We performed a comparison between Cisco ACI and Juniper Contrail Networking based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The initial setup was pretty straightforward. We just moved from one platform to another."
"Virtualization and integration with VMware is the most valuable feature."
"Cisco ACI's best features include its network-centric approach and micro-segmentation."
"ACI's most valuable feature is its SDN capabilities. Everything is on your software design controller. Everything is blocked by default until you allow it."
"The initial setup was trivially simple and easy. It builds itself because it is automation. You don't have to do too much."
"It's improved the static configuration of our data center switching environment. But it's added some challenges to our ability to operationalize it and make it easier for people to manage."
"I like using WebEx Board."
"It offers multitenancy. The opportunity to install it on the same platform with a huge amount of customers."
"Contrail automates the excellent communication between virtual appliances."
"After we finished setting Contrail up, it seemed stable enough. Still, we never tested it in a real environment, so we don't have enough information to say whether it's stable with a given number of users and appliances. We have tested it in a lab environment, but we haven't tested enough to say that the platform is stable."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is a stable solution."
"It provides proactive alerting in a single dashboard solution."
"We are waiting to see what happens with the cloud. We want to see if it will scale better."
"The GUI is not easy to use."
"Cisco ACI would be improved by providing a cloud offering; otherwise, it risks becoming a niche product."
"Biannually, there is a new design delivered by Cisco. Thus, you are always running behind the new design, and it never stops. With Cisco ACI, this has been a nightmare."
"The user interface should be made easier."
"The product needs to be more visible on the Internet and have the ability to be integrated into more software developments."
"The initial setup was a bit complex. ACI was just out at that time, and there wasn't support at that time."
"The additional features I would like to see included in the next releases are support for our policy-based routing. There are endpoint issues that are there now in the code. Hopefully, these will get fixed in the future code."
"Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch."
"Visibility, especially for the top of the platform, is a nightmare. The top was documented incorrectly and really complex to complete. In the end, it worked but only after several weeks of work with the support of a Juniper solution engineer in Holland."
"Concerns were raised about the complexity of involving networking components like MX routers, which often required expertise beyond the scope of software engineers. As a result, users encountered challenges in achieving comprehensive understanding and troubleshooting of networking issues within the Contrail environment."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is difficult if you do not have a certificate for Juniper. Juniper is a different type of configuration or operation than Cisco."
Cisco ACI is ranked 2nd in Software Defined Networking (SDN) with 97 reviews while Juniper Contrail Networking is ranked 5th in Software Defined Networking (SDN) with 4 reviews. Cisco ACI is rated 8.0, while Juniper Contrail Networking is rated 7.4. The top reviewer of Cisco ACI writes "Stable, easy to extend, scalable, and has a host-based routing feature". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Juniper Contrail Networking writes "Smart configuration management eliminates the need to worry about managing the network's configurations". Cisco ACI is most compared with VMware NSX, Cisco Secure Workload, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Nuage Networks and HPE SDN, whereas Juniper Contrail Networking is most compared with Tungsten Fabric, VMware NSX, Cisco SD-WAN, VMware SD-WAN and HPE SDN. See our Cisco ACI vs. Juniper Contrail Networking report.
See our list of best Software Defined Networking (SDN) vendors.
We monitor all Software Defined Networking (SDN) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.