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7,117 views|1,358 comparisons
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2,140 views|1,333 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jul 18, 2022

We performed a comparison between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Cisco ACI users feel deployment can be simple for those knowledgeable about the Cisco ecosystem; otherwise it can be a bit complex. VMware NSX users tell us the deployment is easy and straightforward.
  • Features: The value-added features of Cisco ACI are the excellent throughput and SDN capabilities - everything is automatically blocked until users allow it. The solution offers a global configuration; change one interface and the change will be reflected in every switch. Cisco ACI integrates well with VMware. Users would like to see online training and a next-generation firewall included.

    VMware NSX users tell us the solution is extremely intuitive, highly functioning, and provides great technology. The distributed firewall is a big favorite among users. Users would like to see better integrations with other open-source products and Windows-based solutions.
  • Pricing: Users feel that both solutions are very expensive.
  • Service and Support: Cisco ACI users are, for the most part, satisfied with the level of service they receive. Vmware NSX users relate that the service and support are lacking and improvement is needed.

Comparison Results: Cisco ACI is a solid, robust solution but can be complex to understand and manage for users not familiar with the Cisco ecosystem. VMware is considered a solution that is easy to learn and manage and offers great security with a distributed firewall. This added security and micro-segmentation make VMware NSX a trusted, complete value-added solution.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco ACI vs. VMware NSX Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The integration with vCenter means that when I create something on the network, it only has to happen one time instead of many times for our many virtual hosts.""In legacy networks, managing changes requires individual tickets for each device. ACI's single pane of glass management through APIC is a big advantage. So, single-tenant management is a plus.""The most valuable features are the automation with the different systems for the software development and the ability to provision switches in hours rather than days.""The best part of Cisco ACI is the server deployment and integration.""We are doing automation from ACI and we have integration with Azure. With the Azure stack integration we can have total automation. We can configure the EPGs from there, and we can configure load balancing functionalities from there as well. The most useful feature is that you don't need to configure anything on ACI itself. You can configure on Azure and it will provision your application.""This solution allows you to do everything quicker and more efficiently.""It scales very well. When you increasingly scale with it, it makes the product easier to work with.""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."

More Cisco ACI Pros →

"This is a good firewall and overall it is rich in features.""The solution's customer service is good.""The solution is robust as it covers everything we want to do and is stable, so we're happy enough with it. We have had no problems so far. Everything is great.""The most valuable feature is the integration with the firewall.""It gives more security and micro-segmentation. It helps to set network configurations in an easy way.""I have found the system to be very intuitive, functional, and they have great technology.""It's very important for them to have small footprints and have as much services in their servers, as possible.""The installation is straightforward, it took a couple of hours."

More VMware NSX Pros →

Cons
"Better troubleshooting features would be helpful. In ACI, it can be a big mess, a real headache to troubleshoot a single issue... The troubleshooting part, and the information that ACI gives you, sometimes don't give you a proper, inside picture of what's going on within the fabric.""Its graphical user interface (GUI) is not as user-friendly as it could be.""I would like them to simplify the way you configure the Fabric. The process is quite complex. This can be a barrier to entry. For anything, where it should take two or three steps, you have ten steps""Cisco SDN will only work with its own devices, so that's a downside.""ACI's blade servers could be more flexible, and its storage interface is a little too complex because they use some third-party storage solution.""An area for improvement in Cisco ACI is security, which Cisco needs to enhance in the solution. Though Cisco ACI uses a whitelist model, you must purchase an external product, such as a security firewall solution, to make whitelisting work, which the customer could find expensive. For example, you're a customer who has Cisco ACI, and the solution doesn't have IP-based filtering, so as a customer, you've purchased Cisco ACI. However, you still need to buy another product for security, and some customers wouldn't like that. However, some customers prefer to go with Cisco ACI because of its scalability and flexibility versus other solutions such as Juniper and Aruba. Technical support for Cisco ACI also needs improvement, particularly in product knowledge.""The first setup was difficult because it is a very different discipline than other traditional network deployments. The terminology is very different, so the first time can be difficult.""Technical support needs to be more helpful. It's rare that you get a knowledgeable person."

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"Since most people are very much used to physical networking, they find it difficult to use VMware NSX in the initial stage.""I would rate NSX's stability eight out of ten - there's room for improvement.""We had some complexities implementing into the other parts of a network.""They have to work more and more on the integration for public cloud services and have cyber security platform integration.""In the future, the solution should be compliant with internet NIC.""The solution can improve by making it more straightforward, easier to install and maintain in the environment.""I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow.""They need to enhance their technical support."

More VMware NSX Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is pretty good for new technology."
  • "It saves time and resources."
  • "The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."
  • "We have seen time improvement using the product."
  • "The thing that I like the most from Cisco is the support and all the documentation that they have. We do have to pay for it though."
  • "We bought a package for hardware, software, and support. At that time, Cisco was simply selling that package to distributors, then we opted for it directly."
  • "We used Cisco Professional Services for the deployment. They were outstanding, but very expensive."
  • "Price is always an issue."
  • More Cisco ACI Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing and licensing could be improved as we are a government entity. Lower pricing could always help."
  • "We haven't had to hire a dedicated network engineer because NSX handles 90 percent of it. The reduced overhead in terms of managing networks has been the biggest plus."
  • "We have saved man-hours and decreased our security exposure."
  • "We can't go without NSX, so it's invaluable from this perspective."
  • "The solution is very expensive."
  • "The licensing fees are expensive and we pay on a yearly basis."
  • "It is an expensive product, but cheaper than some competing solutions."
  • "The price of this product is too high."
  • More VMware NSX Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    MohammedBenamer
    Saurabh Bhattacharya - PeerSpot reviewerSaurabh Bhattacharya
    Real User

    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 where APIC software runs.


    -VMware NSX doesn't have any physical network gear of its own, VMware NSX software runs on ESXi hosts(Any Vendor) & even NSX Bare Metal Edge runs on any Vendor hardware(check compatibility)

    -Cisco ACI offers both Underlay & Overlay functionality


    -VMware NSX is a software and it builds an Overlay tunnel for (VM/Container) communication on top of an already established IP network which can be build on hardware network gear (Cisco Legacy/ACI/Juniper etc.)



    -Cisco ACI: To use micro-segmentation on a VM or Container level you will need some other Cisco products


    -VMware NSX: Micro-segmentation can be done Out of the Box because DFW Distributed Firewall are applied on the vnic of a VM i.e. on the ESXi kernel.



    Being different in many manners but they still define the SDN realm with L2-L7 Network services and what you choose over the other may depend on many other factors like what network gear you already have or if its Green or Brownfield deployment. For example if your infra already have something other than Cisco 9K switches and is well configured then it will make more sense to use NSX to make use of all the SDN functionalities. This is just an example not a recommendation.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: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 where… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer: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.
    Top Answer:The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
    Top Answer:The product pricing ranges from medium to expensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
    Top Answer:The network-extending capabilities for the physical environment need improvement. Instead of virtualization, the ability to add physical servers to the network could be enhanced.
    Ranking
    1st
    Views
    7,117
    Comparisons
    1,358
    Reviews
    19
    Average Words per Review
    444
    Rating
    8.4
    2nd
    Views
    2,140
    Comparisons
    1,333
    Reviews
    34
    Average Words per Review
    416
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    VMware Nicira
    Learn More
    Overview
    Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI) reduces TCO, automates IT tasks, and accelerates data center application deployments. It accomplishes this using a business-relevant Software Defined Networking (SDN) policy model across networks, servers, storage, security, and services.

    VMware NSX is a full-stack network and security virtualization platform that enables the virtual cloud network. NSX provides a software-defined process for networking that expands throughout cloud frameworks, data centers, and application structures. Users can join and secure applications within their container and multi-cloud infrastructure and their data center. With robust automated provisioning, the platform offers dynamic flexibility and scalability without compromising on network speed or agility.

    VMware NSX recreates the whole software network model so that users can create and deliver apps quickly and securely. Users can customize security policies and leverage IDS/IPS to block against lateral threats. These security policies can be managed throughout private and public clouds from one pane of glass, no matter where your applications run. By consolidating networking and security tasks into a unified platform, users can save up to one-third of their budget.

    VMware NSX Use Cases

    VMware NSX brings the operational model of a virtual machine to users’ data center networks and revolutionizes the foundations of network and security operations. There are a number of use cases, including:

    • Containers - Similar to VMs, users can offer unified, full-stack networking and security for microservices and containerized apps. This includes the ability to micro-segment, use container networking for Kubernetes, and offers complete visibility for microservices.
    • App Delivery - Users can deliver infrastructure as code while also accelerating app delivery with blueprints that can automate the management of security and networking resources.
    • Security - With zero-trust security in public and private cloud environments, users can reduce attacks, lock down critical apps, and design a logical DMZ in software.
    • Load Balancing - Users can update their data centers from legacy load balancers to software load balancers and SDN automation, creating savings of over 50%.
    • Multi-Cloud - Expand networking across clouds and streamline multi-cloud operations with multi-cloud use cases, including rapid workload mobility, seamless data center extension, and multi-DC pooling.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Through a policy-driven approach, VMware NSX provides VMware technologies to assist with network and security visualization in a unified solution. Users particularly like the distributed firewall and the management dashboard.

    Kolawole O., a systems engineer at a tech services company, writes, "NSX's stand-out function is the distributed firewall. The firewall system is just top-notch, and I haven't seen another solution like it."

    A head of business development and partners management at a comms service provider notes, "I really like the management dashboard, the tailor-made assurance, the telemetry, and the ease of integration with all other solutions of VMware, such as vSphere."

    Sample Customers
    Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider20%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Retailer10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise70%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise65%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco ACI vs. VMware NSX
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco ACI is ranked 1st in Network Virtualization with 96 reviews while VMware NSX is ranked 2nd in Network Virtualization with 93 reviews. Cisco ACI is rated 8.0, while VMware NSX is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Cisco ACI writes "Stable, easy to extend, scalable, and has a host-based routing feature". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware NSX writes "Works well and allows us to do micro-segmentation and create policy rules". Cisco ACI is most compared with Cisco Secure Workload, Nuage Networks, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Juniper Contrail Networking and Cumulus Networks, whereas VMware NSX is most compared with Nutanix Flow Network Security, Illumio, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Cisco Secure Workload and Cisco DNA Center. See our Cisco ACI vs. VMware NSX report.

    See our list of best Network Virtualization vendors and best Cloud and Data Center Security vendors.

    We monitor all Network Virtualization reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.