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Cisco FabricPath vs Juniper QFabric comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Cisco is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Juniper is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.5. Cisco holds a 3.2% mindshare in LS, compared to Juniper’s 4.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.
Cisco FabricPath
Read 31 Cisco FabricPath reviews
  • 571 Views
  • 560 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
Juniper QFabric
Read 10 Juniper QFabric reviews
  • 356 Views
  • 356 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Juniper QFabric and Cisco FabricPath compete in the data center networking category, offering scalable and high-performance solutions. Juniper QFabric seems to have the upper hand in pricing and support, while Cisco FabricPath has an edge with its feature-rich offerings that justify its higher price point.

Features: Juniper QFabric is known for its 40 gig backbone InterConneX, spine-leaf topology for single-hop connections, and scalability. It is agile, flexible, and cost-effective, integrating well with tools like Chef and Puppet. Cisco FabricPath offers reliable network performance, cloud management, and robust security features. It enhances Ethernet performance and is stable and scalable with minimal errors, flexible protocols, and traffic prioritization capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Juniper QFabric could benefit from enhanced feature flexibility and more comprehensive documentation. An expanded support network and more intuitive user interfaces would be advantageous. For Cisco FabricPath, simplifying deployment processes and reducing the need for advanced expertise would be beneficial. Enhanced cost efficiency and an improved primary client service might also add value.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Juniper QFabric offers an intuitive deployment process and excellent customer service, which facilitates quicker adoption and issue resolution. Cisco FabricPath, despite offering extensive documentation and support resources, has a challenging deployment process that often requires additional expertise. However, Cisco's support infrastructure is more robust, providing assistance through complex scenarios.

Pricing and ROI: Juniper QFabric typically has a lower initial setup cost, making it appealing for organizations mindful of budgets and seeking faster ROI. Although Cisco FabricPath entails higher deployment costs, it delivers higher long-term returns due to its advanced features and scalability, optimizing network performance and contributing significantly to ROI. The pricing strategies highlight their focus, with Cisco offering increased operational value over time.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco FabricPath vs. Juniper QFabric Report (Updated: December 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco FabricPath vs. Juniper QFabric
December 2025
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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 FabricPath
Ranking in LAN Switching
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper QFabric
Ranking in LAN Switching
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco FabricPath is 3.2%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFabric is 4.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco FabricPath3.2%
Juniper QFabric4.8%
Other92.0%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

AF
AmrFouad
Technical Project Manager at Cairo International Airport Co.
Offers seamless integration and boosts operational efficiency with minimum downtimes
I find stability to be the most effective feature of Cisco FabricPath; it is stable. Cisco FabricPath has good scalability; I don't have any problems with scalability as I can add any switches or distributors without any problem. I utilize the multipath routing architecture feature in Cisco FabricPath, and it's good in load balancing. Cisco FabricPath's compatibility to support Dynamic Layer 2 multipath routing in complex virtualized environments is good; I don't have any problems with it. Nothing comes to mind regarding metrics for using the Layer 2 multipath routing feature; it was good, and there were no problems at all with Cisco FabricPath. Cisco FabricPath's integration with Cisco Nexus works with virtual port channel (VPC) and is good for dual home servers and edge switches. We are using VPC in every layer of the Nexus center. Implementing Cisco FabricPath positively impacted my organization by providing minimum downtimes as the service is always up; everything is working properly with the VPC and Cisco FabricPath. I have experienced operational efficiencies with Cisco FabricPath that are 200% better than the old legacy equipment and protocols.
Read full review
Suresh Pathipatti - PeerSpot reviewer
Suresh Pathipatti
Senior Information Technology Administrator at Aighospital
Performs well, is easy to set up, and the vendor maintains the product well
QFabric is the core switch. We also have two Brocade switches for the Fibre level The product works fine. It is an excellent product. There are different element systems and different options for each generation of the tool. We maintain the data center and analyze issues. I have no negative…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's most valuable feature is its ports."
"I have experienced operational efficiencies with Cisco FabricPath that are 200% better than the old legacy equipment and protocols."
"The best features of Cisco FabricPath is performance and reliability."
"The solution has excellent stability."
"The most valuable feature is the central management where the customer can receive all the alerts."
"Cisco FabricPath is very fast, stable, extendable, and scalable. It doesn't have issues with patches or problems because it's built on the stable NXOS operating system. In a scenario using FabricPath, the spin and leaf architecture is beneficial. For example, we can use two separate spine switches like 9980s and multiple leaf switches as access switches. These leaf switches are connected using VPC between them, with each switch separated and not directly connected to the spine. This setup improves data center architecture by allowing two ways to arrange destinations, connecting the first connection to the first spine and the second to the second spine. The spines are configured as a virtual chassis. In FabricPath, we can enhance VXLANs, VPNs, and integrate with Cisco ISE for user authentication. It can also be configured with WLC to manage wireless technology, depending on the client's architecture."
"It's very stable."
"The most valuable features are the lead time and the high quality of the product."
More Cisco FabricPath pros
"The solution is easy to use and has good performance."
"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 vendor maintains the product well."
"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 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."
"The solution is stable."
"The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability."
"It is known for being agile, flexible, and cost-effective when working with various vendors."
More Juniper QFabric pros
 

Cons

"Layer 3 does not have higher availability."
"The documents could improve for Cisco FabricPath. There are times when the relevant information is not present in the different sections of the documents, such as deployment. The documents should be more detailed and enhanced."
"The pricing could be adjusted to make it easier to sell to clients."
"The product lacks AI...The initial setup of Cisco FabricPath was a bit complex."
"In Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, and in the Latin America region, delivery times can be quite lengthy. This is challenging in terms of logistics and customs."
"The main issue I face is the cost."
"They should consider upgrading the memory feature of the product."
"Currently, there are no issues or suggestions for improvement as everything is working smoothly."
More Cisco FabricPath cons
"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."
"The pricing structure could be more budget-friendly."
"Improvements could be made to QFabric's life cycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support."
"It would be nice if Juniper provided the system integrator with training, similar to that of Cisco."
"Having support for all OpenFlow versions would be beneficial."
"The stability needs to be improved."
"It works too much on rebooting and there is some memory leakage."
"The disruptive upgrade was an issue for us."
More Juniper QFabric cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution falls under the pricier category, but it provides value for the price charged."
"Cisco is expensive but offers good-quality features, so I would rate it high on the pricing scale."
"The price of Cisco FabricPath could be reduced, it is expensive in the market here in Sri Lanka. The solution is subscriptions based, if the customer wants any future integrations, or if there are any future enhancements they will have to pay. There are different license options available, such as one or three years purchases."
"I rate the product's pricing a ten out of ten. Cisco switches cost around 15,000 dollars, and DNS licenses cost around 25,000 dollars. The total amount is 45,000 dollars, which is too expensive."
"The pricing of Cisco FabricPath can be quite high depending on the architecture, but it's justified by the stability it offers."
"It is very expensive."
"The pricing for this product is good."
"I rate it seven out of ten on pricing as it's a bit expensive. It would be better if the price were lower, but we prioritize quality over cost."
More Cisco FabricPath pricing and cost advice
"The price is relatively high, but it offers an advantage over its competitors by providing better performance and functionality."
"The pricing is high."
"The pricing is high and it is possible to find better pricing option solutions on the market, but the licensing model is quite flexible."
"The price for Juniper QFabric could improve. There are subscription, maintenance, and add-on feature fees."
"Juniper QFabric is a high-level solution but it could be less expensive."
"In terms of price, the QFabric solution is going to be probably in the middle of the road for a fabric solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
9%
Performing Arts
9%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco FabricPath?
The tool makes it easy to manage multi-layer networking and increases network efficiency. I haven't faced any challenges in integrating it into our existing infrastructure.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco FabricPath?
Cisco is somewhat expensive, but it provides good quality products and operations, so I can't complain about licensing cost and setup costs. There is room for improvement in terms of pricing for th...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco FabricPath?
In future updates, I would prefer to see features such as more AI functionality or better integration added to Cisco FabricPath; more AI would be useful.
See all answers
What do you like most about Juniper QFabric?
The most valuable feature of QFabric for network performance is its stability.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper QFabric?
Juniper QFabric is not overly expensive. Licensing is required for certain features like vRRP, but setting up a virtual chassis does not necessitate a separate license.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Juniper QFabric?
Improvements could be made to QFabric's lifecycle management, particularly in maintaining stable versions and extending product support. The rapid release cycle and short life span compared to comp...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco FabricPath Logo
ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco FabricPath
Compared 32% of the time
Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco FabricPath Logo
Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco FabricPath
Compared 23% of the time
More Cisco FabricPath Competitors
Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFabric Logo
Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFabric
Compared 28% of the time
Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Juniper QFabric Logo
Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Juniper QFabric
Compared 20% of the time
Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Juniper QFabric Logo
Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Juniper QFabric
Compared 17% of the time
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series vs Juniper QFabric Logo
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series vs Juniper QFabric
Compared 12% of the time
More Juniper QFabric Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco FabricPath
January 2026
Cisco FabricPath reportDownload Cisco FabricPath product report
Buyer's Guide
LAN Switching
January 2026
Juniper QFabric reportDownload Juniper QFabric product report
 

Also Known As

FabricPath
QFabric
 

Overview

Cisco FabricPath is a Cisco NX-OS software innovation combining the plug-and-play simplicity of Ethernet with the reliability and scalability of Layer 3 routing. Using FabricPath, you can build highly scalable Layer 2 multipath networks without the Spanning Tree Protocol. Such networks are particularly suitable for large virtualization deployments, private clouds, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The benefits of Cisco FabricPath include: Minimal commands per switch ease configuration and operation, Autodiscovery simplifies addition of new links and switches, Provision additional network bandwidth without impacting network, Supports one-, two-, or three-tier architectures, VLAN extensibility across the data center.
Cisco
Juniper QFabric System is composed of multiple components working together as a single switch to provide high-performance, any-to-any connectivity and management simplicity in the data center. The QFabric System flattens the entire data center network to a single tier where all access points are equal, eliminating the effects of network locality and making it the ideal network foundation for cloud-ready, virtualized data centers.The highly scalable QFabric System improves application performance with low latency and converged services in a nonblocking, lossless architecture that supports Layer 2, Layer 3, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capabilities.
Juniper
 

Sample Customers

Bellevue, Calligaris, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Management Science Associates, Multi-Customer, Oediv, Roper St. Francis, SNAM
MCB Bank
Buyer's Guide
Cisco FabricPath vs. Juniper QFabric
December 2025
Free Report: Cisco FabricPath vs. Juniper QFabric
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