Juniper Networks powers its vision for Cloud Metro

Juniper Networks, a provider of secure, AI-powered networks, has announced the innovation that will power its Cloud Metro vision and strategy – a new category of solutions for service providers optimized for metro transformation and long-term business growth.

Traditional “retro” metro networks are device-centric and are collapsing under the extreme scale, agility, and experience demands imposed by widespread digital transformation and the introduction of 5G services.

The announcement focuses on enabling long-term business growth by introducing a series of high-performance networking systems powered by AI-enabled, cloud-delivered automation, which are specifically designed to build next-generation Cloud Metro infrastructure.

These systems will provide significantly reduced natural resource consumption capabilities to aid in the sustainability of the planet, improved tools and simplified working methods to aid in the sustainability of overburdened operations teams, and embedded service assurance and security capabilities to optimize service experience, all while enabling service providers to sustain profitable business growth.

Juniper’s new Cloud Metro systems are distinguished by their industry-leading energy-efficient, adaptive power designs, which enable unused features and Packet Forwarding Engines (PFEs) to be automatically turned off when not in use. By allowing up to 48 times bandwidth growth within the same chassis, the removable modular power shelf design reduces e-waste and extends system lifetimes. It is the first and only metro networking device power module to be certified as Titanium grade by CLEAResult® in its 80 Plus program.

Juniper’s Cloud Metro portfolio’s future-proofed scale, capacity, performance, and smart features replace traditional 3-5 year ‘rip-and-replace’ network lifecycles with 7-12 year lifecycles. Pay-as-you-go models and a variety of interface options enable service providers to economically flex their investment in response to demand.

“In a world of “retro metros”, Juniper’s new Cloud Metro solution stands apart. Our cloud-delivered Paragon Automation-as-a-Service promises immediate productivity increases for service providers. Instead of building complex, time-consuming “DIY” automation solutions, they are empowered tofocus on assuring service experiences for their customers. By extending our proven AI solution to the service provider WAN, we can improve productivity for customer operations teams by dramatically reducing trouble tickets and increasing network availability. And our extended ACX7000 Family delivers the most secure, assured, scalable and intelligent Cloud Metro portfolio on the market. This is the answer to service provider needs for a sustainable future for their profits, their people and the planet,” said Brendan Gibbs, Senior Vice President of Automated WAN Solutions, Juniper Networks.

Juniper’s advanced use of artificial intelligence and cloud-delivered automation enables service providers to simplify day-to-day workflows, deploy services faster (with device onboarding taking minutes rather than hours), reduce trouble tickets, and accelerate time-to-service (and thus revenue) restoration. This increases productivity significantly, allowing network engineers and operators to accomplish more, which is critical for employee satisfaction and retention.

By leveraging the latest generation of silicon, industry-leading system design, and AI-enabled Device Onboarding-as-a-Service, the new solutions reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by up to 71%. Zero Trust security is integrated rather than added on, and active service assurance is built-in to provide proactive service testing, monitoring, and remediation.