Juniper Contrail Networking vs VMware SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Juniper Contrail Networking
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (3rd)
VMware SD-WAN
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (4th), WAN Edge (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Juniper Contrail Networking is 6.9%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware SD-WAN is 22.2%, up from 14.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
12.8%
WAN Edge
13.2%
 

Featured Reviews

TA
Feb 27, 2023
Smart configuration management eliminates the need to worry about managing the network's configurations
Based on my experience in the Indian market, there are four to five areas that need improvement. First, there is a lack of marketing and awareness about Juniper, making it difficult to reach end-users and deliver solutions. Second, Juniper's education and awareness centers are costly and not easily accessible like Cisco's resources and their understanding of users' requirements. The information is not easily available on online channels like Youtube. Third, Juniper needs to promote its Mist integration better, and pricing is also a significant factor. Finally, Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch. In summary, improving marketing and sales, education and awareness, Mist integration, pricing, and catering to specific market requirements are areas that need improvement. I just want a good feature in the SD-WAN. Juniper should consider integrating its firewall experience with its SD-WAN devices to create a complete package. With everything moving to the cloud, companies require intelligence and security solutions for their on-prem infrastructure. Moreover, Juniper should integrate its SOC solution into its Mist portal and SD-WAN devices, including IPs, IDS, web and content filters, and messaging. This would provide a complete product and give Juniper an advantage over competitors such as Cisco. I believe that with a bundle that includes SOC and UTM flavors in their Mist portal, Juniper can make a significant impact in the market.
Aneesh K - PeerSpot reviewer
May 10, 2024
Even a small group of people can manage a large environment and easy to manage
I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten with ten being easy. Our hardware is ready, ISP is ready. I can bring up the site in just five to ten minutes. We use it for both on-prem and cloud, but they may have to make some improvements for the cloud. Currently, the cloud gateway has some bandwidth limitations. It cannot support more than 1.5 gigabytes. That's a challenge because, with the cloud, we expect more traffic. So, the capacity of each gateway could be a challenge. We use it for the cloud, but on-prem, it's perfect. Maybe for the cloud, they need to make some improvements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides proactive alerting in a single dashboard solution."
"Contrail automates the excellent communication between virtual appliances."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is a stable solution."
"After we finished setting Contrail up, it seemed stable enough. Still, we never tested it in a real environment, so we don't have enough information to say whether it's stable with a given number of users and appliances. We have tested it in a lab environment, but we haven't tested enough to say that the platform is stable."
"Some of the best features are the SD-WAN platform for VMware and the NSX network virtualization."
"VMware has been chosen by many of our customers who do not want to do a lot of complex routing in their environment and want a very easy-to-use solution. The most valuable features are simple troubleshooting, Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMPO), and cybersecurity."
"The product is consistent and is one of the best despite the competition."
"The most valuable feature is load balancing."
"One of the standout features is its ability to dynamically manage enterprise networks based on applications."
"I have found the dynamic multipoint protocol(DNPO) most useful because it can tell you which is the best circuit to use for different types of traffic."
"It's easy to deploy and manage. Even a small group of people can manage a large environment. It's stable, easy to deploy, easy to install—all the stuff."
"It is fairly similar to other solutions. It has the capability for testing link connectivity, which is its unique feature from a control perspective."
 

Cons

"Concerns were raised about the complexity of involving networking components like MX routers, which often required expertise beyond the scope of software engineers. As a result, users encountered challenges in achieving comprehensive understanding and troubleshooting of networking issues within the Contrail environment."
"Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch."
"Visibility, especially for the top of the platform, is a nightmare. The top was documented incorrectly and really complex to complete. In the end, it worked but only after several weeks of work with the support of a Juniper solution engineer in Holland."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is difficult if you do not have a certificate for Juniper. Juniper is a different type of configuration or operation than Cisco."
"The cost is a little bit high."
"The initial setup of VMware SD-WAN was simple. However, it took six days to complete."
"I would like for them to upgrade to 5G integration. Our customers have 4G now and the connectivity isn't good. It should be much faster."
"VMware SD-WAN can improve on the security features."
"The solution doesn't offer failover between their own devices. If I want to, I should be able to put the two devices at the side, so there can be a failover."
"In the future, we would like to have more capacity using this solution as there are limitations on the VCE. For example, only 50 tunnels can be supported currently but we would like to have 200 tunnels using the VeloCloud VCE device."
"I would like to see more features added to increase visibility."
"There is still room for improvement in support and security, especially in enhancing the SASE aspect of the platform."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are many vendors in the wireless market that offer better pricing, solutions, and management skills compared to Juniper."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is low-cost for small and medium-sized businesses. Cisco and Palo Alto solutions are more expensive."
"You need to pay for a license to use this product."
"The licensing model of VMware SD-WAN could be improved, it is not always that competitive. The biggest concern is to be competitive against other solutions. However, the way that the licensing model is designed is not corresponding to the real use cases of my customers."
"The price of the solution could be reduced."
"The price of VMware SD-WAN is less expensive than some solutions, such as Cisco."
"The pricing is very comparable to Fortinet."
"Price would be a challenge for customers, because it is expensive."
"VeloCloud performs as well as the Cisco SD-WAN but it is cheaper in price."
"The solution's price combines the license and the bandwidth you used."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Contrail Networking?
It provides proactive alerting in a single dashboard solution.
What needs improvement with Juniper Contrail Networking?
Juniper Contrail Networking enables the utilization of tier-two appliances and the creation of virtual networks or appliances. This is facilitated through the use of filtering devices. Additionally...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Contrail Networking?
We use the solution to host many services for multiple clients. We aim to transition from hosting Cisco clients to utilizing virtual appliances. Therefore, we intend to virtualize their infrastruct...
What are the biggest differences between Fortinet Fortigate and VMware SD-WAN?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. It is a very stable, reliable, and consistent solution. We like that we can manage the entire...
What do you like most about VMware SD-WAN?
One of the key use cases for VMware SD-WAN was assisting a customer in the industrial zone. They required virtualized servers and wanted to enable VMware SD-WAN to connect their sites in Japan or C...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware SD-WAN?
VMware SD-WAN provides competitive pricing. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Contrail Networking
VeloCloud
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lithium Technologies, Orange Business Services, Cloudwatt, Symantec, Cloud Dynamics, CloudSeeds
Redmond, Coca Cola, Roka Bioscience, MetTel, Deutsche Telekom, Rockford Construction,  The Bay Club, tru Independence, Triton Management Services, DevCon, AXPM
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Juniper, Aviatrix and others in Software Defined Networking (SDN). Updated: May 2024.
787,817 professionals have used our research since 2012.