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Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Steelhead comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.6
Cloudflare WAF offers quick ROI, crucial protection for e-commerce, saves bandwidth, and balances cost with valuable free features.
Sentiment score
5.0
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN enhances performance and efficiency, offering varied ROI across different connectivity options despite higher costs.
Sentiment score
4.8
Steelhead optimized WAN usage, saving £50,000 in costs, improving bandwidth efficiency, and enhancing user experience without extra investments.
My experience with the pricing or licensing of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is that many features can be accessed for free, so the pricing is definitely reasonable.
Owner at Hga consulting
The SMB market is always price competitive. To penetrate the SMB market or middle segment, we definitely need to work on the pricing aspect.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Without Steelhead, we would have spent much more on bandwidth costs.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Cloudflare WAF support is mixed; responsive for some, but Indian customers face call availability and administrative issues.
Sentiment score
7.1
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform offers excellent technical support, praised for responsiveness and problem-solving despite minor regional support issues.
Sentiment score
7.0
Steelhead's customer service is efficient and knowledgeable, but local support and handling complex issues need improvement.
I would rate the technical support with Cloudflare as excellent every time I've had to contact them.
Owner at Hga consulting
The technical support of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between five and seven at maximum.
IT Manager at Amla Commerce
Aruba's technical support is very responsive.
Lead Regional Engineer at Weco Systems Group
Technical support from Aruba currently rates at nine on a scale from 1 to 10.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
I can harness the power of the teacher model without lowering my top and laser focus.
Director at Movate
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.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
I have no issues with technical support from Riverbed.
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Riverbed's customer service and technical support would be rated an eight.
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall offers impressive scalability and automated management, but additional features may incur costs for smaller organizations.
Sentiment score
7.2
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform offers scalable, seamless expansion and integration, efficiently supporting high traffic and numerous users.
Sentiment score
6.9
Feedback on Steelhead scaling varies, with easy deployment praised, but licensing and bandwidth limitations noted by some users.
The scalability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between 8 to 9, as it depends upon the use cases and what exactly the client needs.
IT Manager at Amla Commerce
If a customer has 1 GB traffic, they will only be able to utilize 600 MB of traffic with Steelhead.
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
It allows us to maximize use from our MPLS providers by handling traffic efficiently across phased deployments.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is praised for stability, high performance, effective protection, daily use, and minimal downtime.
Sentiment score
7.9
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is stable, reliable with minimal disruptions, high ratings, and effective technical support for issues.
Sentiment score
8.6
Steelhead offers reliable network optimization with stability, smooth upgrades, and effective technical support for seamless traffic flow and high availability.
The stability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall deserves a perfect 10 out of 10.
IT Manager at Amla Commerce
It is very stable, with no significant issues.
Lead Regional Engineer at Weco Systems Group
I have not observed any vulnerabilities in one year.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
It's quite stable and provides all necessary alerts if something is wrong.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
For instance, even if there is a power failure, Riverbed still works.
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Steelhead helps significantly with large data transfers.
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
 

Room For Improvement

Cloudflare WAF needs feature enhancements, better usability, improved support, advanced DDoS protection, and solutions for latency and alerts.
Enhance Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN with better documentation, security, vendor integration, training, cloud options, and competitive pricing for broader adoption.
Steelhead users desire improved traffic handling, integration, scalability, security features, intuitive setup, and comprehensive monitoring amid cost concerns.
The product can improve by having more multitenancy capability, which is currently not available.
Network Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
I think they're doing a good job with DNS and as support for any domains that I create or that my clients create, it's mandatory for me to ensure they have Cloudflare as their DNS provider.
Owner at Hga consulting
And maybe something similar to Pushpin that Fastly has, which is an option where you can push messages that then can be scaled globally over the network.
CTO at PlayNirvana
I would also like the management of EdgeConnect appliances to be incorporated into Aruba Central Cloud Central.
Lead Regional Engineer at Weco Systems Group
The security could also improve.
Director at Movate
In the Indian market, we need to design a solution with built-in security when considering areas of improvement for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Steelhead is very expensive, and the vendor should work on handling Oracle type of traffic better.
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
It would help if Riverbed could prevent such drastic impacts during updates.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
It could still be useful in places with satellite communications, such as the south of Chile, or in the mining industry.
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
 

Setup Cost

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall offers affordable, flexible pricing with no upfront costs, noted for competitiveness and included support services.
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform offers flexible pricing, negotiable discounts, but users desire improved licensing features and structures.
Steelhead is costly but valued for performance and support, with complex licensing and varied pricing by usage.
The licensing is not too expensive, however, it is also not cheap.
Lead Regional Engineer at Weco Systems Group
The pricing is on the higher side compared to the competition when discussing experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing of the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
It is an affordable product and yet still a bit expensive.
Director at Movate
Buying the hardware initially is costly, but yearly maintenance and licenses are not as expensive.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country.
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
 

Valuable Features

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall provides comprehensive security features, easy setup, scalability, and competitive pricing with praised performance and stability.
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform offers advanced routing, security, and management features, enhancing user experience with seamless integration and optimization.
Steelhead enhances WAN efficiency with data compression, TCP optimization, and caching, benefiting performance, bandwidth, and cloud migration cost savings.
The custom rules and the geo-redundant geographical rule feature, which allows me to implement geographical rules for customers, add significant value.
Network Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
The best features of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall are multiple, including the WAF, rate limiter, and bot attack protection.
IT Manager at Amla Commerce
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's advanced reporting and analytics tools add a layer that we're able to visualize and see before it actually hits the local firewall.
Owner at Hga consulting
Additionally, it integrates perfectly with Aruba ClearPass, offering a robust security solution, covering network admin, access control, authentication, and authorization.
Lead Regional Engineer at Weco Systems Group
The Zero-Touch Provisioning feature is one of the best features I have seen so far.
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Many features are valuable for automation, connectivity, and throughput.
Director at Movate
Functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP, and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency.
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
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.
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data.
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
 

Categories and Ranking

Cloudflare Web Application ...
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (7th)
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Pl...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (7th), WAN Edge (7th)
Steelhead
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (2nd), WAN Edge (10th)
 

Featured Reviews

DB
CTO at PlayNirvana
Advanced security reporting has protected high-traffic betting platforms from constant attacks
I don't see room for improvement to Cloudflare Web Application Firewall. One thing I don't know much about because we have a dedicated IT team for that, and I'm not involved with Cloudflare much anymore. But if I were to compare them to F5, I would like to see more features that F5 offers. F5 has an option to bring the whole infrastructure, the whole WAF and all their packages, Bot Management, and everything else on your infrastructure. You need to install certain services from their side, and then you can choose if you would like requests to hit your servers immediately or if requests need to be proxied through F5 backbone. That would be a nice addition because we have 90% of the traffic as legit traffic coming from whitelisted servers. If it comes from whitelisted servers, I don't need to go every request through the backbone; I could easily just IP whitelist everything. Then I could maybe have Bot Management on my infrastructure that drastically reduces the price of Cloudflare. I would like to see Push CDN more improved in the next release of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall. And maybe something similar to Pushpin that Fastly has, which is an option where you can push messages that then can be scaled globally over the network. From our perspective, if we have a listener that listens for stock updates, I would just need to have one processor that pushes those updates to the Cloudflare API, and then Cloudflare would broadcast that message to all listeners. Cloudflare will check the order of the message, and if you, as a customer, are not connected or have some kind of network issue, when you reconnect, you will receive the latest state and missing updates.
SatishKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Reliable features and exceptional tech support enhance user experience
The Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is a fantastic solution based on my experience. The Zero-Touch Provisioning feature is one of the best features I have seen so far. While there are some aspects that need improvement on the technical side, when comparing it with other products and solutions, it performs well but still has room for enhancement.
Chaudhary Muhammad Moez Manzar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reduces operational costs through bandwidth optimization but struggles with high traffic licensing and complex deployments
The logs in Steelhead are fantastic. There is a deep level of logs such as top 10 docker and top 50 docker. I can check from the top 50 docker which type of application is optimizing well and which type of traffic is not optimized. Steelhead provides logs and percentage levels, which is good. I can see any type of log report, report security, different types of report availability, but it is not customizable. Overall, this is a good feature. Steelhead provides real-time optimization with graphs and tables on real-time optimization, informing us packet by packet including port, source IP, destination IP, and destination port number. This reporting and real-time monitoring is fantastic, although I faced a problem in Oracle. Steelhead mainly saves the money that needs to be paid to ISPs. 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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Legal Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
I don't really use the rule-based logic feature or utilize the WAF's ability to scale as a cloud-based service. I don...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
I'm using Cloudflare Web Application Firewall on all my domains and any client domains I have; I set them up with a C...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak NX?
The pricing is on the higher side compared to the competition when discussing experience with pricing, setup cost, an...
What needs improvement with Silver Peak NX?
The room for improvement for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is pricing, as people are purchasing this product ...
What is your primary use case for Silver Peak NX?
A typical use case for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is high latency connectivity, which is why I or my clien...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitorin...
What do you like most about Riverbed Steelhead?
One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize ou...
What is your primary use case for Riverbed Steelhead?
I am currently working with Riverbed for replication between PR to DR for synchronization purposes, and for WAN optim...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare WAF
Silver Peak NX, Silver Peak VX, Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

crunchbase, udacity, marketo, okcupid, zendesk
Group Dekko, Kingston Technology, American Student Assistance, Ares Management, Charlotte Metro Credit Union, Colonial Savings, Community Bank, Denali Credit Union, Bed Bath & Beyond, Breweries of Cameroon, Carnival Australia, Coastal Beverages, Toshiba Electronics, Tru Blu Beverages, WAXIE Sanitary Supply, Charleston Area Medical Center, Community Health Plan, Healthcare Company, Mercy Health, Linklaters, Miles & Stockbridge, Thomson Snell & Passmore
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs. Steelhead and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
882,606 professionals have used our research since 2012.