Kemp LoadMaster Reviews

Our primary use for the Kemp LoadMaster is load balancing our exchange and IIS web services to be able to meet the high availability standard for our organization. We get additional security features so there is no need to make these configuration steps on a server again. With the offloading capability, you can even secure servers that normally can't be secured.

Currently, we are using it with our web servers and exchange, for both internal and external access. Also, the reverse proxy is one of the greatest benefits.

We use Kemp to improve the security and availability of our web properties to external customers and partners, as well as a custom banquet application that is accessed over a cloud connection.

The Kemp LoadMaster gives us load balancing/reverse proxy capabilities as well as a web application firewall to protect our web application environment and website.

We use the technology across the entire organization to solve the issue of site performance and availability issues of our applications to external users when booking and managing events.

The most valuable features for us are the Load Balancing and Web Application Firewall, as we have a lot of web applications. It was difficult to meet the high availability without doubling most of the work. With the WAF, we can publish without risking our infrastructure being internet-facing.

The following features are also valuable:

• TLS (SSL) Offload
• Layer 7 Content Switching
• High Availability (Active/Standby)
• Health Checking
• Permit /Deny Access Control Lists
• IP address filtering
• IPsec Tunnel support
• DDoS mitigation, including L7 rate-based attacks
• IPSec VPN to Azure, AWS, vCloud Air public clouds
• Authenticated NTP
  

From my point of view, the only minor thing that needed to be improved is log management. It has all types of logs and they are very detailed, but it's a little bit hard to search for a single event.

Log management is critical for investigating an attack or unwanted behavior. Since they have a lot of logs, it takes a lot of time to look for a specific event. Also, for the WAF, it would be great if they can provide a dashboard or insight dashboard for WAF logs.

other than that there is nothing need to be improved from kemp

We have been using Kemp LoadMaster for three years.

very stable, since 3 years we didn't face any issues 

very easy to scale the solution

very helpful technical team

We used to work with Windows NLB, and we switched to Kemp to meet a higher level of stability and quality of service.

straightforward, using the documentation provided by kemp

in-house

This product has good value and features for the money.

Prior to choosing Kemp, we evaluated Zen Load Balancer and NGINX. Comparing price and features, Kemp was the best option for us.

Basically, Kemp covers every critical thing that must be needed to complete the task at hand.

We are using Kemp as a reverse proxy for Microsoft Exchange. We are also using the product for load-balancing internal services.

The Kemp virtual appliance is installed in the DMZ and forwards the traffic to the internal servers. We configured the Edge Security Pack (ESP) so that the virtual appliance captures the credentials of the user, validates those against the authentication services, and then lets the user pass through.

Using this solution, it doesn't publish Exchange servers directly over the internet, thus providing security.

Having a reverse proxy is a secure way to protect access to inside services like Microsoft Exchange. With the ESP configured, we feel that the services are more protected from external threats. There's a lot of attacks possible on Exchange and we needed a solution that would prevent direct access to the web interfaces.

Having the virtual appliance sitting between the internet and the real servers, it intercepts the requests, process them, and can block unwanted requests with the Web Application Firewall.

The most valuable feature is the reverse proxy with ESP since it protects forms and provides authentication of web services. 

When you configure the listening services, you can implement a lot of security features like the Edge Security Pack that intercepts the requests and processes those before they are sent to the real servers.

There's an integrated Web Application Firewall module that you can activate to protect your online services. The module has an auto-update feature, where Kemp pushes the latest rules automatically to protect you against new threats.

The configuration of basic services is pretty straightforward but when you want to configure more advanced settings like the Edge Security Pack feature, it can be somewhat challenging! Even with the documentation, I had to contact the support to get help set this up properly. I think there should be more visual instructions on how to configure advanced features.

Support-wise, I've nothing to complain about. The support technicians are knowledgeable and were able to quickly help me set up and get things working.

The logging feature is somewhat archaic, as you have to go through text files. I think they should implement something more user-friendly for logging.

We've been using Kemp for several years. We used the physical appliances for about five years and we recently switched to the virtual.

We've been using the product for several years and it never crashed.

This product is pretty scalable with the virtual appliance.

Great support, fast and really professional.

Kemp was the first solution we used as a reverse proxy.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

We implemented in-house with help of Kemp support.

Nowadays, going with the virtual appliance is the easiest way and the cost is reasonable.

We did not evaluate other products before choosing Kemp. Instead, we looked at product reviews before purchasing.

Our organization provides resources for public safety. For continuous service and support, we need to run our system with high availability and avoid failures or downtime. 

Kemp LoadMaster helps us achieve this goal by utilizing the Kemp LoadMaster virtual appliance in our VMware environment. Kemp LoadMaster allows us to provide load balancing and high availability to our web and API services for internal and public use, making sure that public safety is not put at risk.

Along with making sure public safety is not put at risk, Kemp LoadMaster allows us to keep our web services secure by adding another security layer with its web application firewall and IPS.

Kemp LoadMaster has greatly improved our uptime while reducing the time spent on maintenance of the virtual appliances, allowing the IT team to concentrate on other projects.

Because of the reduced time from the Kemp maintenance, we able to spend more time making sure that the hardware and server software is up to date. Kemp allows us to now have the flexibility of updating and applying firmware or software upgrades that would normally be service impacting to our infrastructure to be done during work hours without any interruptions.

The most valuable feature is the load balancing and allowing for high availability of our web services. If we need a maintenance window to apply updates to any of our infrastructure that would normally be service-impacting or require extensive steps to prevent it from being service-impacting, is now simplified to "it just works".

Also, what makes it very valuable is the fact that Kemp listens to its customer base. You have the ability to request new features and it does not fall on deaf ears. The development team is very responsive and accommodating to their customers.

The configuration of the basic services is pretty straight forward but for more complex solutions, there needs to be better documentation or knowledge base articles. The knowledge base that is there is well done, but it would be excellent to see it expanded out. For those fringe installations, technical support is more than willing to assist.

The one thing that I would love to see implemented is the ability for Kemp to automate certificate creation through Let's Encrypt. That way I can cut back on my cost of certificates and also pushes towards a more centralized location for certificate management. 

We have been using Kemp LoadMaster for just over one year.

This product is extremely stable. We have the metered license so the Kemp appliance has to phone home monthly to send our statistics for the month and the only issue we have ran into is the phone home feature failed once which could have been caused by an internet hiccup.

It is easy to scale the solution. If needed another load balancer, it's as simple as firing up another LoadMaster VM.

Customer service is fast and responsive. Haven't had to use it very often, if at all. 

We were using Simple Failover, but it was running into issues and we were looking for more of an enterprise solution.

Setup is cake. It is straightforward and easy.

Kemp's team helped with the implementation while I drove the keyboard. Kemp's knowledge and expertise were top notch.

ROI was immediate and gives the peace of mind knowing if something happens to one of my servers, nothing will be seen by the public.

The price is great and the value is definitely there.

We also evaluated F5.

The primary use case of this solution is for load balancing websites, load balancing Citrix solutions, and load balancing Microsoft Dynamics.

This solution has helped us in certain situations that we have had to find a way to work around.

I like the way this solution handles multiple SSLs in different domains while still load balancing. I find that to be a very interesting feature.

It should be more customizable and perhaps more like NetScaler in that regard. Although Kemp is very user-friendly, it lacks a more custom configuration.

I would like to see this solution more customizable in the next release.

I have been using this solution since May of 2019.

This solution is stable. It's pretty good.

This solution's scalability is pretty good.

We have about 200 users in finance, customer service, and IT.

We are using this solution every day and we have plans to increase our usage.

The support is great.

Previously, I had used Microsoft NLB. We switched because it was more difficult to configure and it had many issues.

The initial setup was straightforward. It was very intuitive and user-friendly. The application itself is built to be more user-friendly.

It took two days to deploy. It wasn't difficult and it involved checking the configuration and calling support. There was no different kind of strategy.

It only takes one person to deploy and maintain this solution. As the Networking Administrator, I am the person who is responsible.

We did not use an integrator, reseller, or consultant. Only the main support.

Licensing is yearly and I am going to guess that it is CAN $2000.00.

There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

Check for the complete needs of your entire network system.

In order to configure things, you will have to first draw out your connections before you implement it.

This solution is good and it's reliable but there are things to improve.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

My primary use case for this solution is load balancing and application load balancing.

The feature I find most valuable is load balancing with different algorithms.

In my opinion, the layer seven loads balancing that we're mainly using for web servers, doesn't seem to pick up when there are issues at the application level. I am not sure if this is due to poor configuration or not, but I think that the stability could be improved.

I have been using this solution since 2019.

I would rate the scalability of this solution a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

When it comes to the maintenance and support of this solution, we have one person dedicated to solving these issues from Kemp Resources that knows our environment and setup.

We used NLP, which is not in the same leak. That's a Microsoft inbuilt network load balancer, but it's not in the same leak. It doesn't do the application-level low balancing.

My impression is that the initial setup process is quite straightforward and decent. The only part that was tricky was the global server load balancing.

Our model of deployment is on-premises.

The deployment was done with assistance from Kemp resources based in our country.

Regarding the pricing of this solution, I would say it's somewhere in the middle because at the bottom you have free solutions and at the top the most expensive ones.

I would rate this solution as a whole a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

I would advise other people trying to use this solution to go ahead and try to use it as some use cases are quite complex. Our use case is straightforward.

We use this to load balance internal and external IT systems ranging from a few connections per minute to well over 10k connections per minute.

We also leverage the Global WAF features that Kemp offers.

We run these LoadMasters in an HA environment, to better allow for failovers and increased uptime. We use to balance HTTP/HTTPS traffic on the public internet for public sites, some with near 0k connections per minute. We also use to balance internal IT services such as LDAP, LDAPS, and DNS through various VIPs. 

Kemp has greatly improved our uptime, reduced time we spend on maintenance, and increased the reliability/trust we have in our load balancing system.

We had issues with the network architecture that was needed with our previous balancing system, and we found that we could run a much simpler network setup with the Kemp HA pair.

We can now avoid scheduled downtimes for infrastructure events, through the use of Kemp's HA setup and multiple real servers behind each VIP.

HA failovers are seamless and have allowed for a huge improvement in agility and flexibility in our environment. 

We leverage HTTP/HTTPS  load balancing, WAF, and DNS load balancing the most. We have found Kemp to be the most reliable for these services and have not had any issues at all.

The Global WAF has saved us more than one time from unwanted traffic.

HTTPS/HTTP balancing has been smooth and Kemp handles extremely high traffic loads with ease. We really also like the ability to do LDAP/LDAPS balancing for our internal customers.  This allows for a more smooth experience for our end users and for our internal applications.  

The one area that really could be improved upon is the GUI. Over the last several major versions, the GUI has remained virtually unchanged and still seems lacking. Since there is no "save" or "confirm" button, it is very easy to accidentally make a change on a live, production VIP, or endpoint.

Adding some sort of saving or confirming mechanism in the GUI would be nice and would make it seem more modern. This is not a show stopper for us, but really just a "nice to have". 

Overall, there is little that needs to be improved with this product. 

We have been using Kemp LoadMaster for six years.

They are very stable and reliable. We have had no issues at all over the last six years.

This product is very easy to scale up and grow. If in an HA pair, it can be done without downtime.

Support is a ten out of ten. They are quick to answer and very knowledgeable from the start.  They are far better than other IT vendors I have worked with.

High-availability, reverse proxy and web application firewall (WAF) for IoT devices and back-end web services. We have not fully enabled the web application firewall functionality as of yet, but plan to do so in the coming weeks.  

Easy of Deployment. Application Delivery Controllers are not my company's strong suite. We needed a Microsoft Threat Management Gateway server replacement solution for a customer and were impressed with the simplified deployment of the Kemp LoadMasters.

I am small business and cannot afford dedicated consultants for one specific technology. I am able to leverage existing skillsets to deploy and configure the Kemp LoadMasters.

I do not feel we have enough experience with the product to talk to areas improvement or recommended features release.

Some of the support documentation seems to make assumptions that the person installing or configuring is experienced with the product or concepts. Further research got us through the installation and configuration without any issues.  

No issues.

No issues.

High. They have a very responsive support.

Microsoft Threat Management Gateway. Product is at its end of life.

The initial deployment was straightforward.

For a cloud proof of concept, I reached out to Kemp support to help us with a multi-NIC VM deployment. Their support was fantastic and we were able to get up and running in short order. The downloadable templates were a huge time saver.

In-house.

Saved a third of the costs without sacrificing needed features by going with Kemp.

Download Kemp's VLM trial and take it for a test drive; you will be impressed.

Yes, Microsoft Web Application Proxy and F5.

My company is an IT Services Consulting company, and when requirements warrant, I plan on recommending Kemp to our other customers. Note: We currently have no financial interest in recommending Kemp.

Our primary use case of this solution is for simple things like balancing web servers or balancing remote desktop servers. My company is based in Brazil. We are resellers of this solution, usually to small and middle size businesses.

The most valuable features for us are the web balancing and remote access balancing - the product is flawless in regard to these things. The installation is very simple and I like the interface.

I've only used the virtual version of the small LoadManager (VLM-500), but on the "improvement" side my comment would be about the equivalent hardware based LM (LM-X1) to offer redundant power supply like the more beefier KEMP models do. No matter the size, the role played by these solutions tend to be critical for the business.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

Stability is great, I've never had any issues with it.  

I cannot vouch for scalability because I've never dealt with scaling.

The technical support is really good and I've only needed to use the product manual a couple of times. It was extremely efficient and easy to follow. Whenever I need, I can exchange mails or phone calls with their support and they are very quick, and everything works just fine.

The installation is done remotely and I never visit our customers to deploy. The configuration, the operation and the planning is all done remotely. The product is flawless and all the customers are really happy. The price is very good too compared to the other solutions. Of course, it's aimed at small and medium businesses. I cannot tell you anything about big enterprise or about the higher end LoadMaster. Initial deployment takes a few minutes. 

This is a very competitive solution - they have a very solid product and it's cheaper than other solutions. There is no need to look at anything else because of the cost and you have an especially good product to do simple things.