:

Big Switch Networks

The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software provides you with tools to monitor and display information about your network both historically and in real time. The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software allows you to understand your current network usage and to plan for future needs. It also allows you to proactively troubleshoot problem areas in your network.

NETSCOUT

Sample Customers

A10 Networks, Edge-Core Networks, Blue Coat Systems, BlueData, Broadcom Corporation, Canonical, Check Point Software Technologies, Citrix, Dell, FireEye, Garland, Hortonworks, Mirantis, Nexenta, Riverbed

Cerner Corporation

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

April 2025

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