Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFabric comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6, while Juniper is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 8.9% mindshare in LS, compared to Juniper’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

Cisco Nexus

Read 105 Cisco Nexus reviews

1,494 Views
1,045 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Juniper QFabric

Read 10 Juniper QFabric reviews

247 Views
161 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Juniper QFabric

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Juniper QFabric and Cisco Nexus are competing products in data center networking. Cisco Nexus generally emerges as a more feature-rich solution due to its advanced network features and robust security options, although it is priced higher. Juniper QFabric, however, is often recognized for its cost-effective pricing and excellent support structure.

Features: QFabric is known for its simplicity, efficient scalability, and easy network architecture, which supports data traffic without complex configurations. Cisco Nexus offers advanced flexibility, high security, and integration capabilities, making it ideal for comprehensive data environments.

Room for Improvement: QFabric could enhance its advanced security features and integration capabilities to match its competitors. Network flexibility and automation can also be areas for growth. Cisco Nexus may improve in simplifying its deployment and configuration steps, offer more accessible support resources, and reducing complexity in integration processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Nexus offers comprehensive support materials for seamless implementation, though the deployment process involves significant initial configuration. It is balanced by extensive customer service. Juniper QFabric provides easier deployment with straightforward configuration, supported by reliable customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Juniper QFabric typically requires lower initial investment, offering favorable ROI from efficient resource usage. Cisco Nexus demands a higher upfront cost but delivers strong long-term ROI due to its extended functionality and adaptability, ideal for demanding network environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFabric Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFabric

April 2025

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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 LAN Switching

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

105

Ranking in other categories

Data Center Networking (3rd)

Juniper QFabric

Ranking in LAN Switching

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 8.9%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFabric is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

Joe Benítez

Systems Engineer at GAD Municipal de Guayaquil

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.

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Suresh Pathipatti

Senior Information Technology Administrator at Aighospital

Performs well, is easy to set up, and the vendor maintains the product well

QFabric is the core switch. We also have two Brocade switches for the Fibre level The product works fine. It is an excellent product. There are different element systems and different options for each generation of the tool. We maintain the data center and analyze issues. I have no negative…

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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 most valuable feature is the HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol)."

"We leverage Cisco DCNM a lot, which allows us to automate."

"The most valuable features are extensions and recorded scalability."

"The most valuable features are the great performance, high availability and easy administration."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is network visibility. It becomes the core switch. All of the devices connected route towards it."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco Nexus is modularity. It's like the Swiss Army knife of switches."

"This product has improved the way our organization functions through the ability to do things in a maintenance window while allowing other teams to continue to work."

"The most valuable features are the access layer security, OpenConfig, and OpenFlow."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The solution is stable."

"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 vendor maintains the product well."

"It's user-friendly."

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

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

"It is known for being agile, flexible, and cost-effective when working with various vendors."

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

More Juniper QFabric pros

Cons

"The initial setup is always complex."

"Nexus switches should be able to support network function virtualization (NFV)."

"The scalability can be improved."

"The product lacks options for integration with other market products that would allow us more flexibility."

"Our only complaint is about the licensing because it can always be a little more cost-effective."

"There are limitations on some of the lower level 9K solutions where you can't do the same things that you would normally be able to do, like for instance the number of static maps that you can configure on it."

"This solution costs a lot."

"Currently, the switches don't behave like the 4500 switches in terms of acting as one physical chassis. So the multi-chassis PortChannel feature is not applicable in this case. Nevertheless, virtual port-channel feature covers this."

More Cisco Nexus cons

"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."

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

"I do not use GUI's very much for switch stacks. I am always in the CLI. However, I do know that Juniper in the past has lacked on their GUI's, but they have been working on it."

"The stability needs to be improved."

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

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

"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."

More Juniper QFabric cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a very expensive product."

"All of our costs including subscription, licensing, and support services are bundled together, and the cost is approximately $100,000 USD per year."

"This solution should be made more affordable."

"The problem with Cisco, from what I see, is that their costs are much higher."

"We have a three-year subscription for our licensing fees."

"We use a local distributor for support, which is very expensive."

"Every Cisco product is more expensive than competitors on the market, which is just a fact, but from my perspective, it is worth it."

"We have three hundred to four hundred data centers of Nexus. So the coverage associated with Smart Net is 27 by 4, is basically what we spend each year. If the incentives get better, which I know they're working on, it would be great but right now we're buying year to year."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

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

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

"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."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

24%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?

The product's initial setup phase is very easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?

The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers. Despite the cost, it offers valuable features and services.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable. Initially, the codes I received through ACI were qui...

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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

Comparisons

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 44% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 11% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 4% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco FabricPath vs Juniper QFabric

Compared 35% of the time

More Juniper QFabric Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

May 2025

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

May 2025

Download Juniper QFabric product report

Also Known As

No data available

QFabric

Overview

The Cisco Nexus family of switches is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the next-generation data center. Not simply bigger or faster, these switches offer the following characteristics: infrastructure that can be scaled cost-effectively and that helps you increase energy, budget, and resource efficiency, transport that can navigate the transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric and can also handle architectural changes such as virtualization, Web 2.0 applications, and cloud computing and operational continuity to meet your need for an environment where system availability is assumed and maintenance windows are rare if not totally extinct.

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

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

MCB Bank

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFabric

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFabric

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