NEW YORK -- Juniper Networks has jumped into the Ethernet switching market with a series of products it says set new benchmarks for high-performance enterprise networks. With the move it directly confronts Cisco Systems, the leader in the switch market. However, Juniper believes it has at least one trump card. Its EX switches will run on the same JUNOS operating system used in its routers, which the company says means network managers can take advantage of a uniform set of features, consistent implementation and universal configuration and management tools. It also stressed that the unified JUNOS still retains its quarterly upgrade train, unlike some competitors, who it says upgrade switch and router software on different schedules. Until now Juniper has concentrated on routers and security appliances for enterprises and carriers. Asked in an interview how big a bet he is making adding switches to his lineup, company CEO Scott Kreins hesitated. “It just seems so obvious its what’s needed,” he finally said, “what customers have insisted.” Juniper says the new line, which includes network access control, can offer significant power and space savings over competing products. Some models feature what it calls a Virtual-Chassis design, meaning the switches can be interconnected across a distance of up to 40 kilometers via a 128 Gigabit per second backplane and seen through management software as one device. Displayed here before a conference of international press and industry analysts were three models. The EX 3200 standalone series are fixed-configuration switches for branches with either 24 or 48 ports and 10/100/1000Base-T connectivity. With a list price starting at US$4,000, full or partial Power-over-Ethernet options are available for IP-enabled devices. Optional four-port GbE and two-port 10GbE uplink modules are available as well. The EX 4200 stackable switch for branch offices offer identical features as the 3200, plus a 24-port fibre switch with 100/1000Base-X support. Priced starting at $US6,000, they also include redundant hot-swapable internal power supplies and replaceable multi-blower fan trays. The 3200 and 4200 will be available next month. The EX 8200 modular Terabit switch series for data centres is aimed at high density 10GbE enterprise cores and aggregation deployments. Available in the second half of the year, they will come in two versions: an eight-slot 1.6 Tb chassis with 64 ports and a 16-slot 3.2 Tb chassis with 128 ports. Juniper’s announcement came a day after Cisco Systems announced its new Nexus series switches in a strategy that some industry analysts see as a bid to take control of the data centre and confront traditional manufacturers in the heart of the core such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Perhaps significantly, Kreins invited IBM, Oracle and Microsoft officials to share the stage with him here to make the point that Juniper’s strategy includes working with, and not against, its partners. Analyst Zeus Kerravala of the Yankee Group believes that Monday’s Cisco announcement puts a strain on that company’s partnership with IBM, one that Juniper may be able to exploit if it plays its cards right. | 
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RE: Juniper jumps in with high performance switches
