Juniper Takes Its SD-WAN to the Clouds
Cloud-managed Contrail Service Orchestration handles branch, campus, and cloud networking with added security, LAN, and wireless capabilities
Juniper Networks this week announced a cloud-delivered version of its SD-WAN solution that promises easier management and better security for WAN infrastructure and the branch LAN and Wi-Fi networks deployed alongside it.
The Lowdown: Juniper’s Contrail Service Orchestration pairs the simplicity of a cloud-delivered model with central orchestration of network infrastructure, delivering many of the advanced benefits of automated networking, security, and analytics.
The Details: Part of the SD-WAN update includes the addition of AI-assisted wireless features from Juniper’s recent acquisition of Mist Systems. Mist technology is now integrated in Juniper’s SD-WAN management interface where users can see operational and analytics data about the Wi-Fi alongside WAN, LAN and security.
The SD-WAN-as-a-Service offering includes a suite of other capabilities including:
Improved SD-WAN flexibility: Juniper’s SD-WAN now supports more variations of passive redundant hybrid WAN links, Internet breakout at the WAN edge CPE or centralized WAN hubs and topologies such as hub and spoke, partial mesh, and dynamic full mesh.
Centrally managed branch LAN and WAN: Connecting Juniper’s EX Series Ethernet switches to a single or dual WAN gateway of NFX or SRX Series devices allows customers to centrally automate the WAN and LAN policy and provisioning for secure connectivity.
Managed security: Users can now integrate with cloud security provider ZScaler and management of the next-gen firewall features of the SRX or NFX devices, including Juniper Sky ATP.
Improved extensibility: Juniper’s updated SD-WAN enables customers to extend a secure SD-WAN to hubs and spokes in the cloud by adding a vSRX into a public cloud IaaS of choice. Additionally, Juniper’s open standards-based architecture and open APIs allow for systems integration and NetOps workflow automation.
The Buzz: “Juniper’s SD-WAN as a service easily connects and manages the full suite of Juniper’s branch and WAN solutions, making the benefits of SDN accessible to any enterprise,” said Manoj Leelanivas, Chief Product Officer at Juniper. “This is a significant step in enabling our customers’ journey to AI for IT, extending the SDN transformation beyond cloud and data centers to the branch and the WAN. With this launch, combined with our recent Mist Systems acquisition, we are making industry-leading strides in our bid to make SDN and AI for IT a reality for companies of all sizes.”
“The City of Portsmouth took a holistic approach in order to operate our network at a level that will spur the smart city and smart region connectivity that we’re aiming for, and our partnership with Juniper Networks has been invaluable,” said Daniel Jones, CIO of Portsmouth, Virginia. “Juniper’s new SD-WAN solution will provide the simplicity, flexibility and security necessary to expand beyond our initial smart city goals and stake out a rightful claim as a technology hub for the best and brightest digital businesses.”