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Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFX Series Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

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 Nexus
Ranking in Data Center Networking
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (2nd)
Juniper QFX Series Switches
Ranking in Data Center Networking
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 19.1%, up from 14.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFX Series Switches is 13.6%, up from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking
 

Featured Reviews

Joe Benítez - PeerSpot reviewer
Offer high performance capabilities and enables efficient data transmission and processing
Before Nexus, I used to have Catalyst 6500 switches. Those 6500 series chassis gave us a lot of problems. Too many problems, actually. And we had a Cisco ASA firewall blade within those chassis. And they were running outdated software. So, in fact, it was the firewall blade that caused us too many problems instead of the chassis. The chassis itself was working well and performing fine, but the firewall card was not suitable for our needs. That was one aspect. Additionally, those chassis had been in operation for more than five years. As we are a local government, we have a policy to renew hardware every five years. That's because we need to maintain all the hardware and software in the latest versions and keep up with the technology lifecycle of the technology we use.
Abdul  Malik - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers high port density, including 1/25G/40G/100G and 400 options upto 2 RU and lower power consumption and leverages Broadcom chipsets for enhanced performance
In terms of performance, scalability, and other factors, I would rate them around eight out of ten. I've encountered a few issues during deployments based on customer experiences. My first deployment was with the QFX5100-48S for a data center customer. I implemented layer-2 connectivity on them. Overall, I would say they're good for small-scale and medium scale so it seems these problems can persist for some time. However, the QFX series is still generally considered a good product and offers more flexibility than other options. It's very scalable. I haven't heard any customer complaints about scalability. In my experience, even the QFX5110 series extends for many years without needing upgrades. This scalability solves the challenge of needing to upgrade due to unknown internal problems, even when the release is stable.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When it comes to data centers, Cisco Nexus is the best."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is its stability."
"The scalability of the solution is well beyond anything I would ever need."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it scales well. It supports a lot of servers. We don't have to come up with different designs for anything. That's the best part about it."
"A very solid and reliable solution."
"They are very high-performance switches and they are made for lossless data, so they're a good play in the customer environment."
"This solution has given us the ability to use Cisco ISE for security."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the power."
"It's really easy to replicate rules. It's the one that I've used; it was CLI-based. You can implement a large set of rules with CLI. You can just copy a script and add additional changes to the source and destination on the part. And so it's easy to do large zone-based rules."
"It's a stable solution."
"The QFX series is a good choice for large data centers, particularly for Spine-Leaf architectures."
"Support is good and customer-friendly"
"The most valuable features are the VxLAN and the EVPN."
"EVPN-VXLAN feature offers the most benefits."
"Juniper QFX Series Switches provide a good platform for all of our hardware and are easy to use."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better monitoring actions supported in the next release of this solution."
"Our only complaint is about the licensing because it can always be a little more cost-effective."
"One improvement needed is support for Multi-CAD scale that we were concerned about. We're not hitting any limits at this point."
"Enhancing the software-defined level of this solution would empower it."
"They should make it easier to update the code on it."
"Data center access is stable and high speed but it is not compatible with Cisco's server hardware devices. The solution can be technically improved and can have features like automation, better visibility, better functionality, and cheap pricing."
"For a very small subset, Cisco Nexus caused port flapping within the applications."
"One of our switches died last week and we were able to RMA it. Within four hours it arrived on time and worked."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model. It is too high."
"The price could be cheaper."
"Integrating QFX switches was the first point of challenge."
"I faced issues with the deployment and upgrade. In the QFX5110 series, features like ISSU and DSSQ should be improved. Upgrades should be smoother."
"It is very costly."
"There have been some issues sometimes. When you upgrade the device, it doesn't come up. It gets stuck."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution should be made more affordable."
"Cisco Nexus is not cheap compared to Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Check Point."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $2,000 USD per year."
"Every Cisco product is more expensive than competitors on the market, which is just a fact, but from my perspective, it is worth it."
"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."
"We use a local distributor for support, which is very expensive."
"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"We only have a yearly support contract, as we do not use any of the subscription-based functions at this time."
"The solution is cheap, especially compared to competitors like Cisco."
"The cost is expensive."
"The price of Juniper QFX Series Switches is expensive because we are running some enterprise hardware. However, they are less expensive than Cisco or HPE hardware."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
26%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
23%
University
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?
The product's initial setup phase is very easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
Cisco pricing is at the same level as many competitors, however, due to competition, they sometimes lower prices and offer large discounts.
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
Cisco's security features are in line with other OEMs, however, for data center security in terms of layer seven security, we prefer to have different OEMs rather than relying solely on Cisco.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Linode, VPRO, West Chester University
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFX Series Switches and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.