In 1995 Pradeep Sindhu, a principal scientist at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, returned from vacation with the idea to start a company to supply high-performance routers to support the quickly emerging Internet. Sindhu started the company in February 1996 with $200,000 in seed money from powerful venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He hired two other engineers, Bjorn Liencres from Sun Microsystems and Dennis Ferguson from MCI. For business expertise, Sindhu recruited Scott Kriens, co-founder of StrataCom.
Juniper went public on 25 June 1999. The price per share was US$34.00, and 4.8 million shares were offered on the Nasdaq National Market under the trading symbol JNPR. The company had one of the most successful initial public offerings in history. By the end of the first day as a publicly traded company, Juniper's stock rose to $98.88, a 190 percent single-day jump that increased the company's market capitalization to just below $4.9 billion, the highest ever first-day valuation for a technology company, according to Securities Data Corp.[4]
Pradeep Sindhu served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors until September 1996. Kriens became CEO in October 1996, and is credited with leading Juniper's initial commercial success. Juniper was reincorporated in March 1998 in Delaware.[5]
After being highly visible in 1999-2003 timeframe, Kriens became largely inactive for several years between 2004 and 2007[6] until eventually stepping down in 2008. Scott remained as Chairman with annual compensation totaling $3,958,110.00 in 2008.[7]
In 2004, Juniper utilized the recovery of high-tech markets to fund the company's largest purchase: a $4 billion acquisition for NetScreen Technologies (which had previously acquired Neoteris).[18] In April 2005, Kagoor Networks was acquired for $65.7 million.[19] In July 2005, Juniper acquired two companies: Peribit Networks($337 million)[20][21]
and Redline Networks ($132 million).[21] Acorn Packet Solutions was acquired in October 2005 for $8.7 million.[22][23] In December 2005, Juniper acquired Funk Software for $122 million.[24] In April 2010, Juniper announced it would acquire Ankeena Networks for under $100 million.[25] More acquisitions followed in November of the same year, adding Wi-Fi vendor Trapeze Networks and intellectual property of video specialist firm Blackwave.[26]
Juniper's acquisitions were not all successful. During its 4Q2008 earnings call,[27] E-series products were still quoted as a significant source of revenue five years after acquisition of Unisphere, while Juniper SLT division (originally built with NetScreen products) was credited with record revenue of $246 million. This suggests Juniper realized good return on Unisphere, and largely overcame the technical and managerial challenges of integrating with NetScreen (although the latter company was apparently overvalued).[citation needed][clarification needed]
At the same time,[when?] products acquired from Pacific Broadband (G-series), Kagoor Networks (SBC), Peribit (WX platform), Redline (DX platform) and Funk Software (SBR appliance) did not succeed.[28]
Lawsuits
Juniper Networks was investigated for stock options backdating, which reportedly benefited senior executives.[29] The investigation started in 2006 and ended in February 2010. Juniper agreed to pay $169m to settle a class-action suit.[30] During the investigation, Juniper delayed financial results and got a delisting notice from NASDAQ. Concurrently, Juniper wrote off $1.3 billion in goodwill for the quarter ended 30 June 2006.[31]
In the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, Case No. 1-09-CV-148882 Juniper Networks was sued for misclassification of its unix systems administrators ("lab administrators" aka "lab trolls") as salaried exempt employees when they were hourly exempt employees. A settlement hearing is now pending for 2012.[32]
Awards
In 2009, Juniper debuted on Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work for.[33] Juniper ranked 4 in Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies list in Networking Communications category in 2009.[34] Juniper received the Association of Support Professionals' The Year's Ten Best Web Support Sites award every year from 2006 to 2011.[35]
Product history
Core wars
File:Lonely Router (small).jpgThe enthusiastic unofficial art on Juniper M40 launch captures the optimism and colors of the dotcom era.
Juniper shipped its first product, the M40 router, in September 1998. The product was a first-ever implementation of packet forwarding in silicon (ASICs) that could sustain line-rate packet forwarding across eight packet-over-SONET (OC48c) ports in a half-rack form factor.[citation needed] This was a critical technological improvement, which allowed unconstrained Internet growth and gained Juniper a place in a market formerly dominated by Cisco Systems.[editorializing] Since then, high-end routing was closely watched by industry experts and analysts and is still regarded as important technology showcase.[citation needed]
Juniper maintained market momentum by capitalizing on the M40 design: M20, a smaller version with partial redundancy, launched in 1999; and compact M5 and M10 platforms were added the following year. The M-series further expanded in 28 March 2000, with the release of M160, which employed packet spraying[further explanation needed] across quad M40-style packet engines to achieve line rate forwarding at OC192 speeds.[citation needed]
By 2000, Juniper took 30 percent of the core router market, almost entirely at expense of Cisco Systems.[36][37][38][39] However, the unchallenged reign of M-series as Internet core routers did not last for long. Cisco responded with its Engine 4 linecard for its GSR router in 2001, starting the first round of "Core Wars". Although Engine 4 was a time to market product with few features[editorializing] other than IP forwarding and Multiprotocol Label Switching,[40] M160 was also a line extension[41] of the original M40 blueprint, bringing the rivalry to a stalemate.
The status quo ended in 2002, when Juniper announced its new flagship router, T640. Unlike the original M-series, T-series was a distributed design, capable of 40 Gigabit/slot performance and terabit-level system scaling with multi-chassis options. A smaller T320 system was quick to follow and cement T-series position in the core.[editorializing] Juniper's dominance became so obvious,[original research?] that Cisco had to effectively retire GSR core products and refocus surviving 12000/12400 systems for provider's edge.[42] This time, however, Juniper could not effectively convert its technological advantage into market share: by mid-2002, the dot-com bubble popped and most carriers cut their growth plans and expense budgets.[43]
Second round of "Core Wars" started in 2004, with the launch of Cisco Carrier Routing System into a quickly recovering market. Cisco CRS-1 boasted innovative hardware and a brand new operating system, IOS XR, aimed squarely at Juniper T-series and Junos.[citation needed] At 40 Gbit/s per slot (full-duplex), the Cisco Carrier Routing System offered comparable density to the Juniper T640 and established parity in features. After the release of the CRS-1, Juniper core market share stabilized at 27.7% [44] The newly found balance in the Juniper-Cisco core duopoly lasted until 2007, when Juniper released the T1600. Initially available with effective density of 80 Gbit/s per slot, this new T-series member received a 100 Gbit/s per slot facelift late 2009 and in 2010 became the first-ever product to deliver a commercial implementation of the 100GE interface (IEEE 802.3ba).[45] Juniper was able to advance its market penetration by a few points, but still could not win more than a third of the core market.[citation needed]
The latest stage of core competition was initiated by Cisco at the end of 2010 with launch of CRS-3. Surpassing the original T1600 in density by forty percent, the 140 Gbit/s Cisco CRS-3 also brought Cisco into the 100GE league.[46] New companies such as Brocade and Huawei have entered the market from the low end and are exerting market pressure on Cisco and Juniper.[47]
Overall, in the "core wars" between Cisco and Juniper, Juniper was shipping denser products in 1998-2001, 2002–2004 and 2007–2010, while Cisco stayed at parity in 2001 and 2004–2007 and shipped denser product in 2011.[original research?]
Edge routing
This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. When placing this tag, consider associating this request with a WikiProject. (September 2010)
First iteration of Juniper M-series was based on Internet Processor I ASIC,[48] which did not have many edge functions. However, the design proved to be flexible enough to be retrofitted with sampling, firewall and MPLS VPN features. Therefore, in September 2000 Juniper announced plans to expand its line of Internet core routers to the access edge[49] and started shipping T1/E1 and channelized interfaces on Juniper M-series. By the end of 2002 Juniper had also penetrated the broadband aggregation segment with the Juniper E-series BRAS devices based on technology by Unisphere Networks. This move towards the edge was further supported by extending the Juniper M-series technology with M40e (2002) and M7i/M10i (2003) systems, featuring edge-specific packaging for proven M-series chipset.
Juniper's edge products borrowed silicon from the core routers (LMNR chipset) once again in 2004, to launch a highly acclaimed M320. This product became the last to support heterogenous interfaces (such as ATM and channelized) at high scale; in the following years, edge focus steadfastly shifted towards Ethernet. In 2006, Juniper introduced its first edge-specific chipset (I-Chip) which formed the basis for a highly redundant M120 router and a new family of Ethernet-specific carrier platforms, Juniper MX-series. Armed with the new silicon, Juniper was able to fit twelve 40 Gbit/s linecards into 16RU MX960 chassis and set the new density standard.[50]
Driven by the growing importance of Ethernet services, Juniper MX-series was an instant hit and gained in excess of 250 accounts in less than 18 months after the initial launch[51]
Capitalizing on growth of Carrier Ethernet, Juniper also saw the opportunity to consolidate edge, broadband and Ethernet-specific services around MX product line. Unveiled in 2009, a second generation of MX-series (MX 3D) is based on a new "Trio" chipset with density of up to 120 Gbit/s (full-duplex) per slot and available subscriber services. As of 1Q2010, Juniper maintained position #2 in the edge market, with Cisco and Alcatel being the closest rivals.[52]
Security and enterprise
Juniper made a first foray into enterprise and security space in 2003 with assets acquired from NetScreen Technologies as well as the internally developed low-end router family Juniper J-series. In the last quarter prior to acquisition (ending 31 Dec 2003), NetScreen reported $81 million in revenue,[53] and Juniper reported net revenue of $207 million.[54]
Despite gaining market share thru NetScreen, Juniper experienced difficulties penetrating the Enterprise routing segment - partially due to well-entrenched positions of Cisco Systems and partially due to the time it took Juniper to assemble a consistent product lineup. Being well-heeled in the carrier space, Juniper robustly performed at the high end of the enterprise connectivity with M7i/M10i,[55] but found challenges when merging Junos software for J-series with NetScreen's security code for low-end, branch office and integrated security markets.
On the hardware side, J-series systems were built around Intel CPUs and utilized packet-based forwarding in the software path to achieve IP/MPLS forwarding functionality comparable to their larger M-series counterparts. First-generation J-series (J2300, J4300, J6300) emulated linecards by stacking network interfaces behind Intel IXP NPUs running an embedded Junos clone. Control plane of J-series was powered by normal Junos build talking to a "software PFE" emulated on top of a small hypervisor. Such software structure allowed J-series to remain architecturally close to the "mainstay" Juniper routers with hardware forwarding path. Naturally, feature set was largely the same across J/M/T products. On the other hand, NetScreen devices used a variety of embedded CPUs and encryption accelerators to achieve flow-based secure forwarding within NetScreen OS, thus forcing Juniper enterprise customers to choose between a good router with limited security performance (J-series) and a good IDS/firewall with rudimentary routing functions (NetScreen appliance).
Over the time, it became clear that J-series architecture needs to evolve to accommodate faster Ethernet interfaces and flow-based security processing in the software model similar to NetScreen. It was also determined that satellite IXP processors mostly failed the task of insulating CPU from packet handling and are to be eliminated from design. Therefore, second-generation J-series (J2350, J4350, J6350) was launched in 2006, with high-speed interfaces connected directly via PCI Express and sharing the hardware platform with NetScreen SSG devices.[56] This way, Juniper was able to leverage some hardware and software similarities across J-series and NetScreen product lines, but customers still had to choose whether to boot their system with Junos or NetScreen software load.
It was not until 2010, when the two product lines started merging under Junos 10.3 umbrella into the low-end SRX product line (SRX100, SRX210, SRX240) with rich security and routing features. This new branch of Juniper products was a major redesign form both software and hardware perspective - it runs Junos on top of the multi-core Octeon CPUs, with control and forwarding planes residing on different cores.
Meanwhile, at the high end of security market, the SRX moniker also hit a sweet spot. After inheriting some high-end firewall business from NetScreen, Juniper was eventually able to reinvent this technology under Junos for datacenters and mobile operators as SRX service gateways, effectively combining high-speed firewall, IDS and AppSecure features at scale. Top-end SRX products reuse chassis, fabric and network-facing modules from successful MX-series, while employing proprietary load-sharing services processing cards (SPCs) to implement complex security services entirely in hardware.
Principal subsidiaries
Juniper's principal subsidiaries hold its international operations. They include Juniper Networks K.K. (Japan), Juniper Networks B.V. (Netherlands), Juniper Networks International Limited (Cayman Islands), Juniper Networks FSC Inc. (Barbados), Juniper Networks U.K. Ltd. (United Kingdom), Juniper Networks GmbH (Germany), Juniper Networks France Sarl (France), Juniper Networks Australia Ltd. (Australia), Juniper Networks Hong Kong Ltd. (Hong Kong), Juniper Networks South Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong), Juniper Networks China Ltd. (Hong Kong), Juniper Networks Canada Inc. (Canada), Juniper Networks International, Inc and Juniper Networks India Pvt Ltd (India). Separately, Juniper also owns the "Juniper Acquisition Corporation".[57]
Products
Network operating system
Junos (formerly written as JUNOS) is the operating system that runs on most of Juniper's networking equipment.[58] It is Juniper's single in-house network operating system spanning routing, switching and security platforms on its router products. Juniper Junos was the first commercially available full-fledged modular OS with full memory protection available for routing products. Initially, the biggest competitor of Junos was Cisco Systems's IOS,[59] but now Junos mainly competes against other modular systems, such as Cisco IOS-XR and Alcatel-Lucent SR-OS. Junos features both vertical and horizontal modularity, and provides APIs for third-party applications (known as "Junos Space"). Although Junos was originally derived from FreeBSD, subsequent product development resulted in major kernel and infrastructure improvements (like In-Service Software Upgrade and real-time packet forwarding plane). Unusually for a vendor with comparable product breadth, Juniper sticks to a strict software release discipline, with four major Junos releases per year covering all supported platforms.
Router products
M40
M40 of M-series was the first product by Juniper Networks, which was released in 1998.[60] The M40 was the first of its kind product, capable of forwarding packets entirely in silicon, without support from a general-purpose CPU. This was achieved by using a proprietary chipset codenamed "ABC". The chipset consisted of three ASIC types, "A", for high-speed switching, "B" for L2 processing and memory interface and "C" for L3 services, together forming a packet processing engine (PFE). The PFE also included shared packet memory, a single packet forwarding table, and a one-write, one-read architecture.The entire PFE was capable of forwarding at 40 Mpps, a capacity more than 100 times faster than that of any other available router architectures at that time.[60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] Many features of M40 (such as separation of control and forwarding plane and modular OS) have become industry standard.
Current product series
E-series routers are broadband edge routers. The E series was developed by Unisphere, which Juniper acquired in 2002. The E series routers run the JunosE (originally written as JUNOSe) operating system inherited from acquisition of Unisphere.
While the E, LN, M, MX and T series are all high speed ASIC based devices capable of terminating multiple broadband optical connections, the J series forwarding plane is partially software-driven. J-Series also is capable of carrying non-Juniper hardware in the form of AvayaIP Telephony module.
Although Cisco claimed to have the fastest/highest capacity core routing platform in the world with the CRS-3 platform, the new Juniper T4000 core router promises to be even faster[69]
Ethernet switch products
Unlike the majority of its competitors, Juniper did not offer Ethernet switching products for the first ten years of the company's existence. However, the need for Ethernet switching portfolio became apparent as early as 2002 when Juniper announced plans for the Enterprise market. Considering this segment to be price-sensitive and most products using merchant silicon, many analysts expected Juniper to acquire an Ethernet switching specialist to fill the gap. Despite such predictions, Juniper took the task seriously and invested in developing a full range of Ethernet products in-house.
EX Series[70] Juniper's switch products were introduced in 2008 and run Junos. Available in fixed and modular form factors with full or partial PoE functionality, EX represents Juniper's bid for enterprise switch market, augmenting the "One Operating System" strategy and generating $74 million in revenue during 4Q2009.[71]
Security products
SRX Series Dynamic Service Gateways is a series of security services devices running Junos. Ranging from compact branch-office models to 16RU SRX 5800 (dubbed "the world's fastest firewall" by ComputerWorld[72] in 2010), SRX combines security, routing and switching in one chassis. Security features include the full UTM functionality previously found on ScreenOS, including web filtering, IDP and anti-virus. Although high-end and low-end SRX platforms differ in the underlying hardware, common software base enables feature consistency and signature Juniper routing code.
The NetScreen 5200/5400, SSG Series and ISG Seriesfirewalls run the ScreenOS operating system and deliver firewall, anti-virus, intrusion protection and VPN services. Intrusion detection and prevention appliances (IDP series)[73] provide zero-day protection against worms, trojans, spyware, keyloggers, and other malware. Acquired with NetScreen Technologies, these platforms were originally powered by ScreenOS and now in transit to Junos and SRX technology.
Juniper Secure Access products provide SSL-based VPN services to remote users thru regular web browsers (e.g. Mozilla Firefox) on a variety of Java-enabled platforms (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Apple iOS). This product line came to Juniper from NetScreen via last-minute acquisition of Neoteris [74] and became one of the company's technological wins. Unlike legacy IPsec tunnels, basic SSL VPN access works right out of the box on virtually any SSL-capable device (e.g. iPhone with mobile Safari browser) without a specialized client.
NSM Network and Security Manager is an enterprise-wide management tool for Juniper devices that features single-point bastion control over multiple Juniper devices, a syslog host and configuration backup repository, and the NSMXpress appliance that provides distributed hierarchical features.
Other products
WX Central Management System and WXC — series WAN Accelerators
UAC Unified Access Control
Odyssey Access Client - 802.1x supplicant
Security Threat Response Manager (STRM)- Juniper sells an OEM version of Q1 Labs' QRadar product running on Juniper hardware.[75]
Certification programs
The Juniper Networks Technical Certification Program (JNTCP) was introduced by Juniper Networks, Inc. and intended for attaining proficiency in Juniper line of products. The certifications are divided into several levels based on skill level requirement. Originally influenced by technical certification program by Cisco Systems, JNTCP soon took its own course to reflect company's focus on carrier solutions and emphasize practical IP/MPLS skills and technical prowess. Unlike Cisco Career Certifications, Juniper's Service Provider program is four-tier, with JNCIE requiring lab exams.[76]
Technical Certification Program Service Provider
Level
Service Provider
M/T Series
E Series
Expert (JNCIE)
X
X
Professional (JNCIP)
X
X
X
Specialist (JNCIS)
X
X
X
Associate (JNCIA)
X
X
X
Technical Certification Program Enterprise
Level
Enterprise Routing
JUNOS Security
Enterprise Switching
Enterprise Routing and Switching
VPN/Firewall
Expert (JNCIE)
X
X
X
Professional (JNCIP)
X
X
Specialist (JNCIS)
X
X
X
X
X
Associate (JNCIA)
X
X
X
X
X
Partnership programs
Juniper relies on a vast network of partners to increase its technology and sales outreach.
Enterprise Solution Provider partners offer product and solution portfolios that enable customers to build business critical networks. Enterprise Solution Providers resell, service, manage and consult on Juniper products & solutions.
Service Provider Infrastructure partners deliver a wide range of high-performance networking solutions based on purpose-built technology that support the world's largest and most demanding networks. Juniper Networks is recognized as a center of excellence in the development of software, hardware, and silicon technology designed to support high performance, intelligent networks deployed by service providers.
Managed Service Provider partners offer differentiated managed services with the features and performance that meet your business needs. Managed Services Partners can manage, monitor, and deploy Juniper Networks-based solutions.
Juniper products are also sold thru IBM and Dell under OEM agreements.[77][78]
Since Dell acquired Force10 in the summer of 2011 the ethernet-switches that Dell sold as PowerConnect J-series became End of Sales per December 2011 as Dell can now deliver comparable Force10 switches. Only the Juniper security products (SRX series) are still being sold as PowerConnect J-series[79]
Also of note is Juniper's Open IP Solution Development Program which provides Independent Software Vendors, OEM partners and Research Institutions with full access to JunosSDK for control and services planes. This allows partners to leverage Junos for rapid development of new applications like next-gen signaling protocols, deep packet inspection and SLA monitoring.[80]
USD 4.09 billion (2010) [1]