I find NGINX Plus incredibly versatile. It is my go-to for serving web content efficiently, balancing loads across servers, and securely managing traffic as a reverse proxy. Plus, it is fantastic for streaming ports like SMTP and handling non-SAP protocol traffic.

Using NGINX Plus for web traffic distribution is fantastic. It offers performance similar to physical load balancers but with added flexibility. However, I have faced challenges with DNS configurations. Sometimes, updates to domain name IPs take time to reflect, causing delays or caching issues.

In terms of improvement, I would suggest adding GUI-based configuration panels to NGINX Plus to simplify setup and management tasks. This would allow users to easily create and manage policies, rules, load balancers, and traffic shaping without relying solely on the command line interface. 

Additionally, another area for improvement in NGINX Plus is its integration with NGINX App Protect. Currently, to utilize NGINX Protect, you need to have NGINX Plus, which might not be necessary for everyone. It would be beneficial to have the option to use NGINX Protect independently without requiring NGINX Plus.

I have been using NGINX Plus for a couple of years.

It is a fairly stable solution.

NGINX Plus is scalable and allows us to increase server capacity according to our desired configurations.

Setting up NGINX Plus is generally straightforward and not very complex. While some modules may not be included in the documentation, finding and installing them is manageable. The deployment process is relatively simple and can be started right away, especially if you have prior knowledge of NGINX. 

For deploying and maintaining NGINX Plus, the team size varies based on the environment's scale. In a large setup, we might need four to five people, while in smaller environments, two technically sound individuals can handle it.

The return on investment for NGINX Plus depends on factors like cost and management ease. Compared to hardware load balancers, NGINX Plus can be pricier, but it offers flexibility and scalability. However, other hardware load balancers like Array may have lower upfront costs and easier setup.

The pricing of NGINX Plus is a bit steep compared to other options I have used. NGINX Plus licensing is annual or three-year based, and it is socket-based. You pay for the license according to the number of server sockets you need. The license is bound to a specific server or virtual server, so it can't be used across multiple servers unless you opt for a multi-tenant license.

NGINX Plus greatly improved my API management and delivery. I configured multiple routes with load balancing and efficient logging, which helped troubleshoot issues effectively. While the dashboard lacked customization, the product performed well, offering about 80% similarity to NGINX open source with additional modules and support. Its scalability allowed me to upgrade server resources rather than invest in new hardware, saving costs as my traffic increased.

Using load balancing with NGINX, both in the open-source version and NGINX Plus, improved service reliability. While the open-source version required manual reconfiguration if a server went down, NGINX Plus's traffic monitoring automatically detects and removes faulty servers, ensuring seamless traffic management. 

NGINX Plus's caching mechanism is highly effective in speeding up web content delivery. 

I would recommend NGINX Plus to those seeking an alternative to hardware-based load balancers. However, it is important to note that NGINX Plus is quite technical, primarily command-line-based with less emphasis on GUI. While support is available, administrators should be comfortable with technical configurations. Compared to GUI-based load balancers, NGINX Plus offers flexibility but requires more technical expertise for setup and management.

Overall, I would rate NGINX Plus as a six out of ten.

Proxy and load balance are the reasons why I use NGINX Plus. I use NGINX Plus to help me with a delivery app on the cloud for one of my company's customers.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is simple to configure.

The solution's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement. The price of the solution is also an area that needs improvement.

In the future, I would like to see the solution to have better capabilities in terms of basic checks and reporting.

I have been using NGINX Plus for two years. I don't remember the version of the solution.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven to eight out of ten.

I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup of NGINX Plus is very simple to deploy since it is done on a cloud.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

The cost of NGINX Plus is high. NGINX Plus is an open-source solution with limited additional features. When you try to get additional features in the solution, then you need to pay an extra amount to NGINX Plus.

NGINX Plus offers limited functionalities when it comes to load balancing.

I rate the overall solution a six out of ten.