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Fortinet FortiDDoS vs VMware NSX comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Fortinet FortiDDoS
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (14th)
VMware NSX
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (5th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (7th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (8th), Network Automation (5th), Microsegmentation Software (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Fortinet FortiDDoS and VMware NSX aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiDDoS is designed for Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection and holds a mindshare of 2.1%, down 2.5% compared to last year.
VMware NSX, on the other hand, focuses on Network Virtualization, holds 27.3% mindshare, down 37.4% since last year.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiDDoS2.1%
Cloudflare11.2%
Imperva Application Security Platform7.4%
Other79.3%
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
Network Virtualization Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware NSX27.3%
Cisco ACI25.0%
Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization9.3%
Other38.400000000000006%
Network Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

MO
IT Analyst at Evapco, Inc.
Reliable protection and smooth setup enhance company security
Currently, I have two firewalls, with one located in Sorocaba, model 90D, and the other in São Paulo, model 30D. They are connected by VPN. I use the firewalls for VPN and final protection for my company, and my equipment is maintained by an internet company called Multiprox The equipment works…
Mahesh Bhadoriya - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at Allianz Cloud Private Limited
Micro segmentation has strengthened zero trust security and isolates production from test environments
The advantages of VMware NSX include its micro-segmentation for internal security at the firewall and VM levels, which is very powerful and helps us comply with complete Zero Trust security models. We are able to achieve this and configure network level virtualization with no dependency on VLANs. Micro-segmentation helps improve our security significantly. We are not totally dependent upon our physical upfront firewall, and it makes sense to configure everything using VMware NSX, leading to multiple improvements in our organization. We moved from traditional networking such as VLANs from the firewall and switches to VMware NSX segmentation. We achieve one firewall per VLAN and can stop lateral movement such as ransomware control. The Zero Trust model is the main functionality and architecture it offers, allowing application isolation, such as having a separate production and test environment. Consistent networking and security policies across different environments have a major and very positive impact on our business operations, allowing us to achieve the security posture we want with compliance and regulations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The equipment works very well, and I have not encountered any issues with it. It is a good solution for my company."
"I find this product the best on-premises (in-line) DDoS mitigation solution that suits my current and future requirements."
"This solution can protect Layer 3, Layer 4 and Layer 7 attacks of applications for us, and this is important."
"I find the interface easy to use."
"The product's initial setup phase was really easy."
"Among its key features: Detects and mitigates DDoS attacks at L3 to L7; negligible to zero false-positives; Generates and sends reports without the need for an expensive third-party solution."
"The protection resources and the support are valuable features of the solution."
"The solution is very user-friendly and very easy to use."
"The most valuable features for us at this early stage are the interface and the integration with existing VMware solutions."
"When you're talking about virtual networks, I think NSX is one of the greatest products and will soon be the leader in the market."
"The solution is very good at micro-segmentation."
"VMware NSX is a great product for network virtualization, and it's great for enhancing security at the virtual machine level."
"The solution is a very, very good product that is perfect for customers who have good technical support."
"VMware NSX's overlay network is its most valuable feature, as it aligns with any network philosophy and allows for efficient addressing mechanisms. Additionally, the ability to extend the on-premise network into the provider space is beneficial. There are many features provided."
"The most valuable features are stability and low cost."
"The most valuable features are security and dynamic routing."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is complex. It is always complex."
"I would like to see analytics, big data."
"I find that there have been issues in the past year with the solution hanging. It freezes often."
"There aren't really any aspects of the solution we are unhappy with. It's been a positive experience overall."
"All those thresholds that need to be configured should be included in the default so that user will not forget or misconfigure."
"The tool needs to focus more on the area of application traffic management, where it currently has some shortcomings."
"The challenge lies within the customer environment, particularly in Brazil, where companies have stringent security requirements for implementing solutions."
"The product’s pricing needs improvement."
"Since most people are very much used to physical networking, they find it difficult to use VMware NSX in the initial stage."
"Some disadvantages of VMware NSX include a price challenge due to the high licensing cost compared to competitors, and it may sometimes require a specific skill set."
"The price is rather high."
"There is room for improvement in VMware NSX's workload management, particularly in the orchestration layer and in managing workloads across multiple clouds."
"Their licensing model should make it easier to purchase licenses."
"One aspect that needs improvement is the need for further automation."
"The scalability is not perfect."
"I would rate NSX's stability eight out of ten - there's room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is reasonably priced."
"It's quite pricey."
"The product’s pricing needs improvement."
"Our customers have definitely complained about its cost. It's expensive. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of pricing where ten represents a high price. There are other products out there that are equally expensive."
"I'm unable to give information on the pricing or licensing cost of VMware NSX because I've never been someone who looks into the economic part of any security or virtualization solutions. That's handled by an entirely different team, and I don't even have the slightest idea about the costs associated with the solution, though I've heard pricing for VMware NSX is on the higher side."
"The pricing model for VMware NSX is good."
"If five is a good price and one is a high price, I would rate the price a one out of five."
"The solution is very expensive."
"I would rate the pricing of VMware NSX as seven out of ten"
"The price of VMware NSX is optimal. Additionally, the price of the solution can be negotiated with the vendor. Many areas of the solution can impact the cost, such as features, time for onboarding, and support needed."
"You can scale NSX if you have the resources, but it's usually expensive and complex to scale up."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise70
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiDDoS?
Fortinet FortiDDoS offers lower costs compared to other solutions. The licensing costs are annually renewed.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiDDoS?
There is a need for more features that protect personal information, especially given the PDP issue in Indonesia.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware NSX?
When measuring complexity and costs for our organization, we consider some parameters for effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness in reducing operational complexity, I measure it to be high on the...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet DDoS, FortiDDos
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Radware, Cloudflare, Imperva and others in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection. Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.