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Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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 Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
21st
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (9th)
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
Has consistently supported high availability with reliable performance and minimal disruption
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series and the routers are good, but the FMC or FTDs still need some improvement. We have Palo Alto firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls in our environment. In comparison to the main firewall, we moved from Cisco FTDs to Palo Alto. We still have FTDs in our environment, but the majority of the firewalls have been moved to Palo Alto. They are more user-friendly, give more visibility, and are more efficient. The performance is better than Cisco. With the new features, Cisco is having some improvement for the FTD. I am currently evaluating the FTDs. The new version has better features like the encrypted visibility engine and user-based changes in FMCs, and other things are quite useful for us. FTDs do have limitations and other issues. We communicated that limitation and feature support to the Cisco account manager. We do have support for the devices. We currently have a weekly call with Cisco and they are making progress regarding new versions of the FMCs and introducing new features. The performance of deployment has improved quite a bit compared to four or five years ago.
Patrick Anaku - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Roke Telkom
Has provided reliable performance with useful features such as virtual chassis and high port density
The important thing for our use case of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches has been reliability, and there are features such as the Virtual Chassis feature, which is one of the things we use. In our case, we use them as core switches in a network that is not very large, and their reliability and the Virtual Chassis feature work well for us. It was one of the reasons we chose it, along with the port density; we are using the 32 port and the 48 port, which work for our needs. Regarding its security features such as MACsec encryption, they are standard and cover what we want; we do not do a lot as they are just Layer 2 switches, but it has standard security features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"RealPresence works effectively."
"Performance has been great with no abnormal behaviors detected, and the network remains stable even in failover scenarios, supporting vast environments with high availability."
"The stability and reliability of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series are robust, and once you put it on, it does not just fail; that takes a long time, maybe even years."
"We are using the core capabilities of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Ethernet switches, and it is performing well."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is quite a complex machine, but we are using a very simple configuration with basic Nexus switching, and we don't have many issues with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series at the moment in our present infrastructure."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"The main benefits that solutions such as the Juniper products provide are their reliability."
"I would highly recommend this solution because people are used to the common model."
"The solution is certainly scalable."
"The stability of this solution is rock solid."
"We did some prep with the vendor team which was very helpful."
"You willuse almost every feature on every switch to some degree because the utility is valuable."
"In most environments, Juniper Ethernet Switches are stable and have good performance."
"In general, I cannot find anything that is bad about this product."
 

Cons

"Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive."
"I would rate the technical support for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series an eight out of ten. This rating is not because of their lack of expertise, but just the assignment period."
"The SFP modules we are using have had issues. We have Cisco modules, but they frequently heat up or there are packet error issues."
"For Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches, I think we need to work on the HSRP. Whenever it flaps or something happens, it creates an issue."
"We find that Cisco has been left behind by the other vendors. The other vendors have adopted new technology, and we find Cisco lagging behind."
"In an upcoming release, Juniper Ethernet Switches could improve by having more microservices."
"They should integrate VPN functionality with the solution."
"The operating system, Junos OS, often has bugs which forces rollbacks or additional upgrades to resolve."
"The initial setup for Juniper switches is complex. Juniper has a new program that solves that problem a little bit, but it is expensive, so I don't use it. It is Juniper Mesh, Juniper Wire, or something like that where you plug in a switch, and it goes out to their cloud, finds a config, and brings it down. So, you can do everything cloud-based, but there is a fee for that. It is expensive, so I've never used it. If we were starting, we would try to do something like that. It is more for a large enterprise for managing hundreds of switches versus what we're doing. They should make its price more cost-effective or include it for new or smaller companies."
"The price is in the intermediate range. It is not overly expensive, but also not cheap. It could stand improvement."
"The packet channelizing feature is the main function that should be improved."
"Some areas of technical support could be better."
"The upgrade procedures could be better. The upgrading of the system should be simplified and made faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing of Juniper Ethernet Switches compared to equivalent switches from Aruba, Cisco, and others, Juniper Ethernet Switches are priced a little higher. They are approximately 20 to 50 percent higher. When we receive a new range of models, the prices can come down. The price can also vary by region."
"They offer a more competitive pricing structure compared to one of the competitors."
"Their prices are competitive and not bad. It is cheaper than Cisco. We have a yearly license."
"I think the tool's prices are competitive with the vendors."
"If compared to Cisco, this is a well priced solution. Compared to HP, it is a little bit overpriced. Overall, they are priced in the middle compared to competitors."
"We had a leakage in the support process and decided to end the product's life in order to purchase a new product with support. We did not renew product support as a result."
"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
"The solution's pricing is cheaper than that of Cisco."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
11%
University
7%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
For Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches, I think we need to work on the HSRP. Whenever it flaps or something happens, it creates an issue. That is the only thing. The HSRP flapping is the issue. Whene...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series serves as a core router and core switch for users, and provides interconnectivity between the core switch and the access switch, as well as remote access switch for smaller ...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
For the advanced policy-driven approach, we have a firewall already. I have not yet worked on the overlay technology support in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series, but I have worked a lot on the core capabili...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
The important thing for our use case of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches has been reliability, and there are features such as the Virtual Chassis feature, which is one of the things we use. In o...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper EX Series?
The pricing of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is a bit high, but it matches what it offers; in terms of capability and reliability, once I put it on the network, we are usually guaranteed a lo...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.