Juniper Is 'Simply Connected'

Juniper has announced a new go-to market strategy for the enterprise LAN called Simply Connected. The strategy has two connotations, according to Juniper: Users simply want to connect to the network easily and quickly, and IT wants easy-to-manage networking extending from the user to the core.

Go-to-market strategies like Juniper's are not new, and they provide a way for vendors to frame their product sets into "solutions" rather than SKUs. They also provide insight into the focus of the vendor. Cisco’s Borderless Networks, for example, focuses on providing users a seamless networking experience, regardless of where they are.

Juniper is big on vision and for the past several years has been building both its messaging and product integration to support the promises it makes. With the go-to-market strategy, Juniper is also announcing three new campus switches, a WLAN controller and updates to Junos Pulse, the company's mobile client.

Juniper wasn’t the first to talk about a unified OS across its switch lines, but it is the loudest. I think Extreme Networks was most likely first when it announced XOS across its EX switch line. Coupled with their data center strategy, Project Stratus, Juniper is covering both the data center and campus LAN.

While Juniper doesn’t have the same product breadth as Cisco or HP, it also doesn't have the baggage that a long product history carries. The new product announcements fill out Juniper's campus LAN switch line and extend from small to large installations.

The new 14U EX6200 can support up to 432 10/100/1000 copper ports and 384 10/100/1000 ports with dual SRE management modules, and can supply PoE+, 30 watts per port, across all ports with four 5,000-watt power supplies. Juniper is also announcing the EX-3300 family of six fixed-form-factor switches ranging from 24- to 48-port 10/100/1000 models and two that support PoE and PoE+.

The EX3300-24P will support 24 ports of 15.4 watts and 13 ports of 30 watts, while the EX3300-48P offers 48 ports of 15.4 watts and 24 ports of 30 watts. The compact EX2200-C is a fanless, compact switch targeted at remote locations such as point-of-sale terminals. The EX2200-C can support six ports of 15.4 watts and three ports of 30 watts.

The new mid-range WLC8800 WLAN controllers fill a gap in Juniper's wireless offering, supporting up to 256 access points, including Juniper's Spectrum Management. Missing from Juniper's lineup compared with Cisco’s Borderless networks are the features that enable branch office server consolidation such as WAN optimization or VM capabilities in the branch office equipment.

Juniper also enhanced its Junos Pulse client with new capabilities for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, as well as Android phones and tablets. The new version enables enterprises to lock and wipe devices, set Exchange policies, and manage the device's VPN and Wi-Fi settings. It can also inventory the device and restrict applications. For Android, administrators can revoke applications and remove malware. Juniper’s enhancements should be welcome to organizations that are wrestling with mobile device management.

The EX6200 starts at $35,000 for a 96-port system. Each 48-port card (up to a maximum of 432 ports) costs $5,500 for data and $8,000 for PoE+, and will be available in October. The EX 3300, available now, starts at $4,500 for 24-port data and can cost up to $8,800 for 48-port with PoE+. The EX 2200-C starts at $1,295 and $1,895 for PoE+ and is available now. The WLC880 starts at $9,995 and will be available this month.

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