Selecting the best virtual network infrastructure could be challenging for your business. Here is a comparison of two leading edge computing platforms in the market.
As enterprises strive to scale network capacities to meet the evolving technological demands of digital transformation, edge computing platforms are looking for ways to help provide solutions that will enhance network performance by simplifying the networks, increasing resilience and enabling seamless deployment 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 provide network resources on demand through virtual infrastructure. As these edge computing platforms offer similar services, they share some similarities, making it more difficult for enterprises to select the one most suitable for their business.
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What is Megaport Virtual Edge?
Megaport Virtual Edge is a modern edge computing services framework that offers on-demand, and branch-to-cloud connectivity on Megaport’s software-defined network, allowing enterprises to have branch-to-cloud connectivity, deployment of SD-WAN gateways and virtual routers. With MVE, businesses 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 to deploy virtual networks at the edge. The platform offers businesses that need virtual networks a platform through which they can route virtual networks from different network providers into a single interconnection of networks. With Equinix Network Edge, businesses can sort out, configure and connect virtual network services.
Feature comparison: Megaport Virtual Edge vs. Equinix Network Edge
| Feature | Megaport Virtual Edge | Equinix Network Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Offers SD-WAN deployment | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor-neutral | Yes | Yes |
| Flexible pricing model | Yes | No |
| Partnership with top virtual service vendors | Yes | Yes |
| Multicloud networking | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 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 on a global scale. However, there is a huge difference in their coverage capacity. Megaport offers wider global coverage than Equinix, offering over 700 Megaport-enabled data centers, 240 interconnects and 100 unique operators.
On the other hand, while Equinix Network Edge services can also be found in major metros around the Americas, Asia and EMEA, it is not as wide as what Megaport covers.
Network security
For policy-driven security provisions, Megaport uses Secure Access Service Edge to ensure that customers do not have to worry about the security of their virtual connections. With Megaport’s policy-driven security, customers can gain access to this level of security when they deploy Megaport Virtual Edge with Fortinet or Versa Security SD-WAN. In addition, SASE and SD-WAN services are natively supported on Fortinet and Versa, ensuring that customers do not need to struggle with a third-party network security provider or other security configurations.
In contrast, while Equinix Network Edge promises a secure network to its customers, no known established security policy provision backs this up.
Ease of provisioning
As long as you are in an Equinix network-enabled location, getting started with the network edge takes a few steps, with fewer configurations. You can provision virtual network service by selecting your preferred edge devices: SD-WAN, virtual routers, firewall and load balancer. Once a device is selected, you can deploy it immediately and connect your devices to clouds and networks.
For Megaport, getting started may be tricky if you have no experience in network configurations. To get started with MVE configuration, you either use the Megaport Portal or Cisco’s SD-WAN vManage NMS console. You can provision and configure your virtual networks from either of these routes.
Payment model
In terms of payment model, Megaport Virtual Edge offers a more flexible payment model, unlike Equinix Network Edge. With Megaport, customers have the flexibility to choose the subscription-based or pay-as-you-go model. In addition, under 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. Under this payment model, customers can configure multiple edge devices from different locations, establish connections to any location on the Equinix ecosystem and benefit from available APIs.
Choosing between Megaport Virtual Edge and Equinix Network Edge
Deciding which platform to choose between Megaport and Equinix as your preferred edge computing platform will depend on factors such as cost, coverage, network security and adaptability to business.
If your company needs a virtual network ecosystem to buy and configure in line with particular requirements, Equinix Network Edge might be suitable for this purpose due to its buy-once payment model. Buying the service once without having to run a monthly subscription makes this possible.
However, if you aim to get started with a virtual network provider that you can pay according to your consumption, Megaport offers this flexibility. In addition to that, you also have access to flexible contract terms that may align with your company’s cloud consumption models.
For companies 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 company does not like the idea of passing through a series of configurations before they can get started with a service, Equinix offers an easy-to-start edge infrastructure and can be more suitable from this perspective. Their easy-to-deploy method allows you to try out the platform with a free trial before buying the service.
