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F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs. SonicWall NSA Series

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AF5 Networks offers the F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager, a firewall software combining a number of features including DDoS, DNS security, and other protections.N/A

    SonicWall NSA Series

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AThe SonicWall NSA Series is the company's mid-range next generation firewall (NGFW).N/A
    Pricing
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Considered Both Products
    F5
    No answer on this topic
    SonicWall
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) and SonicWall NSA Series
    Feature
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    8.6
    2 Ratings
    0% below category average
    SonicWall NSA Series
    8.3
    5 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Identification Technologies8.02 Ratings8.85 Ratings
    Visualization Tools7.02 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Content Inspection9.02 Ratings5.04 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls8.02 Ratings9.95 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP10.01 Ratings6.94 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console7.02 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging8.02 Ratings8.95 Ratings
    VPN10.01 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    High Availability9.02 Ratings9.95 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection9.02 Ratings7.04 Ratings
    Proxy Server10.01 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    pfSense
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)SonicWall NSA Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    F5
    We were able to eliminate a firewall from our network architecture by integrating the module into our existing F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM). This allowed us to save on tech refresh costs, since the F5 was able to handle the module without much additional strain on the device. However, if a firewall had features that the AFM lacked, then using that firewall in tandem with an F5 would be preferable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SonicWall
    This is a higher-end firewall, built for a medium to large business. It handles traffic and scanning and protection well but it would be a bit of a budget-buster and probably overkill for a small to (barely) medium sized business. SonicWall makes SoHo devices for those use cases and they would be more appropriate.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    F5
    • Load balancing using pools
    • SSL offloading
    • iRules for threat handling
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SonicWall
    • Relatively inexpensive compared to some of the higher-end products, like Palo Alto Networks.
    • Easy to set up, as the SonicWall NSA interface is consistent across all models.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    F5
    • If unsure, can be overly cautious.
    • There are few changes the end user can make.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SonicWall
    • Ideal with smaller businesses. Would have to examine for more complex needs of larger businesses.
    • Scalability might be an issue for super large organizations.
    Read full review
    Usability
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    SonicWall
    There is room for improvement when it comes to learning the UI, but the UI is overall pretty good. It doesn't take long to learn if you are famaliar with firewalls.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    F5
    F5 Advanced Firewall Manager has been a solid, strong solution to both keep our systems safe and being seamless for our end users. Most of the time, the end-user is not impacted and does not even know F5 Advanced Firewall Manager is running which is exactly what we are looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SonicWall
    Most of the time, calling SonicWall NSA Support, you get an expert who can help resolve your issues. RMAs are pretty easy once they determine there is an issue with the hardware. Support is available 24x7, which makes emergency calls easy. The only downside is the support engineers may have thick accents; however, their expertise more than makes up for any language barriers.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    F5
    Both F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] and Radware require training as they are not easy to use. But Radware uses some configuration that needs deep learning and proper labs. From an admin's perspective, Configuration and management for F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager are] less. Also, the cost of implementing F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] is lesser than that of Radware Alteon.
    Incentivized
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    SonicWall
    We compared the FortiGate to Sonicwall and continued with Sonicwall as we were a mid-size school where the Sonicwall was performing adequately, and the learning curve was steep to switch platforms. The Sonicwall offered everything the FortiGate did, and was not as costly, both in the appliance and in licensing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    F5
    • When we had to decide on whether to buy different hardware our team were all in support of renewal for F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager]
    • F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] requires proper training on tools and clear concepts of packets, headers, and content to create WAF policies
    • Overall, we are satisfied by the ROI provided by our F5 AFM and GTMs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SonicWall
    • Was affordable, allowing for advanced routing and security.
    • Enabled us to build VPNs without purchasing additional services
    • Was simple enough to manage in house without external support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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