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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
175
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 May 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 28.6%, down from 31.8% 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

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

"We decreased budgets on the support corporate network and increased user satisfaction."
"Catalyst Switches perform very well, and the network is stable."
"All features are very strong. It is very easy to manage. It is also certified and popular. Cisco has come up with a new management console to manage the switches. I still haven't tried it, but in my opinion, this is the best way forward. You can use software to manage the switches instead of the common line configuration. You can manage it through software, which is very easy."
"I have not opened up a ticket for Cisco Catalyst Switches. However, I have used the support from Cisco and they are very good and responsive."
"If we lose some network connections, the system automatically creates new connections between equipment."
"There is a lot of improvement in the network segment after replacing the older switches. I have not seen any kind of issue with these switches since deployment. They are pretty much stable."
"This solution has a pretty good rate of not causing unexpected behavior or failing. We're using maybe 900 switches right now. And, rarely, if ever, something fails, it's dependable."
"The solution offers great scalability."
"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."
"The vendor maintains the product well."
"The solution is stable."
"QFabric supports redundancy and includes all of the enterprise and service provider features that customers would want in data center or service provider network."
"It's user-friendly."
"It is known for being agile, flexible, and cost-effective when working with various vendors."
"The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability."
 

Cons

"The solution offers a bit of complexity and you need a specialized workforce."
"The price could be better. For Cisco, there is no need for improvement except for the price. It's expensive."
"Any improvements that they make should be in the wireless area of the product."
"The initial setup can be easier in cases where the policy and ruleset are complex."
"The tool is not user-friendly."
"It would be good if they added some machine learning which would allow us to abandon the rigid rules for processing traffic priorities and, at the same time, save money, because equipment with similar logic (like DPI) is much more expensive."
"The solution could be easy to use, you need a certificate to use it."
"The general price of the solution could be cheaper."
"The pricing structure could be more budget-friendly."
"Having support for all OpenFlow versions would be beneficial."
"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."
"It would be nice if Juniper provided the system integrator with training, similar to that of Cisco."
"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."
"It works too much on rebooting and there is some memory leakage."
"Improvements could be made to QFabric's life cycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When compared with other products, the solution is kind of on the expensive side."
"Compared to the price of other solutions such as Huawei and HP, Cisco Catalyst Switches is a cheaper solution."
"There are no licensing fees required."
"The price can definitely be lower."
"If you consider Cisco's price with the Dell, you will definitely lose with Cisco. But Cisco has a major area of equipment in general. Cisco has routers, firewalls, NAC, certain video conferencing, Apple phones, and different security solutions. But Dell doesn't have such areas, Dell only has switching architecture."
"I don't see any price issue with Cisco. Whenever you buy a quality product, you always have a mindset of paying the premium amount. For any good product, you pay a premium amount, but that also means you are going to recover that premium over a period of time in terms of performance."
"Pricing could be better."
"Highly priced"
"Juniper QFabric is a high-level solution but it could be less expensive."
"In terms of price, the QFabric solution is going to be probably in the middle of the road for a fabric solution."
"The price is relatively high, but it offers an advantage over its competitors by providing better performance and functionality."
"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."
"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
Educational Organization
64%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Financial Services Firm
3%
No data available
 

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?
Although Juniper is cheaper, Cisco provides unique features that justify their pricing.
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: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.