Juniper’s history of providing powerful, scalable switches that reduce total cost of ownership and increase ROI is hardly contested. But between their prominent EX series and impressive QFX series, which switch is right for you? We did a little comparison and here are the results to take note of:

The EX Ethernet Series is comprised of eight different fixed-platform family models. Data rates vary from 56 Gbps to 960 Gbps (full duplex).  Most operate on the Junos OS except the EX2500.  The EX series features carrier-class reliability and deliver wire-speed performance on all ports for any packet size. The unique innovations of this series of Ethernet switches successfully enable new architectures that reduce complexity, and therefore, cost. Unified management and automation tools consolidate system monitoring and maintenance and save time and money.

The QFX series delivers several improvements over the EX series in business agility, operating costs, and data center performance.  In short, the QFX series offers significant improvements in efficiency and speed and is the ideal option for large-scale cloud providers. The QFX Series includes two product lines: the Juniper Networks QFX3000 QFabric Switch and the QFX3500 QFabric Switch.  The QFX3500 is standalone, while the QFX3000 is comprised of three separate components.

Ultimately, your choice should rely on the amount of power and speed you need. Both series provide unparalleled switching features.

Building on a decade of experience, Extreme Networks offers an impressive complement of Ethernet switching products. Given that Ethernet is now the foundation for communications all over the world, companies have been forced to tackle new challenges in security, interoperability, and infrastructure challenges. Extreme Networks’ switches deliver robust connectivity for data, video, and voice and cater to a highly mobile community of users. They offer four families of switches:  Edge, Access, Core,  and Mobile Backhaul Products.

Designed for enterprises, campuses, data centers, and service providers, Extreme Networks’ switching solutions are unique in that they integrate security features critical to the protection of data directly into the switch fabric. This allows businesses to grow and evolve, but still adapt with their existing hardware. And that means a higher level of investment protection.  Security means little without clarity of voice and video applications and the switches from Extreme Networks provide that as well.

Extreme doesn’t have the market share that companies like Cisco and Juniper do, but they’re not to be discounted.  The availability and quality of Extreme Networks’ products is high and their hardware rivals that of many of its competitors.

Last month, Cisco announced the unveiling of the Cisco Catalyst Supervisor Engine 7L-E.  It is just the latest in a long line of highly reliable Cisco networking hardware components.  Some of the more popular components manufactured by Cisco include the 7500 series routers and the 3750E series switches.  As a leader in the technology hardware industry, Cisco continuously stays on top of the latest developments to provide the best in security, efficiency, and power in both wired and wireless networks.

The Catalyst Supervisor Engine 7L-E will undoubtedly bring with it the availability of a wide array of new features and increased processing power, while also providing the latest in security applications. Security continues to be a key focus for Cisco as they understand the need to keep critical data secure and still provide the necessary mobility and flexibility a network needs to be efficient.

If you’re just now getting into purchasing networking equipment, the 7L-E may be the way to go. It will remain a solid, powerful supervisor engine for years to come. If the price tag is a bit high, however, you may want to consider one of the previous generations and purchase pre-owned. Pre-owned hardware, when bought through a company like MLCP, is warranted for one full year or more and provides more than enough features for most businesses.  Read the specs carefully before you decide as there’s no reason to spend more money than you need to on features you’ll never use.

The main features of Accelerated Internet over Satellite from Cisco include:  the ability for IP voice to provide advanced communications like voicemail, call processing, conferencing, and Automated Attendant functions at a lower cost than traditional voice systems; enhanced collaboration and productivity; cost-efficient security systems and video surveillance in addition to live streaming media; increased security; and secure access through VPNs. Network downtime, customer service threats, and lost revenue are all reduced by this technology.

The Cisco NCE service module is a transparent proxy. It increases the data transfer rate on a WAN link and successfully improves response times of remotely hosted applications. The service module accelerates performance of any TCP application delivered over a wireless or wireline WAN.

Purchasing one of these components pre-owned can reduce networking costs further while still providing the necessary technology to keep your network secure.

Designed to replace the Cisco NM-1FE2W, the NM-1FE2W-V2 is a combination 10/100 Ethernet and WAN Interface Cards carrier module allows customers using Cisco 2600, 2800, 3600, 3700 and 3800 Series Routers to benefit from the increased performance and density capabilities delivered by this family of network modules. Features of the NM-1FE2W-V2 include auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet ports and TDM capabilities. New or refurbished, the NM-1FE2W-V2 saves overall operational costs by maximizing functionality.

Our love for the NM-1FE2W-V2 grows upon our love for the original. The Cisco NM-1FE2W is the Fast Ethernet LAN/WAN interface card (WIC) Network Module that expands the capabilities of the Cisco 2600 and 3600 Series Routers. Purchase a refurbished NM-1FE2W to provide slots for additional WICs, or buy the V2 for increased functionality including more options in terms of software release compatibility.

If you’re trying to decide between an original or third party transceiver purchase, here are some points that may help you decide… when you buy from a trusted source like MLCP, you can be confident with either purchase.

Benefits of Buying an Original:

• You can choose between new or used for different price options
• You know that the manufacturer makes the same transceiver for Cisco, Juniper, etc. (and it will be compatible with your existing network)
• When you buy from MLCP, they will procure your transceiver from a reliable source and as a member of UNEDA, you can be sure they will never send you counterfeit components
• You’ll be protected under a one year warranty (some are even warranted for life)

Benefits of Buying an OEM (Third Party):

• Your transceiver will always be new
• If you buy from MLCP, they guarantee your transceiver will be properly coded to work with your existing network even if your network is complex
• MLCP will secure your OEM transceiver from a reliable source
• You will receive a lifetime warranty on your transceiver
• You will most likely receive your transceiver more quickly because the lead time on OEM transceivers is shorter than originals in many cases
• it will be uniform with other transceivers

If you elect to buy from MULTI-LINK, you’re safe with either option. It really comes down to the length of warranty and price of the transceiver.