

Steelhead and Check Point Cloud Firewall compete in network security. Steelhead focuses on WAN optimization while Check Point offers comprehensive cloud security, giving Check Point the advantage for organizations prioritizing cloud security measures.
Features: Steelhead is notable for WAN optimization, featuring data compression, TCP optimization, and protocol adaptability. It significantly reduces data and enhances bandwidth usage, especially for remote offices. Check Point Cloud Firewall excels in cloud security with advanced threat prevention, application control, and centralized management. It auto-scales with demand and integrates well with cloud environments.
Room for Improvement: Steelhead could improve scalability, simplify QoS configuration, and better handle encrypted traffic. Enhancements in monitoring, bug resolution, and SDN integration are also needed. Check Point Cloud Firewall struggles with its complex setup documentation and limited support. Users seek better guidance, licensing transparency, and integration improvements with cloud infrastructure.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Steelhead primarily suits on-premises deployment, well-received for its customer service, though improvements in local support are noted. Riverbed's support is efficient in WAN optimization scenarios. Check Point Cloud Firewall offers flexibility in hybrid and cloud environments, with proactive customer service, despite slower response times in complex deployments.
Pricing and ROI: Steelhead has a high initial cost, but offers significant ROI through bandwidth savings and improved performance. Despite steep license fees, its value is in reduced bandwidth expenses and enhanced user experiences. Check Point Cloud Firewall, though costly, is valued for its comprehensive security features and flexible licensing models like BYOL and PAYG. Both provide significant ROI, with Steelhead saving on bandwidth costs and Check Point offering broad security benefits.
The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.
Implementing CloudGuard has resulted in an excellent return on investment over one hundred percent ROI.
The unified policy is comprehensive and helps me to create firewall policies that are shared across all our facilities and plants.
Without Steelhead, we would have spent much more on bandwidth costs.
They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.
We had an endless loop of emails trying to fix this, and the suggestion was to reinstall the gateway and do it from scratch, which was not an option at that point because it would leave that specific location without access.
Available twenty-four by seven.
Steelhead's support is generally good for typical issues yet can be time-consuming during complex problem-solving across teams, particularly for Active Directory integration.
I have no issues with technical support from Riverbed.
Riverbed's customer service and technical support would be rated an eight.
It is capable of managing the increased load and performs well as our needs expand.
I can deploy it everywhere I need it.
We have transitioned from 1,000 to 500 users without any issue.
If a customer has 1 GB traffic, they will only be able to utilize 600 MB of traffic with Steelhead.
It allows us to maximize use from our MPLS providers by handling traffic efficiently across phased deployments.
I have not observed any downtime.
For instance, when we are working on a release and do an upgrade, we start experiencing unexpected issues.
The solution is stable.
It's quite stable and provides all necessary alerts if something is wrong.
For instance, even if there is a power failure, Riverbed still works.
Steelhead helps significantly with large data transfers.
Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.
Better documentation would be welcome.
The user interface could be more intuitive, and the initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a technical team.
Steelhead is very expensive, and the vendor should work on handling Oracle type of traffic better.
It would help if Riverbed could prevent such drastic impacts during updates.
It could still be useful in places with satellite communications, such as the south of Chile, or in the mining industry.
The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.
It is the highest in the market.
Buying the hardware initially is costly, but yearly maintenance and licenses are not as expensive.
Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country.
One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches.
Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.
Network Security provides us with unified security management across hybrid and cloud as well as on-prem.
Functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP, and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency.
My actual traffic is around 2 GB, but I purchased a link from the ISP for only around 700 to 800 MB. All the prices that need to be paid monthly to the ISP are saved, which is a significant saving for my company after using Riverbed.
Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) | 3.8% |
| Steelhead | 2.1% |
| Other | 94.1% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 68 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 41 |
| Large Enterprise | 78 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 5 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 14 |
Check Point Cloud Firewall delivers advanced threat prevention and administration ease with centralized management of hybrid clouds. It offers seamless cloud platform integration, maintaining consistent security policies and enhancing efficiency.
Check Point Cloud Firewall is designed for comprehensive cloud security, ensuring perimeter protection, traffic inspection, and threat prevention. It is often used for safeguarding workloads and applications in public cloud settings like AWS and Azure. The firewall effectively controls both east-west and north-south traffic and supports hybrid cloud setups. Utilizing features like VPN, IPS, and URL filtering, it secures environments across multiple platforms, helping manage compliance effectively while addressing latency, API integration, and onboarding challenges.
What are the key features?Check Point Cloud Firewall sees frequent use in sectors needing robust perimeter protection, such as finance and healthcare, where compliance is critical. Its capabilities suit businesses utilizing public cloud infrastructures, managing complex hybrid models, or requiring strong VPN services and traffic control.
Steelhead is designed to optimize WAN performance by reducing data load and enhancing network efficiency. It utilizes advanced data compression and caching techniques to improve speeds and manage bandwidth, crucial for cost reduction.
Steelhead offers enhancements in data throughput and network optimization with its ability to improve TCP and WAN efficiency. Organizations benefit from scalable data referencing and adaptive transfer schemes that simulate LAN-like speeds over WAN. Its monitoring features provide insights into network dynamics, although potential improvements are noted in areas like QoS configuration and handling encrypted traffic. Users also recognize challenges in upgrading, GUI design, and monitoring tools.
What are Steelhead's key features?Steelhead is widely used in industries like banking and distribution for optimizing traffic between data centers and ensuring efficient branch connectivity. It addresses latency problems, boosts application performance, and helps reduce data traffic. In environments with limited bandwidth, its features ensure critical data is prioritized, creating significant cost savings.
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