F5 BIG-IP software from Seattle-based F5 Networks is a load balancing and application protection solution suite available on cloud or via virtual editions, on a subscription or perpetual licensing basis.
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SonicWall VPN Clients
Score 8.6 out of 10
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The SonicWall VPN Clients present a number of options for secure private access to enterprise network assets.
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Pricing
F5 BIG-IP
SonicWall VPN Clients
Editions & Modules
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
F5 BIG-IP
SonicWall VPN Clients
Free Trial
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No
Free/Freemium Version
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No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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Community Pulse
F5 BIG-IP
SonicWall VPN Clients
Features
F5 BIG-IP
SonicWall VPN Clients
Virtual Private Network
Comparison of Virtual Private Network features of Product A and Product B
Definitely in larger environments, more mature organizations that obviously have the budget to spend and want best in class. Where it struggles is those organizations that don't have the funding and money to spend on it and need more basic functionality. So I'd say that's smaller customers we've worked with and kind of mid-market. They tend to get scared when they get the quotes. Also we've had some struggles with account team consistency. So for the sales team, just a lot of turnover and a lot of missteps on customer calls.
It is well suited in places or scenarios where a VPN client is needed to be used either by IT staff or other employees. SonicWall's VPN Clients are very similar to VPN clients of other companies. SonicWall VPN Clients are meant to be used with SonicWall firewalls.
The great thing is the IP address management that's happening. When you set up the network it's very easy and you don't have to keep on configuring everything together. Again, it's very streamlined and it's one of the biggest players there in the market for this work.
Well, not necessarily the features. I find that we have to change our processes in order to kind of match what F5 BIG-IP does. And it's not a bad thing, it's just that a lot of my engineers want to do it their way, not they F5 BIG-IP way.
It's not difficult to understand the parts of application configurations and features. Setting up new virtual servers with multiple profiles, certificates, and nodes is easy for new users through the web interface, which also translates to programability in scripts, DevOps, or other configuration management use-cases. Users from different backgrounds such as networking and infrastructure can use F5 BIG-IP, while users who are familiar with API calls can easily configure objects without needing to understand the platform at all.
SonicWall VPN Clients work for the most part. The Global VPN client has had its issues over the years. Also, NetExtender VPN client has had its share of issues. It is nice that SonicWall VPN Clients has updated the GUI of the NetExtender client within the last year, which has made it easier for our users to use.
On the occasions when we've had to engage f5 support, they have been great. They have always resolved our issues quickly and been easy to work with and professional. The reason I give them a 10 out of 10, however, is because when we've had issues that have crossed over between the f5 BIG-IP, our Cisco switches, and our Microsoft IIS server the f5 support representatives have been extremely knowledgeable about every product and device involved and have been able to troubleshoot end-to-end without having to engage other vendors.
Phone support has been very reliable and useful, but there have been times when better support documentation would have made that call unnecessary. I like to tackle problems internally if I can, as it tends to save time and usually money. The SonicWall VPN Clients system seems to be pretty locked down as far as being accessible to self-manage.
We started the process of vetting Norton VPN, but since it wasn't available from our preferred vendor, we ended up going with SonicWall VPN Clients by default.
I would say from a security perspective, because I manage security, availability is sort of the key area for us and making sure that is properly handled through BIG-IP, that is the biggest business success, I would say from the product perspective.
ROI is difficult to determine because of the minimal initial cost; that said, now that we've experienced the benefits of having secure VPN access, we couldn't imagine not having it.
Users have much greater flexibility now that specific legacy systems are accessible from places other than the office.
