Juniper versus Cisco...thoughts?

Question

We're splitting our HQ in two, moving about 40 folks over to a new location. We have an Avaya phone system and will be deploying IP phones at the new site over a pair of bonded point-to-point T1's.

Our phone vendor is recommending Juniper J2300's on both ends...I've read a few bad reviews and some good reviews of Juniper. I'm cross-shopping a Cisco 1841 on one end (costs about $400 more than the Juniper) and a Cisco 2811 on the other end (costs more but has 4 WIC slots...more on that later).

The reason I'm looking at a beefier router on the HQ end is that I'd like to potentially retire some of our SonicWALL devices to sort of 'clean up' what has become a pretty complex network and condense them into one chassis....and I hear that Juniper's strength is firewalls...in which case realistically I'd probably go for a J2320, again to get the extra slots...but the 2320 costs about the same as the Cisco....

...so do I go with the newcomer Juniper or do I 'Pay the Piper' for Cisco?

Answer 1

Go with Cisco, the IOS is basically a stripped down version of Cisco and offers less configuration. I work in a data centre and almost all our kit is Cisco based, we use PIX firewalls for security and tend to tread away from Juniper. Cisco will probably end up buying them out anyway, networking rivalry is pretty week with a manopoly like Cisco.



Having said all this, to be honest I dont have much experience of juniper, I've worked with a M series router and remember it being Cisco for newbiews, I also have some vague memory of ACL's being weird (could be why thefirewalls are highly recommened). What I do know is that the IOS isn't as strong and was extremely easy to learn following Cisco experience, stick to what you know anyway, thats my vague advice.



If you can ever afford it and have a big enough network to facilitate it the Cisco 6500's are the best kit I've ever worked with, simply amazing!

Answer 2

I am a Cisco certified network associate ( Starting work on my Cisco certified network professional ), but i work for Juniper, and have to say that every test that i have ever come across comparing the two show that the Juniper out performs Cisco when placed head to head. Try looking at some performance benchmarks comparing the two.



The one part i can tell you is Juniper is FAR BETTER in terms of Technical support and Customer service.



While working for Juniper, they have never emphasized on case throughput.

The Only guideline they have given us is to make sure the customer is happy, and fully functional.

I will spend many hours a day troubleshooting Active directory or ACE server authentication even though those are not even Juniper products.



Read in some forums how other users feel. I only know that working for Juniper has been a great experience, and that they treat of us very well.

Answer 3

Cisco and Juniper are both great products. They are often used for medium to large enterprise companies. I have worked with those products before, but using Cisco would be your best bet. Why? Well, Cisco is the only company that is a true network company. Cisco considers the entire network infrastructure and how they will work together. For example, Cisco has Routing and Switching products, Firewall products, VoIP products, Wireless products, Remote access products, Network Management products, Data Center specific products and much more. Juniper has a router and firewall. And until very recently now a switch which is a new addition, but needs time to mature compared to Cisco which has longevity and stability. Cisco's flagship switch product, Cisco Catalyst 6500 is very robust solution in the market today providing high availability, performance, and security. The new Cisco Nexus 7000, more prone to HPC is another major accomplish of adding high performance switching to the data center. The one thing that Cisco has over Juniper as an example is SSL VPN support. SSL VPN and Firewall capabilities are both supported on Cisco ISR 800, 1800, 2800, 3800, and Cisco ASA models. Juniper's SSG or NetScreen firewall product is only a firewall and doesn't support the leading edge remote access protocol, SSL VPN. You have to purchase the Juniper SA product to get SSL VPN. Thus increasing your cost and TCO overall. For a small business that wouldn't be feasible. In terms of pricing, Juniper products tend to be more expensive overall unless you are a Juniper Elite Partner, but Cisco Partners can also get large discounts for products. Just some thoughts to consider between Cisco and Juniper. And yes Cisco does have a strong GUI Network Management for administration of routers, switches, and firewalls. CP

Answer 4

What are you using elsewhere in the network? From a network management perspective, if you are already using Cisco for switching, sticking with it elsewhere in the network may be worth the extra $$$.



I work on a network with 100's of switches and a couple dozen routers (all Cisco). Most of it can be managed and monitored without ever leaving the office. If you're expecting the network to grow and evolve, Cisco has some great features that are proprietary and don't work with other vendors.



I'm sure Avaya is recommending Juniper in part because they don't want you talking to a Cisco rep and getting convinced that their VoIP options are better. :)



Take this with a grain of salt though because I don't have much experience with Juniper.