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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is 1.9%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Vishwajeet Pandey - PeerSpot reviewer
Management and monitoring efficiencies from a single platform increase network control and flexibility
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center ( /products/fortinet-fortiswitch-data-center-reviews ) offers flexibility and control over the entire network from a single pane of management. It allows me to create VLANs, implement security measures, and push configurations using a single tool. These features make the solution accurate, flexible, and valuable for network management.
FauzanRahmanto - PeerSpot reviewer
Have achieved lower costs and gained reliability with some room for better scalability
The security capabilities of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches are comparable to other brands, so there are no additional points for Juniper regarding the security systems. I would rate the price of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten. Regarding stability, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten. I would recommend Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches to other organizations because it is easy to use, the command is easy to learn, and it is very stable. I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors. I am the person who usually does the maintenance alone. In my office, my two colleagues and I are the network engineers directly responsible for the operation of the EX devices. The number of users in my organization who have access to Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is around 17 people. Overall, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Using Fortinet's whole range, including FortiSwitches, is cost-effective compared to Cisco and beneficial for network security."
"The product's most valuable feature is its ability to manage switches from one central point."
"FortiSwitch Data Center allows for centralized management of both Fortinet switches and firewalls from a single interface."
"Configurations between FortiGate and FortiSwitch have to link to each other. We need configuration. The configuration is not like a Cisco switch. It has a unique configuration."
"It allows us to manage all necessary services, such as data centers, networking, and cybersecurity."
"Based on my use cases, Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center was a great product that was easy to manage and work with while being a powerful tool."
"A valuable feature of FortiGate is its management integrity."
"What I like about the solution is that it can be accessed anywhere."
"In terms of performance, Juniper switches have a more user-friendly interface and more features than Cisco products."
"The most valuable feature is that Juniper is multiple kernels, so there's isolation, which means you won't get a process that runs away, creating problems across the whole platform."
"The security is good."
"The most valuable feature is that the CLI is the same on all of the Juniper devices, including routers, switches, and firewalls."
"It's stable and reliable."
"Juniper EX Series is part of the Junos operating system and has a candidate configuration feature, which means changes are not immediately applied. It has a consistent command structure across all platforms and can handle both layer-three routing and layer-two switching. Additionally, the Junos OS offers virtualization options and support for multi-chassis and fabric switching. Overall, the Juniper EX Series is a versatile and powerful solution."
"The most valuable feature is the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)."
"The campus switches and access switches are the most valuable and simple to deploy for Virtual Chassis."
 

Cons

"Routing is an area in Fortinet FortiSwitch with certain shortcomings where improvements are needed."
"The solution could always benefit from more security. It's of critical importance to organizations right now."
"They could improve availability and security by detecting and preventing switch attacks."
"Before using FortiSwitch, you need several certifications."
"Managing the VLANs is an area where the solution lacks and needs to improve."
"The UI of the firewall and reporting could be improved."
"The solution can improve by upgrading QSFP+, it is very limited and must be supported more than it is now. If we need FortiSwitches to support all the QSFP ports our budgets would have to be very large."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center needs to improve its UI and stability."
"The initial setup for Juniper switches is complex. Juniper has a new program that solves that problem a little bit, but it is expensive, so I don't use it. It is Juniper Mesh, Juniper Wire, or something like that where you plug in a switch, and it goes out to their cloud, finds a config, and brings it down. So, you can do everything cloud-based, but there is a fee for that. It is expensive, so I've never used it. If we were starting, we would try to do something like that. It is more for a large enterprise for managing hundreds of switches versus what we're doing. They should make its price more cost-effective or include it for new or smaller companies."
"The security features for the product should be more unified for the product regardless of the product model."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"The operating system, Junos OS, often has bugs which forces rollbacks or additional upgrades to resolve."
"Stability could be better, especially during a reboot. We have had some issues recently with the software getting corrupt on reboot, which causes a lot of downtime."
"Improvements can be made in the web user interface and web management."
"It would be nice to have a more available list of modules that you can get for this solution."
"We are undergoing a migration to software-defined networking. Different vendors have to integrate with each other and we are not seeing this type of capability within Juniper. We are getting left behind in this technology trend by staying with this solution. Juniper is also losing a bit of market share because of this."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is expensive."
"The tool's pricing is lower than Cisco's."
"The solution's pricing is a little high. The solution deserves the current price it receives from its users."
"The product is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"It is reasonably priced."
"The solution is not expensive."
"This solution is expensive but it does not require a license."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."
"We don't need to pay for the solution's features."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"The solution's pricing is cheaper than that of Cisco."
"We had a leakage in the support process and decided to end the product's life in order to purchase a new product with support. We did not renew product support as a result."
"You require the Junos Management Platform in order to manage the switches and you need to purchase the Juniper Ethernet Switches."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches are a less expensive solution than Cisco Ethernet Switches. There is only a one-time purchase for Juniper Ethernet Switches."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The Juniper switches are less expensive than competing brands."
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Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
The Fortinet switches come with no additional cost as they are open source, with only hardware warranties applicable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
There is room for improvement in customer support and device speed. Sometimes, customer support does not provide prompt assistance, leaving projects hanging. Additionally, improving the speed of th...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Ethernet Switches?
Juniper EX model is ok for the campus network as the ex4300 is EOL in a few years and the new ex4400 is the standard. Now for the QFX model, 5k/10k in CRB mode IP fabric Ethernet switching is horri...
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
We deal mostly with Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches products, as we are partners with Juniper products. We work with Juniper wireless. We deal with all the Juniper products and also Cisco and H...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.