6 Things To Know About The SD-WAN Subscription And Switch Blitz In Juniper's Expanded Multi-Cloud Portfolio

Juniper Networks is offering slew of new switches, services and SD-WAN solutions it says will allow customers to secure and automate potentially unwieldy cloud environments.

Core To Campus

Juniper Networks is gunning to make itself the kingpin of the multi-cloud market with a slew of new switches, services and SD-WAN solutions it says will allow customers to secure and automate potentially unwieldy environments.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., networking vendor argues that for customers' IT operations to be ready to realize the advantages of the public cloud, they must consider not only their data centers, but their campus and branch networks, as well. If they don't, they may find their networks fractured, jeopardizing security and failing to live up to the agility, seamlessness and control promised by multi-cloud networks.

The majority of enterprise workloads now on-premise are expected to move to the public cloud in the next three years, Juniper argues. As workloads become more distributed, enterprises need to adopt strong, flexible multi-cloud strategies.

Juniper's newly expanded multi-cloud portfolio seeks to integrate end-to-end security and automation throughout the network, including its data center, campus, branch and cloud portfolio. The additions allow enterprises to migrate to a multi-cloud architecture "on their terms," while acknowledging that enterprise customers may be on considerably different paths toward that goal.

Here are six things to know about Juniper's expanded multi-cloud portfolio.

'A Different Intimacy' For Partners

Juniper's expanded multi-cloud portfolio puts channel partners in a position to do more than just sell products, said Mike Bushong, vice president of enterprise and cloud marketing. "Five years ago, devices were the products, and that's what you sold. Now the journey is the product and the devices just support that," he said. The portfolio offers partners an opportunity to bring "a different intimacy" to their customer relationships, Bushong said. "It's their proximity, the time they spend. It's more than one product in a silo, it's how all the products go together. That creates margin expansion. The channel wins, customers win, and vendors win because it's difficult to navigate on their own. Partners can discuss the journey. Don't just look at us as selling boxes, look at us as facilitating migration to cloud."

Universal Switch

Leading the charge for Juniper's expanded portfolio is a new universal switch for data center spine, edge and interconnect applications. The QFX10002-60C switch can be used as a spine or edge device for data center interconnect. It features 60X100 GbE interfaces. Along with that model, Juniper is also adding a QFX5210-64C port spine switch and a QFX5200-48Y top-of-rack switch to its portfolio. Secure workload transitions for are handled by a new QFX MACsec line card.

Simplified Campus Management

Juniper's new Sky Enterprise cloud management service allows businesses to deploy, configure and manage switching and security devices while reducing errors by up to 90 percent, the company says. The service is operated through a web dashboard, making managing campus and branch networks easier. The system also gives network operators visibility into wireless access points.

Switching Campuses

The expanded portfolio also includes campus multi-gig and compact core switches, the EX2300 and EX4300. The EX4300 multi-gig switch supports POE++ for new applications and MACsec to enable a secure on-ramp to the cloud, Juniper said. Another new model, the EX9250 switch is a compact campus core switch that gives enterprises multiple fabric options by supporting both Junos Fusion and EVPN-VXLAN.

Branching Out

Juniper's approach is to support a wide variety of software functions while allowing for application and security control that stays in sync with the rest of the network. The company's extended branch portfolio includes the new NFX150 network services platform combines branch security with hybrid WAN functionality and wireless 4G and LTE connectivity between branches. The platform can run third-party virtual network functions, Juniper says.

Subscription SD-WAN

Juniper's expanded multi-cloud portfolio includes its Contrail SD-WAN solution offered on a subscription basis. The solution bundles Juniper's SRX Series service gateways with the NFX platform for the orchestration required for multi-cloud-ready SD-WAN. Subscription pricing means customers have several options for arranging secure SD-WAN management.