Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches Reviews

We are using the product as edge switches. We have a core switch in one of our branches also, a Juniper switch.

There's no specific benefit like I like this or I don't like it, however, it is just allowing us to have a multi-vendor environment. We have other switches also, like boundary switches which are Brocade switches. We are currently we are using a lot of Cisco switches. About 70% of our switches are Cisco.

The solution is stable and scalable.

It's a product that is simple to set up.

Of the current engineers that are working in Egypt, most of them are familiar with Cisco and not all of them used to work on Juniper switches. That's why those switches aren't very famous in Egypt.

The stability could be better. We find, for example, Cisco, to be more stable.

I've been using the solution for more than five years now.

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

The solution offers good scalability.

It is a multi-vendor environment, so the total environment itself has about 1,000 users. They use various switches, however.

I've never needed to contact technical support. I can't speak to how they are in terms of the level of service. 

We also use Brocade and Cisco. While Cisco is more stable, it is more expensive as well.

The initial setup is straightforward and doesn't take too much time. It's a pretty quick deployment. 

For deployment and maintenance, we have two people who handle everything. They handle networking, switching, and routing. 

It is less expensive than, for example, Cisco. We pay a yearly licensing fee. 

In our environment, we are using a different vendor approach as we don't want to depend on a single vendor.

I'd advise other companies, especially if they are an enterprise, to not deal with a single vendor.

I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We currently use Juniper for all of our switching/routing infrastructure. Core, aggregate, and access layers are all made up of Juniper components. We also procured and use Junos Space as well as Network Director.

We moved to Juniper from an outdated Cisco environment, so the immediate change was extremely dramatic (as it should be with any new vendor). In regards to Junos Space Network Director, we are able to have more visibility into the whole infrastructure than we were able to previously.

We have found Junos to be the most valuable feature. It is extremely flexible and easy to pick up. The layout (similar to .XML) does take some time to get used to, but there are commands you can use to help alleviate these concerns.

Updates and management tools: 

• The updates are constantly broken, which has been a problem for years. You definitely need to read the release notes to understand the whole situation before upgrading.
• The management tools are nice, but they are limited in their abilities. The tools suffer from upgrade problems.

Six years.

When upgrading to a new Junos version, we had to revert back once. We found out the chassis was having major problems. This was noted in the community forum. Stability for long term releases are pretty good seem to be stable, but keep in mind that upgrading to newer code might mean bugs.

There are no problems with scalability. The ability to add switches to a virtual-chassis means adding/removing is an easy task.

Support is hit and miss. Currently, we have had issues with support. Juniper called me back about a bad review. It was nice speaking to somebody on the phone. I felt that they were taking my concerns seriously. 

We previously used Cisco and Extreme Networks. We switched due to our planned refresh cycle, as well as cost. 

We had a vendor do the initial setup and configuration.

We don't track ROI.

You don't need to license every switch. We only chose to cover support on core/key equipment and keep a cold spare available when needed.

We had an open bid process. We evaluated Cisco, Extreme Networks, Brocade, and Juniper.

It works with third-party SFPs.

Juniper Ethernet Switches' best features are the high packer sorting and throughput, good uplink port capacity, and virtual setup.

Juniper Ethernet Switches would be improved by upgrading the uplink port in EX2300 categories service from 10G to 25G.

I've been dealing with Juniper Ethernet Switches for five years.

Juniper Ethernet Switches are very stable.

Juniper Ethernet Switches' architecture is very good for scaling.

Juniper's technical support is excellent.

Positive

Juniper Ethernet Switches are plug-and-play, so no setup is required.

Juniper Ethernet Switches' pricing is high, but that's reflected across the market.

I'd advise anyone implementing Juniper Ethernet Switches to go with Mist cloud so they can manage multiple locations from a single cloud account. I would give Juniper Ethernet Switches a rating of ten out of ten.

Juniper Ethernet Switches are used in data centers, corporate offices, branch offices, factory environments, and business ops part of the factory environments. 

Wherever there are wireless networks we use the Cisco Meraki's and Arubas. Wherever there are firewalls, we use the Check Points, Cisco ASAs, FortiGate, and Juniper.

One of the most valuable features of Juniper Ethernet Switches is they are rugged.

I have been using Juniper Ethernet Switches for approximately 20 years.

Juniper Ethernet Switches are stable.

Juniper Ethernet Switches are scalable.

The technical support from Juniper Ethernet Switches could be better.

The installation of Juniper Ethernet Switches is straightforward because they have been in the industry for a long time. There are enough qualified resources available in order to go ahead and deploy them. Something is complex only when you don't have the skills required in order to execute the job. Otherwise, everything could be complex if you don't know the subject. The fact that it is easy is because there are enough trained resources available in order to execute the installation.

You require the Junos Management Platform in order to manage the switches and you need to purchase the Juniper Ethernet Switches.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Juniper Ethernet Switches a seven out of ten.

My primary use of this solution is for core switching and routing.

The most valuable feature is that Juniper is multiple kernels, so there's isolation, which means you won't get a process that runs away, creating problems across the whole platform. 

We had been introduced to MIST as a result or procuring 9 EX4600 switches and the associated MIST licenses.  Unfortunately we found out that MIST does not support legacy switches, namely EX2200 which we have 100 Plus, so this requires us to invest time and resources in order to learn the opensource alternatives for automation, or plan for an upgrade of the EX2200 which requires a significant investment.

Personally learning the open source alternatives is an extremely valuable skill to add to the toolbox, as well as move the District forward with automation.

I've been using this solution for two to three years.

Juniper's stability is solid - it suffers from some bugs, like any product, but other than that, it's stable.

There are no issues with the scalability - we went with this product because it supported ten gigs and the switches are stackable. You scale the platform to meet your needs, and it scales to meet our needs.

Technical support has resolved any problems I've had in a relatively quick amount of time.

I've have experience with Cisco, Brocade, Dell, and Foundry Networks, with inheriting an inventory of 150+ Juniper switches and investing time in learning juniper, a more to another vendor is not an option we are considering.

The initial setup isn't very straightforward at first - it took me a day or two to deploy my first Juniper switches. It gets easier with practice, but it's a steep learning curve for anyone who hasn't touched Juniper.

Implementation was in-house.

Juniper's switches have a lifetime warranty, so you don't have to pay for replacements for defective items (though you can't buy spare replacements). It's relatively affordable per switch and pretty similar to other vendors' costs for maintenance.

I started using Juniper two and a half years ago with zero experience, and it was a steep learning curve, but I've become a fan of this product. I would advise others to consider vendors other than Cisco, including Juniper. I'd give this solution a score of nine out of ten.

We provide network solutions to our clients and Juniper Ethernet Switches are one of the devices that we install and configure for them. We are certified by Juniper to work with these switches.

This solution makes up part of the physical network.

We had one big project where we had to deploy Juniper switches with a firewall.

The GUI interface distinguishes it from other vendors and makes it easy to operate.

Juniper switches are quick and easy to configure. Depending on the requirements, you only have to configure two or three parameters.

The operational efficiency of these devices is good.

This solution has a lot of features that allow it to be configured in different ways that are suitable in any type of network.

The physical unit is compact.

In the next release of this solution, I would like to see better integration with software-defined networking.

The coding can be simplified a little bit.

We have been working with Juniper Ethernet Switches for about a year and a half.

In terms of stability, we have not had any trouble. One of the solutions that we deployed about a year and a half ago is intact and still working perfectly.

We have had no issues with scalability.

I have never contacted technical support directly because I haven't had any serious issues. When I need support, I look at the community forums on the website. There is a chat function on the website, which is very helpful.

We use and supply products by many different vendors because we are project-oriented, and not tied to any one particular vendor. Some of the other vendors are Cisco and Huawei.

The licensing costs for Cisco are higher.

Configuring this solution requires that you understand the core concept of programming. Everything that you need to do has to be programmed. For example, in the C programing language, you define a class. So here, once you understand the protocol logic, it is very easy to configure.

If you know what to do then the deployment is quick. It may take a couple of days.

In general, I cannot find anything that is bad about this product.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use Juniper Ethernet switches to connect to other switches and computers.

We are a public service company providing the backbone network for our country. We have the highest level of concentration. We provide our services to some 45 other big operators because we are a carrier's carrier. Not all of this is on one switch as our network stretches across three countries and five cities. We have 12 data centers and not all of them use Juniper switches. We use Juniper switches in two central data centers, to which we connected 12 customers and 20 backbone instances.

The Juniper Ethernet switch feature I find the most valuable is reliability.

We have been using Juniper Ethernet switches for three years.

Juniper Ethernet switches are stable. 

Juniper Ethernet switches are scalable. 

Juniper's 3rd level support could be much better and faster.

Local partner is perfect, but not almighty, we have to escalate some issues to Juniper.

The initial setup was straightforward. 

Our in-house teams implemented the switches. Implementation takes a couple of hours because these are state of the art switches. We use the carrier-grade switches as we are a public operation and provide backbone connectivity to the whole country. So, deployment is not trivial in our case. It takes some time to meticulously plan and install these switches.

We are service providers and we are vendor agnostic. We try to find a solution that best fits the customer's needs and this is one of the products that we implement for them.

The most valuable feature of this solution is the Junos operating system. It's an open-source operating system that lets you use the programming languages with it, to tailor it. You can develop automation scripts with JSON or other different programming languages.

Most of the switches are SDN ready, they are 5G ready, and they are going to incorporate wireless into their switches.

It's a flexible platform.

In terms of speed, being the total processing speed and total bandwidth per box, they usually outpace most competitors.

Juniper Ethernet Switches meet the needs of just about every customer.

There are no weaknesses that I know of with Juniper.

When it comes to Juniper and other vendors such as Cisco, it comes down to pricing. Customers want value for the least amount of money.

Some areas of technical support could be better.

With this current company I have been using Juniper Ethernet Switches for two years but for me, I have worked with them off and on for 20 years.

This solution is stable, it's rock solid.

Juniper Ethernet Switches are scalable. If you want to scale, you can go from a small enterprise switch up to service provider-type switches, and the configurations are going to be the same.

Technical support is good. None of them are great, but I think they are pretty good. It depends on who you get, from level 1 and up.

From sales technical support, they are excellent. From technical support out in the field, they might be average. Experiences may vary.

Some can be technically smart, but they haven't had the experience of actually troubleshooting and going through scenarios.

I am mainly in sales support. If I have to go in and do some configuration, it's pretty straightforward.

It's not complex, but it is generally other SEs who configure the switches and routers.

You can have Junos as your operating system but if you wanted to write a script to automatically update all of the versions of your software, you can do that automatically.

If you wanted to gather information, you can write a script using JSON, or Python. This is already available on the Junos operating system.

Cisco is the most popular, but if you have seasoned or experienced people like DevOps that write code and they are engineers, then Juniper would be the better choice because they have the flexibility to do that. Cisco is starting to catch up now, where you can automate Cisco's switches using the same methods. To this point, Junos has been way ahead of Cisco in that aspect.

Because of our relationship, customers can better pricing with us. Cisco tends to be a little higher.

Before getting started you have to know your network, know the current state of your network, and know what are the pain points of your network are. Do you see bottlenecks in your network? Is your equipment responsive? Is your data backing up, because you don't have enough bandwidth? There are many factors to consider and it depends on the network and where the switches are going.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.