Juniper Networks announced new editions of its J-series
enterprise router this week in a move that keeps pace with Cisco
and gives enterprises more choices in their branch office
strategies.
The new J4350 and J6350 J-series enterprise routers include
application acceleration, IP telephony, routing and security
technologies aimed squarely at Cisco's Integrated Services Router
(ISR).
"Cisco already offers a fair amount of rich features in its ISR
router, and the market responded very well to integrating features
like these into the branch office," said Steve Schuchart, an
analyst with Current Analysis. "Juniper is going for a router in
the branch office that can handle multiple services without
significant slowdown of the box."
The branch office routers combine Juniper's existing Secure
Services Gateways (SSG) security platform with IP telephony (IPT)
technology gained from its partnership with Avaya. The SSG platform
offers firewall/virtual private networking (FW/VPN), routing, and
unified threat management (UTM) features, including intrusion
prevention, antivirus (includes anti-spyware, anti-adware,
anti-phishing), anti-spam, and Web filtering.
The new J4350 and J6350, which add to Juniper's existing J2300
router in the J-series lineup, will incorporate Avaya's G350 Media
Gateway via plug-in cards in the first quarter next year, giving
enterprises a VoIP-ready option for their branch offices.
Following the availability of Avaya's Juniper-specific VoIP
technology, Juniper will offer services modules with WAN
Application Acceleration (WXC) technology for the new routers,
providing compression and caching, TCP and application-specific
acceleration, as well as visibility and reporting functions.
The new routers bode well for Juniper users waiting for VoIP
capabilities already enjoyed by Cisco shops, but they stop short of
a truly integrated platform, according to Zeus Kerravala, a Yankee
Group analyst.
"These routers don't solve the whole [VoIP] problem for Juniper
users," Kerravala said. "All this announcement is, is a VoIP
gateway that they put in the router. It lets you go from TDM to IP,
but you still have to hand off traffic to an IP PBX. You still have
to put an IP PBX behind the gateway."