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Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs NVIDIA Mellanox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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

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
NVIDIA Mellanox
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NVIDIA Mellanox is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's most valuable feature is stability."
"The scalability is excellent. It's one of the aspects of the solution that is quite good."
"There is no end to the ability to scale Juniper."
"The most valuable feature is the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)."
"In terms of performance, Juniper switches have a more user-friendly interface and more features than Cisco products."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches' best features are the high packer sorting and throughput, good uplink port capacity, and virtual setup."
"The performance is very good."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches are high-end solutions."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the size, power consumption, and the vast amount of features."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the powerful hardware and the software is open. They're using Linux operating system. You can do and install many things, and it performs well."
"It is a very easy-to-use product."
"From what I've been told, a valuable feature of Mellanox switches is they're quite user-friendly."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its functionality."
"The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic."
"The tool is very configurable because it runs on a Linux operating system."
 

Cons

"We would like it if there was more security added in future releases."
"They could improve the code, as there are some issues with it."
"The technical support from Juniper Ethernet Switches could be better."
"In the next release of this solution, I would like to see better integration with software-defined networking."
"More security could be provided, especially with the rising cyber-attacks in business organizations."
"Juniper has a problem: even registered partners cannot open tickets or take support directly with Juniper."
"The operating system could be better."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"The scalability is working fine at the moment, but there's always room for improvement. As of right now, I don't know of any improvements to suggest."
"If you compare this solution with Cisco, utilization in Cisco is more popular and it is more friendly."
"Mellanox Switches could improve by adding some features that can make it easier for integrating the switches in some managing and monitoring platforms, such as Elastic or similar software for monitoring data with the data center in a more holistic way."
"Sometimes, it can have some bugs from the past if I am an old user. However, it is stable now."
"Mellanox Switches were easier before Nvidia bought Mellanox and then their new version of the operating system changed. They started with Ennui, and now they only use Linux. If they returned to their previous CLI it would be a good option for starters. The new CLI is more difficult to use but more powerful than the older one. It has its advantages."
"The configuration is a bit different from Cisco, and therefore, for me at least, there's a bit of a learning curve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's was $100,000 per year."
"It is an inexpensive product."
"Juniper costs less than the competition. As a comparison, Cisco is 33% more."
"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."
"The price could be cheaper."
"We only pay for support."
"The pricing for the support is very high."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"The pricing is very competitive. The licensing costs are fine."
"There is a license to use the switch ports of Mellanox Switches."
"It's an open-source solution."
"The price of Mellanox Switches is reasonable compared to other solutions. The price and quality ratio was very good. There is a one-time license purchase that is needed."
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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
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
We deal mostly with Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches products, as we are partners with Juniper products. We work with Juniper wireless. We deal with all the Juniper products and also Cisco and H...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox. None of the Mellanox ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end servers running 200 gig interfaces, and we are able to link it up with Ansible ...
 

Also Known As

Juniper Ethernet Switches
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs. NVIDIA Mellanox and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.