Q&A with Juniper Networks
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Q&A with Juniper Networks

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Capacity speaks to Juniper networks about the company's cloud-based SD-WAN solution and how differs from the competition.

What is latest offerings does Juniper have in the SD-WAN space?

Juniper Networks announced a cloud-based version of its SD-WAN solution, the most scalable offering on the market today. Juniper’s SD-WAN as a service now connects and manages the full suite of Juniper branch and WAN solutions.

 What is new about Juniper’s SD-WAN solution?

A cloud-based version of Juniper’s SD-WAN solution allows enterprises to simplify operations by centralizing, automating and abstracting initial and ongoing operations of a distributed fleet of network infrastructure. Additionally, today’s news gives enterprises a suite of new capabilities to support secure automation throughout the service deployment lifecycle:

  • Unprecedented SD-WAN Flexibility. Juniper’s SD-WAN now supports more variations of passive redundant hybrid WAN links, internet breakout at the WAN edge CPE or centralized WAN hubs and topologies such as hub and spoke, partial mesh and dynamic full mesh. It has also been tested by third-party EANTC at scales above 10,000 spoke sites and is highly multi-tenant, allowing for unprecedented scale.

  • Centrally managed branch LAN and WAN. Connecting Juniper’s EX Series Ethernet switches to a single or dual WAN gateway of NFX or SRX Series devices allows customers to centrally automate the WAN and LAN policy and provisioning for secure connectivity.

  • Managed security. Customers now have even more choice and control in managing their security needs, including integration with cloud security provider ZScaler and management of the next-gen firewall features of the SRX or NFX devices, including Juniper Sky ATP.

  • Mist Systems integration. Mist, the leading provider in AI for IT with the world’s first AI-driven wireless LAN, is now integrated in the new SD-WAN management interface. Customers can see operational and analytics data about the Wi-Fi alongside WAN, LAN and security.

  • Open and adaptable solution. A flexible solution that can help enterprises quickly adapt and evolve, Juniper’s SD-WAN enables customers to extend a secure SD-WAN to hubs and spokes in the cloud by simply adding a vSRX into a public cloud IaaS of choice. Additionally, Juniper’s open standards-based architecture and open APIs allow for seamless systems integration and NetOps workflow automation.

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How does Juniper’s new SD-WAN solution compare to competitors?

The new SD-WAN as a service is a flexible, scalable and integrated solution that can be easily deployed. It offers enterprise customers a simple way to manage and secure not only WAN infrastructure, but unlike rival SD-WAN solutions, also branch LAN and Wi-Fi networks. Additionally:

  • Scalable: This new solution allows to simply scale from WAN architectures of 1 to 10,000 and is highly multi-tenant. Juniper’s scalable, cloud-based SD-WAN solution helps enterprises prepare for the future while simplifying today. It pairs the simplicity of a cloud-delivered model with Contrail’s central orchestration of network infrastructure, delivering all the advanced benefits of automated networking, security, analytics and AI for IT.

  • Flexible: Customers can now choose to deploy Juniper’s SD-WAN on-premises or as a cloud-based offering, and feature parity is maintained between the two options. Most competitors only offer one consumption option. Additionally, Juniper’s commitment to open-standards-based engineering means customers can integrate with other systems - the way networks were intended. Multiple Contrail SD-WAN and Contrail Enterprise Multicloud instances can be federated together using the BGP open standard.

  • Integrated: Juniper’s open standards-based architecture and open APIs allows for seamless integration with services like Mist and ZScaler. Also security is integral to the solution, providing with a common policy framework to ensure consistent protection and application experience through the entire enterprise WAN and branch.

What key challenges does this new offering addresses?

SD-WAN traditionally helps solve the challenge of automating branch management. These sites are often not staffed with IT personnel, so centralized control and automation is critical. With this announcement, Juniper is extending the SDN transformation beyond SD-WAN to the branch all up, further extending our principles of Engineering Simplicity to automate operations and improve the user and operator experience. Architecturally, this solution helps enterprises progress to unifying connectivity, visibility, security and service delivery across multiple network domains, progressing toward a holistic secure and automated multicloud IT platform.

 How does this news fit into Juniper's wider company roadmap?

Juniper is committed to helping enterprises on their journey to a secure and automated multicloud, and extending the SDN transformation beyond cloud and data centers to the branch and the WAN. With this launch, combined with the recent Mist Systems acquisition, the company is making industry-leading strides in the bid to make AI for IT a reality for companies of all sizes.

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