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Steelhead Reviews

Vendor: Riverbed
4.2 out of 5
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463 followers
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Helped 857,028 peers since 2012

Featured Steelhead reviews

Steelhead mindshare

Product category:
As of June 2025, the mindshare of Steelhead in the WAN Optimization category stands at 13.7%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Optimization

PeerResearch reports based on Steelhead reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryWAN OptimizationJun 16, 2025Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersJun 16, 2025Download
ComparisonSteelhead vs Cato SASE Cloud PlatformJun 16, 2025Download
ComparisonSteelhead vs Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN PlatformJun 16, 2025Download
ComparisonSteelhead vs ExindaJun 16, 2025Download
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Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Room for Improvement

ROI

Pricing

Popular Use Cases

Service and Support

Deployment

Scalability

Stability

Review data by company size

By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
University
6%
Legal Firm
5%
Comms Service Provider
4%
Media Company
3%
Educational Organization
3%
Healthcare Company
3%
Wholesaler/Distributor
3%
Construction Company
3%
Logistics Company
2%
Retailer
2%
Outsourcing Company
1%
Non Profit
1%
Insurance Company
1%
Consumer Goods Company
1%
Performing Arts
1%
Leisure / Travel Company
1%
Hospitality Company
1%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
1%
Wellness & Fitness Company
1%

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Steelhead reviews

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Raj Metkar - PeerSpot user
Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA
Verified user of Steelhead
Nov 26, 2024
Auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency & bandwidth saving, best layer 7 QoS shaping policy can be achieved with ease

Pros

"There are several features specific to branches, like keeping data hot and active on Steelhead devices. These features prevent unnecessary data travel across the international LAN. "

Cons

"There was a significant challenge when moving from an older version to a newer one due to changed quality of service policies."
JaimeVasquez - PeerSpot user
Commercial Manager at IT-Experience
Verified user of Steelhead
Mar 5, 2025
Optimizing network efficiency with innovative data transfer solutions

Pros

"Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data."

Cons

"Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country. On a scale of one to ten for expense, it would be rated an eight."
Find out what your peers are saying about Steelhead. Updated May 2025
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chaudhary Muhammad Moez Manzar - PeerSpot user
Senior Network Engineer at Arwen Tech
Verified user of Steelhead
Nov 24, 2023
Exceptionally stable and reliable but costly

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Steelhead is its optimization capabilities. "

Cons

"One area for improvement is related to monitoring and visibility. "
PeerSpot user
Network Support Engineer at Nigeria LNG Limited
Verified user of Steelhead
May 3, 2024
Helps to optimize traffic and useful for cloud migration optimization

Pros

"One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users. "

Cons

"The product needs improvement in its integration with SDN. "
MK
Datacenter & Infrastructure Senior Engineer at BMB
Verified user of Steelhead
Mar 17, 2023
The core features work great, but it requires some complex configuration to handle encrypted traffic

Pros

"Steelhead is stable, and it can even help you avoid service interruption in the event of a power outage. If your hardware fails, technical support will replace your device quickly. "

Cons

"Steelhead's handling of encrypted traffic could be improved because it requires some complex configuration to optimize encrypted traffic, especially when working with Microsoft protocols for mail servers and VPN services "
SS
Consultant at Edge Tech Providers
Verified user of Steelhead
Mar 13, 2023
Good tool for traffic optimization

Pros

"SteelHead works from the application. I use it to optimize traffic from Amazon. It is mainly used for customers who need to increase the traffic to 33K. For other users, it has been more of an operation."

Cons

"I would like to see improvement in the solution’s configuration and protocol aspects. We have got some configurations that are not set. I would also like to simplify the call detection of some protocols."
PeerSpot user
Network Support Engineer at Nigeria LNG Limited
Verified user of Steelhead
Aug 20, 2021
Easy to install, reliable, and offers responsive technical support

Pros

"It is very easy to install the solution. "

Cons

"The product should offer more integration capabilities. "
Djurre Woudstra - PeerSpot user
Senior Network Engineer at a legal firm with 201-500 employees
Verified user of Steelhead
Jan 27, 2021
Product version discussed: 9.10
User friendly, stable, and good exchange replication

Pros

"I find the most valuable to be the compression and exchange replication. "

Cons

"They should include a network switch in a future release."