Choosing the best virtual network infrastructure could be a challenge for your business. Here is a comparison of two leading computing platforms on the market.
As organizations strive to scale network capacities to meet the evolving technological demands of digital transformation, edge computing platforms are looking for ways to deliver solutions that improve network performance by simplifying networks, increasing resiliency, and enabling a Enable seamless provisioning of network infrastructure at the edge.
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Megaport Virtual Edge and Equinix Network Edge are leaders in virtual network services in the edge computing landscape. They provision network resources as needed via a virtual infrastructure. Because these edge computing platforms offer similar services, they share some similarities, making it harder for organizations to choose the one that best suits their business.
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What is Megaport Virtual Edge?
Megaport Virtual Edge is a modern edge computing services framework that provides on-demand and branch-to-cloud connectivity on Megaport’s software-defined network, enabling enterprises to achieve branch-to-cloud connectivity, SD-WAN deployments gateways and virtual routers. With MVE, enterprises can bring private networks closer to the edge using API-level integrations between SD-WAN providers and Megaport Virtual Edge.
What is Equinix Network Edge?
Equinix Network Edge is a dynamic network automation platform that helps enterprises deploy virtual networks at the edge. The platform provides businesses that need virtual networks with a platform through which they can route virtual networks from different network providers into a single connection of networks. With Equinix Network Edge, organizations can sort, configure, and connect virtual network services.
Feature Comparison: Megaport Virtual Edge vs. Equinix Network Edge
| feature | Virtual Megaport Edge | Equinix Network Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Provides SD-WAN deployment | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor neutral | Yes | Yes |
| Flexible pricing model | Yes | no |
| Partnering with leading virtual service providers | Yes | Yes |
| Multicloud networking | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial period | no | Yes |
Head-to-head comparison: Megaport Virtual Edge vs. Equinix Network Edge
Global Reach
As leaders in the virtual network infrastructure market, Equinix Network Edge and Megaport Virtual Edge offer their services worldwide. However, there is a big difference in their coverage capacity. Megaport offers broader global coverage than Equinix, offering over 700 Megaport-enabled data centers, 240 connections, and 100 unique operators.
On the other hand, while Equinix Network Edge services can also be found in major metropolitan areas in the Americas, Asia and EMEA, they are not as broad as what Megaport covers.
network security
For policy-driven security, Megaport uses Secure Access Service Edge to ensure customers don’t have to worry about the security of their virtual circuits. With Megaport’s policy-driven security, customers can access this level of security when deploying Megaport Virtual Edge with Fortinet or Versa Security SD-WAN. Additionally, SASE and SD-WAN services are natively supported on Fortinet and Versa, ensuring customers don’t have to contend with a third-party network security or other security configuration.
In contrast, while Equinix Network Edge promises its customers a secure network, no known established security policy supports it.
Easy Deployment
As long as you’re in a network-enabled Equinix location, getting started with the network edge can be done in fewer steps and with fewer configurations. You can deploy a virtual network service by choosing your favorite edge devices: SD-WAN, virtual routers, firewall, and load balancers. Once a device is selected, you can provision it immediately and connect your devices to clouds and networks.
Megaport can be difficult to get started with if you are inexperienced with network configurations. To begin the MVE configuration, use either the Megaport Portal or Cisco’s SD-WAN vManage NMS console. You can deploy and configure your virtual networks through any of these routes.
payment model
In terms of payment model, unlike Equinix Network Edge, Megaport Virtual Edge offers a more flexible payment model. With Megaport, customers have the flexibility to choose the subscription-based or pay-as-you-go model. Additionally, as part of the subscription, you have options that include Internet access, a public IP address, and distributed denial-of-service protection.
On the other hand, Equinix operates a one-time payment model where customers buy the service. With this payment model, customers can configure multiple edge devices from different locations, connect to any location in the Equinix ecosystem, and benefit from available APIs.
Choice between Megaport Virtual Edge and Equinix Network Edge
Deciding which platform to choose between Megaport and Equinix as your preferred edge computing platform comes down to factors such as cost, coverage, network security, and enterprise adaptability.
If your business needs a virtual network ecosystem to purchase and configure according to specific needs, Equinix Network Edge could be suitable for this purpose due to its one-time payment model. The one-time purchase of the service without a monthly subscription makes this possible.
However, if you want to start with a virtual network provider that you can pay for as you use it, Megaport offers that flexibility. In addition, you have access to flexible contract terms that can adapt to your company’s cloud usage models.
For organizations that prefer to operate under a policy-driven network security architecture, Megaport Virtual Edge partners with Versa Secure SD-WAN to provide secure networks to its customers.
If your organization doesn’t like the idea of going through a series of configurations before it can begin a service, Equinix offers an easy-to-boot edge infrastructure and may be a better fit from that perspective. Their easy-to-implement methodology allows you to try the platform with a free trial before purchasing the service.