| Performance | Optimized virtual appliance with tightly integrated operating system and load balancing services gives best possible performance across hardware platforms. | Loose coupling between OS and load balancing application. Underlying OS needs to be optimized to get best performance from hardware. |
| Workloads Supported | Any workload that is currently supported by a commercial LoadMaster version. Supports Layer 4 to Layer 7. | Variable. Some load balancers only support HTTP/HTTPS workloads. |
| Security | Designed as a single secure appliance that implements security best practices by default. | Needs to be security hardened, which requires special skills and an intimate understanding of both OS and load balancing. |
| Time to production | Measured in minutes.
- Boot appliance image.
- Set IP address.
- Login as admin.
- Define the virtual service.
- Done!
| Measured in hours.
- Select, download and install Linux distro.
- Build Linux server.
- Patch Linux.
- Install LB application
- Configure virtual service.
- Optimize performance.
- Harden environment.
|
| Ease of Management | - Intuitive user interface.
- Pre-built templates for common application workloads.
| - Often use command line (CLI) & config file.
- Need OS and load balancer application skills.
|
| Feature Update and Release Schedules | Feature updates delivered in sync with the commercial product using the same formal release process. | Ad-hoc release schedules. |
| Development capacity | Fully resourced development team. | Often a single developer or a loose community of developers. |
| Quality Control | Free product is subject to same QA process as paid product; automated testing using industry-leading test automation toolsets. | Variable |
| Documentation | The same high-quality documentation applies to Free LoadMaster just like other products in the LoadMaster family. A dedicated documentation team produces it. | Can be ad-hoc and out of sync with code base. |
