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Cisco ACI vs Symantec Data Center Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 14, 2024

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

Cisco ACI
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (1st), Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd)
Symantec Data Center Security
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 5.5%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Data Center Security is 1.5%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

Rahul Khandelwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables streamlined data center management with automation and application-centric design
The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application. That's helpful, and it's good for one-time implementation. The automation capabilities are really helpful. We deployed one data center using Terraform, and after deployment, many automation features are available, which can be very helpful. Based on my experience, Cisco ACI provides substantial capability; you can design your network accordingly and it's part of the SDN family, providing many benefits to the organization, especially when moving from traditional network infrastructure. Many organizations are actually using the old traditional Nexus infrastructure or some old data center devices. It gives you significant control and one-time implementation capabilities, and it also provides better performance and security. Functionality-wise, Cisco ACI provides integration using automation. We implemented it through Terraform, which was easy. Those features are available, so I don't think any new features are needed right now; something new could come up, but they have implemented many improvements over the years.
Shahram Dehghani - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for data centers, offering agentless security, powerful intrusion prevention, and a wide range of security features
The primary focus of data center security often revolves around serving customers who offer services to other clients within the data center. For example, if I operate a data center and provide security services, third-party customers might purchase virtual machine products within my data center. These products are automatically deployed, and we safeguard these virtual machines using intrusion prevention system features. This aspect is considered the most valuable part because when we set up these security policies, it's as if we're fortifying the entire infrastructure. It's not just about having good technical support; it's about having a robust IPS and comprehensive DOS prevention system on those operating systems. The advantage of Data Center Security is its ease of use and that it serves as a single unified platform, where I can apply all my security policies to protect that server.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In a very general way, the ease of access, ease of use, and ease of connecting the system is a valuable feature in itself. The solution doesn't really increase detection rates as that is not what it was created for. Threat prevention comes in from other devices that might be connected into the Cisco ACI that monitors external traffic. It maintains what end-of-life products would be doing and offers other opportunities to unify solutions."
"This solution allows you to do everything quicker and more efficiently."
"Cisco ACI can separate networks with a buoy interface. That is the most valuable feature."
"PBR has been beneficial for network efficiency."
"We get a full holistic view of the ecosystem."
"We had different networks and combined them with ACI so we could have the control of one controller-based network. Also, everything is combined now."
"It is easy to use because you have all the information coming from the same technology."
"Because of its automation feature, when you configure scripts for Cisco ACI, it reduces human error."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized console, which can handle different products that we have."
"The most valuable feature is the endpoint protection system."
"The ability to finely control permissions and restrictions on servers or assets through a customizable rule set is a key strength."
"The monitoring in the management console allows us to find out what is going wrong, and it gets reports even before the user reports it."
"The advantage of Data Center Security is its ease of use and that it serves as a single unified platform, where I can apply all my security policies to protect that server."
"We use the product to prevent unauthorized access to data, systems, and servers. It provides essential features for data center security."
"Good file integrity monitoring features."
"The granularity of applying the policies is valuable."
 

Cons

"It would be great if ACI would include the next generation firewall feature."
"If I lose the connection from one side to the core, I can't use the other side to go to the core. I hope in the future, this will be fixed."
"Its scalability and reliability capabilities should be enhanced."
"We had issues in the first deployment when we tried to finish the migration from traditional networking to Cisco ACI."
"I would like to see more troubleshooting apps."
"It would be nice if I could specify network-centric in my design, and the system would organize and set itself up in that way."
"In the new version of 4.0, the management groups for updating the software is not the best way to do it. It was better in 3.2."
"We would like to have faster services and problem monitoring for our customers."
"There is plenty of room for improvement with this product, and it could start with platform metrics."
"The support is very bad. They're not fast at all. Trend Micro's support is much better."
"A user or administrator making the policy in the DCS should have a very thorough knowledge of the operating system or policy making. You have to be very specific about the data structure."
"Adding more compatibility with common products like Microsoft would be a plus."
"It would be advantageous if Symantec or Broadcom, given the rebranding, could simplify the process, enabling users to leverage the antivirus functionality more easily."
"This solution clashes with Microsoft defender, which results in performance degradation on the machine."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing its graphical user interface for a more user-friendly experience."
"The product blocks certain processes, even after allowlisting them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We used Cisco Professional Services for the deployment. They were outstanding, but very expensive."
"It's expensive but the product is very good. I have never found another partner like Cisco with a solution like this and with great support."
"We don't use all of the features but it's still worth the money."
"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."
"This is an expensive solution."
"A big company can automate it themselves or spend a lot of money and buy it."
"The cost is fine."
"The pricing, including both hardware and licenses, is reasonable."
"The product is a bit costly."
"Compared to some other solutions, such as CrowdStrike, Symantec is more expensive."
"It is notably more expensive when compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 Cisco ACI?
The flexibility of adding new components with minimal impact on existing services running in the data center is a key benefit of this ACI-based solution.
What do you like most about Symantec Data Center Security?
The granularity of applying the policies is valuable.
What needs improvement with Symantec Data Center Security?
Agent management is a challenging task. We cannot do it from the console. We will have to use other tools.
What is your primary use case for Symantec Data Center Security?
One key use case for data center security is protecting files within the data center. This is especially important for Linux systems, where locking down specific files is essential to prevent unaut...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. Symantec Data Center Security and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.