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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is 1.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Vishwajeet Pandey - PeerSpot reviewer
Management and monitoring efficiencies from a single platform increase network control and flexibility
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center ( /products/fortinet-fortiswitch-data-center-reviews ) offers flexibility and control over the entire network from a single pane of management. It allows me to create VLANs, implement security measures, and push configurations using a single tool. These features make the solution accurate, flexible, and valuable for network management.
FauzanRahmanto - PeerSpot reviewer
Have achieved lower costs and gained reliability with some room for better scalability
The security capabilities of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches are comparable to other brands, so there are no additional points for Juniper regarding the security systems. I would rate the price of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten. Regarding stability, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten. I would recommend Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches to other organizations because it is easy to use, the command is easy to learn, and it is very stable. I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors. I am the person who usually does the maintenance alone. In my office, my two colleagues and I are the network engineers directly responsible for the operation of the EX devices. The number of users in my organization who have access to Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is around 17 people. Overall, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center offers flexibility and control over the entire network from a single pane of management."
"Based on my use cases, Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center was a great product that was easy to manage and work with while being a powerful tool."
"When configuring FortiSwitch with a FortiGate firewall, I can consider all FortiSwitch's ports as a part of the FortiGate firewall."
"SD-WAN and the security fabric are essential features of the product."
"FortiSwitch Data Center allows for centralized management of both Fortinet switches and firewalls from a single interface."
"It integrates well."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center's scalability is good."
"The product is stable."
"As far as technology and WAN assurance are concerned, I rate Juniper switch ten out of ten."
"The GUI interface distinguishes it from other vendors and makes it easy to operate."
"The combination of hardware and software makes it a very good solution. It is a modern protocol that they have supported in the switches. The solution has good performance."
"It is easy to configure, and there are three routing switches."
"The most valuable feature is switching on our network."
"I like that it's fairly easy to implement these ethernet switches."
"One of the nicest things about Juniper switches is they work well with other vendor products. When you have to go into a situation where other vendor switches are present, you can make it work."
"It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"When there are many switches being used, the speed declines noticeably."
"They could improve availability and security by detecting and preventing switch attacks."
"The UI of the firewall and reporting could be improved."
"Enhancing security on the firewall and the switches, as well as focusing on price segment issues, would make it a better solution for the future."
"Cisco is better in terms of price, scalability, and ease of management. Regarding resources, they are available in Pakistan to manage these systems."
"The FortiSwitch product was initially quite complex."
"The stability of the solution is impacted when integrating parts from different vendors such as Cisco, which can lead to performance problems and disconnections."
"Managing the VLANs is an area where the solution lacks and needs to improve."
"We are undergoing a migration to software-defined networking. Different vendors have to integrate with each other and we are not seeing this type of capability within Juniper. We are getting left behind in this technology trend by staying with this solution. Juniper is also losing a bit of market share because of this."
"You need to make a few local configurations to work with the solution. We have faced issues with the tool's stability."
"In an upcoming release, Juniper Ethernet Switches could improve by having more microservices."
"There are multiple areas of improvement in Juniper EX series switches. In terms of speed and pricing, while Juniper provides good quality services, some clients still find the price very high compared to other competitors. Also there is a need for certain features to be enhanced like clear our configuration process which will help to make Juniper switches more stronger. However, there are also multiple challenges including understanding and configuration of certain aspects difficult without assistance. Despite these kinds of challenges, there have been multiple solutions and huge potential of improvement in Juniper."
"The security features for the product should be more unified for the product regardless of the product model."
"Juniper should improve the support services provided to users, as it is one of its areas with certain shortcomings."
"Stability could be better, especially during a reboot. We have had some issues recently with the software getting corrupt on reboot, which causes a lot of downtime."
"Their web GUI interface needs to be a lot better, especially when compared to HP. The command line is good, but you have to know how to get around it. The GUI is clunky and very slow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is expensive."
"Cost-wise, Fortinet solutions are cheaper than those offered by Cisco."
"The solution's pricing is a little high. The solution deserves the current price it receives from its users."
"The solution is not expensive."
"The product has a mid-range price."
"The tool's pricing is lower than Cisco's."
"The product is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"We only pay for support."
"The pricing is very aggressive."
"It is an inexpensive product."
"The price could be cheaper."
"The maintenance cost is approximately €2,000 ($2,200 USD) per year, including support, for our entire fleet."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"For the QFX5000 Juniper switches, the price is about $10,000, but they would probably sell it for $1,000. Nobody can beat Juniper's pricing when it comes to switches. Juniper out-prices everybody, but they get you on the back end, maintenance, service port, and service contract."
"Juniper costs less than the competition. As a comparison, Cisco is 33% more."
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Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
The Fortinet switches come with no additional cost as they are open source, with only hardware warranties applicable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
There is room for improvement in customer support and device speed. Sometimes, customer support does not provide prompt assistance, leaving projects hanging. Additionally, improving the speed of th...
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 advice do you have for others considering Juniper Ethernet Switches?
Juniper EX model is ok for the campus network as the ex4300 is EOL in a few years and the new ex4400 is the standard. Now for the QFX model, 5k/10k in CRB mode IP fabric Ethernet switching is horri...
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
I use Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches for access switch purposes, specifically for switches that face our end devices such as access points and workstations.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.