Juniper Networks has reported multiple achievements in the data centre networking market, including a leading position in industry assessments and significant market share gains in key technology segments.
The company has been recognised as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Centre Switching and ranked first in Enterprise Data Centre Network Build-Out, according to Gartner's Critical Capabilities for Data Centre Switching report. Juniper Networks holds the second position in both AI Ethernet Fabric Build-Out and SONiC-Based Data Centre Network Build-Out use cases.
In the rapidly expanding 800GbE OEM switching segment, Juniper Networks secured a leading 44 percent share, based on the 650 Group's 2024 revenue shipment report. This portion of the market is seen as essential in powering high-performance computing environments and AI-focused data centre infrastructure. Juniper Networks was the first to provide 800GbE routing and switching platforms, reflecting the company's response to demand for increased network capacity and reliability within AI and HPC clusters.
Juniper Networks has continued to evolve its data centre networking portfolio, focusing on AI-native operations, system openness, and reliability. Praveen Jain, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Data Centre & AI at Juniper Networks, commented, "Juniper believes that our position in the latest Gartner reports underlines the strength of our core data centre value proposition, which includes simplified AI-native operations, openness that avoids vendor lock-in, industry-leading performance and unparalleled reliability – all driving exceptional customer experiences."
Jain added, "Our data centre team is firing on all cylinders with innovation and execution that supports the business needs of a diverse range of enterprise, AI and cloud provider customers globally."
The 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Centre Switching assessed vendors on their ability to address evolving data centre requirements, especially those relating to modern AI workloads. Gartner supervised evaluations concerning fabric management, administration simplicity, and platform integration. The Critical Capabilities report complemented this by scoring vendors against specific features and technologies.
Juniper Networks' high ranking in Enterprise Data Centre Network Build-Out and AI Ethernet Fabric Build-Out was mirrored by its capabilities in SONiC-Based Data Centre Network Build-Out, cementing its place among the top vendors in the sector.
Juniper Networks' strategy for the data centre includes a continued emphasis on operational simplification and support for multi-vendor environments. Its Mist AI-Native networking platform offers features such as AIOps for better insight into application behaviour, multivendor intent-based networking for easier management of fabrics, and an AI assistant, Marvis, which identifies and suggests action for resolution of issues.
The company has invested in performance and energy optimisations tailored to AI workloads with the aim of reducing job completion duration, power consumption, and operational expenditure. Notably, Juniper Networks introduced new approaches to load balancing via technologies such as Dynamic Load Balancing (DLB) and Global Load Balancing (GLB) to address varying AI traffic patterns and requirements.
In a further technical advance, Juniper Networks launched RDMA-aware Load Balancing (RLB), intended to enhance Ethernet network performance by managing Remote Direct Memory Access flows and balancing traffic predictably across the network. The system minimises congestion, aims for performance near theoretical maximums, maintains in-order packet delivery and reduces the need for costly network interface card architectures.
Focusing on energy efficiency, Juniper Networks has released Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) for its QFX Series platforms, which the company claims can lower optics power usage by up to 50 percent, aiding scalable GPU deployment and return on investment. Its development of Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology also aims to further boost bandwidth density while reducing energy consumption within AI and HPC data centres.
Daniele Cesarini, Head of AI/HPC Architecture at CINECA, provided an external perspective on the relevance of these technologies for operational AI facilities. "The cost and scale of our AI services is governed by the performance and efficiency of our AI infrastructure. Juniper's AI-LB (AI Load Balancing) solution is the right technology to get the greatest AI network fabric throughput and thereby get maximum GPU utilization and performance from the AI infrastructure."
Gartner's research methodology for industry evaluations is based on the assessment of specific criteria and does not represent endorsements of vendors or their solutions. The company does not recommend selecting vendors solely by their position in its reports.
