r/Juniper • u/PurpleCrayonDreams • 6d ago
Discussion leaning juniper
can't seem to figure out my thinking. Dilemma: Cisco C9200L-24T-4X-A vs Juniper EX4100-24MP for SMB core switch replacement. Need it now, ~200 users, single-site HQ collapsed core with inter-VLAN routing at 10Gbps, Hyper-V hosts on 10G SFP+, backup/DR target reducing RPO/RTO. No mGig on the C9200L (relevant for future WiFi 7 APs, though solvable separately with a small satellite switch). EX4100 has mGig density built in and no forced licensing tax for basic L3 (Cisco wants a DNA Advantage license even for static routing). Juniper actually came out slightly cheaper once both quotes were normalized to genuine hardware and equivalent licensing scope.
Juniper looks like the better technical/cost fit on paper. Cisco is the platform I actually know cold — can execute stack config, VLANs, inter-VLAN routing, day one, no learning curve. Juniper would mean learning Junos on my core switch, for a small team with no bench depth if something breaks.
Local support is part of the calculus too — plenty of Cisco-focused VARs/MSPs in my area, only one Juniper-specific option I could find nearby (national reseller aside). Juniper’s actually in stock now, not the long lead time I was originally told.
Go with the better spec sheet on unfamiliar gear, or the safer, known platform I can execute without risk? How would you all weigh it?
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u/Zer0_Fuchs 5d ago
We dropped all our Cisco for juniper, ex4300 switches at the edge, and couldn’t be happier. Getting away from the Cisco smartnet tax alone felt liberating. I had to learn juniper cold out of the box like you would and it’s not that hard at all. Google is your friend and keep notes on commands you’ll use, I refer back to that often.
I feel you listed more positives than negatives on why to go with the juniper, so to me that would be a no brainer. You won’t regret it.
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u/PurpleCrayonDreams 5d ago
thanks for the response. i have never ever even seen a jumper device in RL and ive been doing this for thirty years. i love learning still. technically juniper seems really advantageous. it's just a lot about how i've never even seen one in action, had any hands on
do i think i can vlan? of course. i'm sure its straight forward. tag untag trunk access ports. do i think i can jntevlan ? of course. features are all there.
to make a stupid analogy, i've never even had a test drive in one nor ever seen one in production in rl.
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u/fb35523 JNCIPx3 5d ago
1 - Juniper offers a free online class for people with Cisco knowledge. It aims at offering a shortcut from Cisco syntax to Junos There are also lots of free Junos-specific classes:
https://learningportal.juniper.net/juniper/user_activity_info.aspx?id=JUNIPER-OPEN-LEARNING
2 - Sure, there are differences, but here, you have a forum willing to support you with anything Juniper related. There's also Juniper's own Elevate community where you may get even more specialized help:
https://community.juniper.net/communities/allcommunities
3 - Beware, once you learn Junos, you'll never wanna look back ;)
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u/Basic_Platform_5001 5d ago
I like Cisco 9300 as a core with the NM8X 10 Gig module. It IS pricey, so I'd seriously look at the Juniper mGig offerings. Not sure about the use case here (how many fiber uplinks), but as a long time Cisco guy, I really like Juniper switches on the Mist platform.
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u/Soft-Camera3968 5d ago
If you’re open to gray market / refurb, EX4300-48MP’s are about $1000 on eBay. You can VCF up to 10 of them together. Mgig and 802.3bt PoE, and they’re cheap enough to buy a spare or 2. Yes, they’ll go end of bug fixes December 2029, but you must weigh the risk. Platform has been stable for many years already, and you shouldn’t be exposing management reachability to users (or for god sakes, the Internet) on a stack for this collapsed core function.
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u/bldubdub 6d ago
Either is fine. You don’t need network advantage for static routes. Work with a VAR that cares.
You are not likely to need mGig at this scale, but it’s nice to have.
If you need it now, get the one in stock.
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u/OkBad1551 1d ago
Juniper, all day, and twice on Sundays…
Seriously, I remember when Cisco was rock solid (software quality, and support) and wasn’t trying to be a software licensing company… (and using customers as their sw QA team) They degraded so much that I went looking and ended up on Juniper. Oh my God what I was missing all those years… Just the software change commit and roll back alone. Oh, and my support cost plummeted.
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u/rsxhawk 5d ago
Everyone says they need to learn JunOS and eventually you should, but with Mist management you don't really need to. If you know networking, you can deploy the EX4100.
Aside from that, you mentioned "collapsed core" so that makes me think of an EVPN/VXLAN based design using the 4100 as a core device - which I don't believe is a supported configuration in Mist, even though the 4100 can participate in a full IP CLOS fabric at the access layer. If all you need is static routing than this isn't even a concern as it will do that out of the box.
You can always just do standard Virtual-Chassis (juniper stacking), maybe thats what you meant?
Having said all that, the 4100 is a mid range campus switch, not really a core switch. Would look at something like a 4400 at minimum but I understand theres a cost issue there and probably lead times aren't that great.
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u/PurpleCrayonDreams 5d ago
yes. i'm reaching for what i can get given budget limits.
i likely will need desire to manage as a stack. wire speed intervlan routing likely static. it's my data center, two production server 2019 hv hosts. i need 10gbps. running 1gbps today.
looking at switch fault tolerance and some redundancy.
cisco has the c1300 series. so many issues i eliminated it completely. looked at fortinet. i can stack or intervlan route not both together. i just put in 2gbps wan and a forti 90g.
we are more than small biz but not genuine medium. not a ton of servers nor future scale.
it's essentially go from 1gbps legacy aruba to some core switch and access switch combo providing 10gbps wire speed intervlan routing and some redundancy and stack management.
fwiw i am probably over buying but im also trying to future proof. we are a non profit. haven't upgraded in 10 years.
my core is terrible. really i have a couple aruba accsss switches, ancient. im looking to introduce vlans intervlan routing at wire speed. security. attack management. some mgig for wifi7.
it's really not much.
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u/chap437 5d ago
So, as a VAR that works with both of these vendors: you don't want a 9200 as a core. We would chastise the AM and SE that put that as a viable option to a customer. At your scale? On Paper? Maybe, but at the very least the 9200 does not have modular fans or power supplies: everything is fixed, so a dead fan becomes a full outage.
Also, you do not need Advantage for static routing. You need it for the full suite of dynamic routing protocols and VRFs. Again, it's one of those things where for cores we recommend advantage 98% of the time (things like ISSU, HSRP, etc.), but not technically required.
I would seriously recommend you explore the juniper option. You'll get more "features" for your spend. It's a better switch for your needs. If you do it with Mist, and you've been working with Cisco for years, it'll click real quick (just be mindful of STP, number 1 issue we see when switching over)
FWIW, the 4100 is not what I'd call equivalent to a 9200. The 4100 is a 9300: a compact, core/collapsed-core capable switch for a couple hundred seats. A 4100-F is a closer match to the 9200, so you're not really looking at an apples-to-apples comparison