Juniper Targets Branch Offices With New Gear

Juniper Networks is eyeing the branch office with the launch of a next-generation networking infrastructure for the distributed enterprise that wraps in new models of the SRX Series Services Gateway routers and a new line of EX Series Ethernet Switches.

"Companies are becoming increasingly dispersed," said Alex Gray, vice president and general manager for Juniper's Branch Business Group. "They need a new set of tools and solutions."

Locations like campuses, branches, home offices and mobile work locations have the same set of IT goals as larger environments and require a consistent set of IT services across all locations, said Mike Banic, vice president of Juniper's Ethernet Platforms Business Group.

"They don't care about these boundaries; they want consistency," he said.

On Monday, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper unveiled four new models of SRX Series Services Gateways -- the SRX 100, SRX 210, SRX 240 and SRX 650. The four additions to the SRX router family, like previous models, support a complete suite of unified threat management and intrusion-prevention features to protect the network from threats, including VPN, firewall, access control and IPS. Three of the four new models, with the exception of the SRX 100, also feature hardware-based Content Security Acceleration for inline antivirus and IPS, along with PoE and SIP voice gateway capabilities.

Gray said the SRX 100 series is a fixed configuration appliance, while the SRX 210 offers single-slot modularity; the SRX 240 offers 16 on-board Gbps Ethernet ports and four expansion slots; and the SRX 650 offers eight expansion slots for WAN/LAN interfaces, redundant power supplies, and redundant services and routing engines.

All four models integrate security features and routing and switching, while offering firewall performance that ranges from 600 Mbps to 7,000 Mbps, and IPS performance that ranges from 50 Mbps to 900 Mbps.

The new SRX models range in price from $600 to $16,000.

Along with the new SRX models, Juniper added a new series of EX switches to its roster with the EX 2200, which is expected to be available at the end of the year.

Designed specifically for branch offices and low-density wiring closets, the plug-and-play, fixed-configuration EX 2200 Series comes in four models -- a 24-port, a 24-port with PoE, a 48-port and a 48-port with PoE. Each port consumes about 2 watts of power, including the PoE ports, Banic said. All models feature four 1-Gig SPF uplinks and fixed power supplies and fans. The EX 2200 series starts at $2,400.

The new SRX and EX series all run Juniper's JUNOS operating system software and are centrally managed with NSM, Juniper's centralized network management platform.

For large Juniper partners, Banic said the new product lineup offers a powerful, consistent and economically justifiable platform. For smaller partners, it opens the door to JUNOS.

According to Bill Annino, director of converged solutions for Carousel Industries, an Exeter, R.I.-based solution provider, Juniper's branch strategy and the tying together of solutions via JUNOS is a strong competitive differentiator. He noted that there is currently a lot of activity in the branch office space, and the new solutions fill a gap.

"The significance on both pieces is JUNOS. For us to be able to deliver on one OS eases the complexity," he said, adding that the more solutions that can operate on one core operating system also eases deployment and management.

And with the EX switch moving into the branch, it offers an alternative for customers.

"For us, it's about providing customers choices," he said. "Now we have form factors we can offer at the customer's edge."

Along with the new gear, Juniper is also planning to launch a new set of partner programs, including training opportunities, incentives and lead generation, which Juniper said will enable partners that are focused on networking to start moving into security, while security VARs can tap into networking resources.

"It gives them opportunities to work in a familiar domain and expand their footprint," said Scott Lucas, Juniper's director of product marketing for the Branch Solutions Business Unit.

Lucas said new training opportunities for partners and financial incentive programs, which include a switch discount, a free year of IDP licensing with a three-year agreement and discounts around NSM with the purchase of SRX gear, will launch soon.

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