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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Juniper QFabric comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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 Catalyst Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
176
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (7th), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Juniper QFabric
Ranking in LAN Switching
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 28.1%, down from 31.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFabric is 2.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

Joshua Odunsi - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures efficient performance and supports network growth with optimal speed
Catalyst Switches are efficient and swift, which is valuable for my organization. I experience optimal speed and effective configuration, making them stand out compared to other switches. The PoE switches offer more ports on SFP, and it is efficient in use. Overall, the switches provide me with the value I expect in terms of speed and efficiency.
Suresh Pathipatti - PeerSpot reviewer
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The warranty and continued firmware support are most valuable."
"Catalyst switches are easy to use and simple to work with."
"I like the flexibility of this product."
"These are a proven technology and I haven't had any problem with them."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco equipment is reliability."
"The product is also flexible."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Catalyst Switches are that they are very common. If you talk to someone most likely they will have a Cisco Catalyst Switch, they will not mention other names, such as Juniper, ProCurve, Dell, or anything else. The most common product in networking in my country is Cisco. Everywhere you go they talk about Cisco."
"The product is convenient to deploy."
"The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability."
"Juniper QFabric has various advantages including scalability, simplicity, performance, and flexibility."
"It is known for being agile, flexible, and cost-effective when working with various vendors."
"It's user-friendly."
"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 40 gig backbone InterConneX was valuable for our use case. It is even faster now. QFabric has spine-leaf technology or topology, which basically makes every single hop only one hop away in terms of connecting from one device to another. It is a pretty good and robust solution. It works pretty well in terms of scalability, and their technical support is amazing."
"QFabric supports redundancy and includes all of the enterprise and service provider features that customers would want in data center or service provider network."
"The solution is stable."
 

Cons

"Catalyst Switches could be more secure."
"In a future upgrade, I would like to see integrated wireless in the solution."
"There's a ban on my country and therefore I can't get Cisco support if I need it. It's not allowed."
"The product could be cheaper."
"Their centralized management could be better. There should be some kind of software for centralized management so that I don't need somebody else to manage it."
"Cisco needs to improve compatibility with other solutions and other vendors like SolarWinds. We've had problems using Catalyst with SolarWinds. Some devices can't be put on SolarWinds due to some ID Values and so on."
"Cisco is dedicated to providing their customers with the latest technology, but it comes with a price. It's expensive when compared to competitors' products."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution and its price could be improved."
"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."
"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."
"Improvements could be made to QFabric's life cycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support."
"Having support for all OpenFlow versions would be beneficial."
"It works too much on rebooting and there is some memory leakage."
"The disruptive upgrade was an issue for us."
"The stability needs to be improved."
"The pricing structure could be more budget-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Highly priced"
"This is expensive, even when compared to competitors' products."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and we pay annually."
"The product is quite expensive."
"Catalyst Switches are costly. When I started working with them 25 years ago, prices were a problem too."
"The price of this solution could be reduced, it is expensive and I am using an annual license."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution."
"It has a very high cost, but understandably, due to its very good quality."
"In terms of price, the QFabric solution is going to be probably in the middle of the road for a fabric solution."
"The price for Juniper QFabric could improve. There are subscription, maintenance, and add-on feature fees."
"Juniper QFabric is a high-level solution but it could be less expensive."
"The pricing is high."
"The price is relatively high, but it offers an advantage over its competitors by providing better performance and functionality."
"The pricing is high and it is possible to find better pricing option solutions on the market, but the licensing model is quite flexible."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
45%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
17%
University
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What do you like most about Cisco Catalyst Switches?
We are a vendor for the healthcare sector, especially hospitals, and normally, we use a full Cisco solution for stability, especially for the stability of the Access Points and the security of swit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
For pricing satisfaction, I'd say it will be six to seven because Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors. Regarding pricing, there is indeed room for improvement.
What do you like most about Juniper QFabric?
The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability.
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.
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...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
QFabric
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
MCB Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Juniper QFabric and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.