Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Juniper QFabric comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4, while Juniper is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 29.4% mindshare in LS, compared to Juniper’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Read 175 Cisco Catalyst Switches reviews

6,606 Views
3,248 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Juniper QFabric

Read 10 Juniper QFabric reviews

253 Views
165 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Juniper QFabric

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst Switches and Juniper QFabric based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two LAN Switching solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric

March 2025

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Helped 845,406 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

175

Ranking in other categories

Ethernet Switches (7th), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)

Juniper QFabric

Ranking in LAN Switching

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 29.4%, down from 32.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFabric is 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

Joshua Odunsi

I.T INFRASTRUCTURE/SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR at Haggai Mortgage Bank Ltd

Ensures efficient performance and supports network growth with optimal speed

Catalyst Switches are efficient and swift, which is valuable for my organization. I experience optimal speed and effective configuration, making them stand out compared to other switches. The PoE switches offer more ports on SFP, and it is efficient in use. Overall, the switches provide me with the value I expect in terms of speed and efficiency.

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OusaidAbaz

Security Network Architect at Inmac

Ensures reliable operation and consistent performance but lifecycle management need improvement

QFabric simplified our data center network architecture by reducing configuration complexity compared to Cisco devices. It required fewer CLI commands, making configuration quicker and easier, especially for scalable deployments. QFabric improved scalability in our data center by simplifying the addition of new switches to existing configurations. The process was straightforward to manage. Implementing QFabric can affect overall IT infrastructure costs differently based on configuration needs. For small businesses with stable configurations, costs remain unchanged. However, for scalability and expansion, additional configuration and time may increase costs. My advice for those using Juniper is to ensure staff are well-trained and certified in Juniper technologies, such as JNCIA, JNCIS, JNCIP, or JNCIE. With these skills, you can effectively manage and troubleshoot Juniper solutions, minimizing potential issues and maximizing performance. Overall, I would rate Juniper QFabric as a seven out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The solution is durable."

"The biggest advantage of having this solution is that it is easy to find engineers, and they are cheaper than hiring HP engineers."

"These switches are flexible and user-friendly."

"The stability and Cisco's support are the most valuable features."

"Technical support is very helpful, even during implementation."

"The pricing is quite good."

"It is easy to use."

"It is very reliable."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pros

"The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability."

"The vendor maintains the product well."

"QFabric supports redundancy and includes all of the enterprise and service provider features that customers would want in data center or service provider network."

"The solution is easy to use and has good performance."

"The 40 gig backbone InterConneX was valuable for our use case. It is even faster now. QFabric has spine-leaf technology or topology, which basically makes every single hop only one hop away in terms of connecting from one device to another. It is a pretty good and robust solution. It works pretty well in terms of scalability, and their technical support is amazing."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the fabric backplane having upwards of 160 GB of communication. It is a top-of-the-rack solution where you have your directors sitting in the main area and then you have your nodes expanded out to your multiple cabinets. It has a very good design and could be your server backbone."

"The solution is stable."

"It's user-friendly."

More Juniper QFabric pros

Cons

"The solution offers a bit of complexity and you need a specialized workforce."

"There are multiple operating systems across Cisco's portfolio, which is problematic."

"While it is scalable, it could be better."

"There could be improvements in the repeat configuration with some file integration that is currently missing."

"I would like to see support for one-touch provisioning."

"The biggest barrier to buying Cisco or using Cisco is the price and also the competition with competitors and with Cisco partners."

"The only improvement I would like to see with Cisco Catalyst Switches is the pricing."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches could be a little bit cheaper as they are very costly."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches cons

"The stability needs to be improved."

"It would be nice if Juniper provided the system integrator with training, similar to that of Cisco."

"The disruptive upgrade was an issue for us."

"Improvements could be made to QFabric's life cycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support."

"It works too much on rebooting and there is some memory leakage."

"The pricing structure could be more budget-friendly."

"They are working on the virtualization of the actual fabric layer. They are moving away from the original spine-leaf design to a different infrastructure. Instead of having three tiers, which was the director of the interconnected nodes, they cut them back, and they still have that kind of structure."

"Having support for all OpenFlow versions would be beneficial."

More Juniper QFabric cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Catalyst Switches is a very expensive solution."

"The price of the solution is expensive compared to other products from America or Europe. They should have more competitive pricing."

"We are a large company and the price is reasonable because we have received a discount. However, the full price is expensive."

"The price could always be lower."

"The price of these switches is on the upper end. It is around $3,500 plus for a 24-Port switch. These switches are more expensive than Linksys and TP-Links, but you get what you pay for. If you look at the pros and cons per switch, you can justify the cost compared to a lesser and cheaper brand."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches are very expensive."

"The price could be improved."

"The cost of this solution could be less expensive, and we are on an annual license."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pricing and cost advice

"In terms of price, the QFabric solution is going to be probably in the middle of the road for a fabric solution."

"The price for Juniper QFabric could improve. There are subscription, maintenance, and add-on feature fees."

"Juniper QFabric is a high-level solution but it could be less expensive."

"The price is relatively high, but it offers an advantage over its competitors by providing better performance and functionality."

"The pricing is high."

"The pricing is high and it is possible to find better pricing option solutions on the market, but the licensing model is quite flexible."

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845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

67%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?

Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...

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What do you like most about Cisco Catalyst Switches?

We are a vendor for the healthcare sector, especially hospitals, and normally, we use a full Cisco solution for stability, especially for the stability of the Access Points and the security of swit...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?

Although Juniper is cheaper, Cisco provides unique features that justify their pricing.

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What do you like most about Juniper QFabric?

The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper QFabric?

Juniper QFabric is not overly expensive. Licensing is required for certain features like vRRP, but setting up a virtual chassis does not necessitate a separate license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper QFabric?

Improvements could be made to QFabric's lifecycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support. The rapid release cycle and short life span compared to comp...

See all answers

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Compared 9% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Catalyst Switches

Compared 9% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs Cisco Catalyst Switches

Compared 7% of the time

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Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFabric

Compared 100% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Switches

March 2025

Download Cisco Catalyst Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

March 2025

Download Juniper QFabric product report

Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst

QFabric

Overview

Cisco Catalyst Switches are a reliable and scalable network switching and routing solution, focusing on VLANs and VLAN switching. They are used as access switches, distribution switches, and core switches in various environments, deployed on-premises, and used for long connections. The switches are easy to configure, install, and upgrade and offer good pricing.

The most valuable features include warranty and firmware support, stability, security, good performance, flexibility, etc. The Cisco Catalyst Switches have provided a stable solution for the organizations and are widely used, trusted, and well-known in the networking industry.

Cisco

Juniper QFabric System is composed of multiple components working together as a single switch to provide high-performance, any-to-any connectivity and management simplicity in the data center. The QFabric System flattens the entire data center network to a single tier where all access points are equal, eliminating the effects of network locality and making it the ideal network foundation for cloud-ready, virtualized data centers.The highly scalable QFabric System improves application performance with low latency and converged services in a nonblocking, lossless architecture that supports Layer 2, Layer 3, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capabilities.

Juniper

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena

MCB Bank

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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