Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] vs Juniper QFabric comparison

"This is a very reliable solution."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is simplicity."

"The solution’s technical support is good."

"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerConnect Switches for me is the throughput. I also like that the product has more compatibility with Dell infrastructure, especially with EMC and new generation Dell servers. Dell PowerConnect Switches can also easily integrate with Dell servers, and this is another pro."

"Dell PowerConnect Switches have a VTL feature similar to Cisco's VSS. With VTL, using this technology, you can cluster two switches together to increase redundancy in the environment."

"This solution comes with a lifetime warranty."

"We have these switches installed in an environment with hardware from many other vendors, and so far, so good."

"The technology is good and the interface is simple. We haven't had any bugs, disconnections or delays."

"The solution is easy to use and has good performance."

"It's user-friendly."

"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."

"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 most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability."

"The vendor maintains the product well."

"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."

"It would be great to have modules that integrate with SDN solutions such as Cisco ACI, Arista SDN, Huawei Agile, and IBM."

"The solution could provide more integration to focus on targeting the network as a whole rather than a unified environment. It is meant for a built environment, so integration with other third-party vendors will likely be necessary."

"Dell is sometimes slow to provide updates to firmware."

"Their hardware is not reliable, it's faulty."

"Not a ten because I have to do a lot of testing on it. The correlation is okay."

"A user can take care of the product's installation part, but it may not seem to be an easy process."

"The IOS software that is used on the switches could be improved."

"When it comes to the configuration, there should be documentation and interactive help available to assist people who have experience with products from other vendors."

"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."

"The disruptive upgrade was an issue for us."

"The stability needs to be improved."

"The pricing structure could be more budget-friendly."

"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 works too much on rebooting and there is some memory leakage."

"It would be nice if Juniper provided the system integrator with training, similar to that of Cisco."

"Inexpensive"

"The initial cost was high but since they have lasted for over ten or twenty years they are worth it."

"The solution is less expensive and more cost-efficient."

"On a scale of one to ten, if one means it is a cheap solution, and ten means it is a very expensive tool, I rate the product's price as seven. The tool is a bit pricey."

"I would rate the pricing as a seven or eight."

"Pricing for Dell PowerConnect Switches is quite competitive compared to Cisco and HP pricing. Dell has cheaper pricing and the company is trying to push for sales for its switching infrastructure because right now, the current market is dominated by Cisco. In the US market, there's Cisco, HP, Juniper, and Arista which you can buy for data center switching meant for different kinds of enterprises and ISPs. Dell PowerConnect Switches, on the other hand, is a product for people who need smaller setups or individual switches, especially those looking for a cheaper product and basic switching, though you can also buy a complete suite packaged with the switches."

"If you want to purchase a new Dell PowerConnect Switch, you will pay up to $1,600, but I bought them used. I bought the four Dell PowerConnect Switches that I used for $1,000."

"This solution is much cheaper than comparable products by Cisco."

"The pricing is high."

"The price for Juniper QFabric could improve. There are subscription, maintenance, and add-on feature fees."

"The price is relatively high, but it offers an advantage over its competitors by providing better performance and functionality."

"Juniper QFabric is a high-level solution but it could be less expensive."

"The pricing is high and it is possible to find better pricing option solutions on the market, but the licensing model is quite flexible."

"In terms of price, the QFabric solution is going to be probably in the middle of the road for a fabric solution."