Juniper Steps Boldly to Meet Carrier Challenges – Puts JUNOS Control Plane Outside the Box

| Feb 25, 2008 | Carrier Infrastructure | Competitive Intelligence Report

| Analyst: Glen Hunt

Current Perspective: Very Positive
Vendor Importance: High
Market Impact: High

Event Summary

February 25, 2008 – Juniper announced the Juniper Control System 1200 (JCS 1200), which takes advantage of a new architecture that enables faster revenue and reduces CapEx, OpEx plus independent scaling of the control and forwarding planes to maximize operational efficiency. The system, housed in a high availability server, consolidates network functions and enables rapid and scalable expansion of services. The new system will be available in Q2 2008 with initial support for T-series routers.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Very positive on the announcement of the Juniper Control System 1200 (JCS 1200), since it takes a bold step from traditional router implementations to address continuing service provider requirements including the need to provide massive scaling of services, faster time to service, increased network control, and operational efficiency. Although separation of the router/switch forwarding and control planes has been widely touted over the past decade as a means to achieve higher reliability and scale within edge and core routers, the JCS 1200 takes this a step forward by establishing a physically separate control plane server that is capable of scaling independently from the actual routers that it controls.

• Vendor Importance: High to Juniper, since it is taking a rather dramatic step by offering a separate control plane server to facilitate a flexible growth model for next generation networks. The JCS 1200 leverages JUNOS, which runs all of the company’s carrier-grade platforms (T-, M-, and MX-series), to deliver a lower CapEx and OpEx model for its customers and partners. The JCS 1200 leverages proven concepts similar to those that have been used by clustered supercomputers to achieve scale and reliability. The move better positions Juniper to compete in the IP core, where service virtualization and optimized service delivery will offer service providers the potential to leverage new deployment and service revenue models.

• Market Impact: High on the service provider routing and switching market segments, because the JCS 1200 offers the promise of simplification while addressing the issues of scalability, error containment, service agility and faster time to market for new services. This is possible due to administrative and forwarding plane isolation, which reduces the complexity involved in new service testing and rollout. The JCS 1200 will be available first for the T-series routers, where Juniper sees the greatest need for service separation and independent scaling, but will also be applicable to the M- and MX-series over time. In addition, the JCS 1200 in conjunction with the T-series offers significant reductions in energy consumption and footprint when compared to standalone routers. This can be a significant positive, as service providers are continually pressed to control the energy costs associated with their networks.

Recommended End User / Customer Actions

• Service providers using Juniper T-series routers should evaluate the merits of the new JCS 1200 to determine if they should stay with their existing integrated router-based solutions or migrate to a JCS 1200 based model. Service providers should press Juniper for detailed white papers and configuration guides that clearly show transition points where scale, service complexity or time-to-market factors can be analyzed and compared.

• Service providers entering into new network evaluation and deployment planning should consider leveraging the JCS 1200 from the beginning of their project since, ultimately, the separation of control and data planes could lead to a simplified network infrastructure capable of supporting new services (even those yet to be defined). New or greenfield applications would most likely be best suited to the JCS 1200, since issues such as retrofitting current routers and re-engineering network topologies would not apply.

• Service providers with existing investments in Juniper gear for the IP core, multi-service edge and carrier Ethernet should press Juniper for product roadmaps showing when the JCS 1200 will support its entire line of carrier routers. Although the need for service virtualization currently may be the greatest in the core portions of the network, a consistent model for edge and core would offer the best solution in terms of consistency and flexibility.

• Service providers that seek to operate a multi-vendor network (core, edge, aggregation) should press Juniper regarding plans to expand the JCS 1200 to support other vendor platforms. Although this may be many years away, it would be wise for service providers to establish a strategic direction that includes, via the applicable network standards, of course, a multi-vendor vision.

CLIENTS ONLY

Current Perspective

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

Recommended Competitor Actions

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