The Edge Router Becomes a Platform

This is why it’s worth taking note of a new router platform from Juniper Networks that enables customers to upgrade their networks via a software upgrade. The Juniper Networks Universal WAN, which is based on the JunOS Trio chip set that Juniper unveiled in 2009, consists of multiple versions MDX series routers that can be upgrade via a software update.

Alan Sardella, director of product marketing for Juniper’s Platform Systems Group, Juniper Networks Universal WAN, says the processing power available in the JunOS chipset exceeds the requirements that most enterprise IT organization need in a router today. But as networking bandwidth requirements increase, customers can now dynamically upgrade their router to meet those demands.

In effect, this means that internal IT organizations are increasingly managing their networks in the same way that internet service providers manage their networks. The goal, says Sardella, is make it feasible for customers to more rapidly upgrade their edge routers to respond to rapid changes in service requirements.

For solution providers the Juniper Networks Universal WAN creates an opportunity to sell a router platform today that much like a server can be easily upgraded in a matter of months, as opposed to trying to sell a completely new piece of hardware every year that many customers are going to resist.