F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs VNC Connect comparison

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access. 

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

• Ease of use
• Flexibility
• Ability to integrate with other systems
• Security features
• Granular access control
• Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

• Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
• Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
• Integration with third-party MFA solutions
• DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
• SAML 2.0 identity federation support
• Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
• SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
• AAA server authentication and high-availability
• Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
• BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
• Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Intuitive remote control
Use the mouse and keyboard (or touchscreen) in front of you as though they belong to the remote computer.

Send special keys and combinations such as Ctrl-Alt-Del, and copy and paste text in either direction. Type in confidence that characters will be interpreted correctly, whatever your platform, keyboard or input language.

Tried and tested performance
As the original inventors of VNC® technology, we know how to create a responsive screen sharing experience that's as good as being there.

Our patent-protected technology automatically optimizes to the speed of your network, and is especially effective in low-bandwidth and high-latency environments.

Cross-platform support
PC to PC and mobile to PC across Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, iOS and Android.

With an Enterprise subscription, you also get a key to install our VNC® 5.x software on a wide range of older and UNIX operating systems too, so your legacy hardware remains accessible.

Attended and unattended access
Connect whether remote computer owners are present or not.

Remotely access your own computers, monitor or patch equipment in the field, support customers or colleagues, and much more. Learn about the many ways our customers use VNC® Connect.

Direct and cloud connectivity
Our cloud service automatically brokers cloud connections between devices wherever they are.

So you don’t need to rely on a VPN, or conduct complex and insecure port-forwarding and firewall configuration.

With an Enterprise subscription, you can establish direct connections as well (or instead), perfect for locked down or offline network environments. For more information, start with our document cloud versus direct.

Pre-install or connect on demand
Add device access to your subscription, install VNC® Connect on every device you own or manage, and enable access by anyone at any time.

Alternatively, add instant support to your subscription and connect in seconds on demand, leaving no footprint. Or add both capabilities, and cover every remote access use case.

File transfer, printing and chat
During a session, you're not restricted to just interacting with the remote screen.

You can transfer files in either direction, print files directly to a printer where you are (rather than to a printer attached to the remote computer), and securely chat with other users connected at the same time as you.

Secure by design
VNC® Connect is built from the ground up with security in mind, to balance the control you need with the privacy that compliance requires.

Sessions are encrypted end-to-end using up to 256-bit AES encryption. Authentication is mandatory at the point of connection and never delegated to the cloud. Protect your computers with multi-factor authentication, single-sign on (SSO), granular access control and rich session permissions.

Multilingual support
VNC® Connect is available in French, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese as well as English, with more translations on the way.

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Online team management
Manage remote computers, the people you invite into your team to share remote access with, and their roles and permissions from one central location.

Remote deployment
With an Enterprise subscription, you can deploy VNC® Connect in bulk, offline or remotely using your standard enterprise tooling.

In addition, you can configure VNC® Connect remotely using policy, and lock it down to prevent change.

Virtual desktops under Linux
With an Enterprise subscription, you can create virtual desktops on Linux computers.

This might be useful to enable visual remote access to headless Linux systems, or provide separate workspaces for simultaneous users of a shared resource.