Juniper Networks: Leveraging AI for cutting-edge data center networking solutions

Anita Joseph caught up with Refat Al-Karmi, Senior Consultant, META at Juniper Networks, to find out more about its recently announced AI-Native Networking Platform, designed to unify all data center networking solutions with a common AI engine and Virtual Network Assistant.

 Can you tell us more about the native networking platform that Juniper Networks unveiled, and its key features, particularly how it enhances user experience and reduces operational costs across infrastructures?

Juniper recently announced the industry’s first AI-Native Networking Platform, purpose-built to leverage AI to assure the best end-to-end operator and end-user experiences. Trained on seven years of insights and data science development, Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform was designed from the ground up to assure that every connection is reliable, measurable and secure for every device, user, application and asset.

Unique to the industry, Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform unifies all campus, branch and data center networking solutions with a common AI engine and Marvis Virtual Network Assistant (VNA). This enables end-to-end AI for IT Operations (AIOps) to be used for deep insight, automated troubleshooting and seamless end-to-end networking assurance, which elevates IT teams’ focus from maintaining basic network connectivity to delivering exceptional and secure end-to-end experiences for students, staff, patients, guests, customers and employees. The Juniper AI-Native Networking Platform provides the simplest and most assured Day 0/1/2+ operations, resulting in up to 85 percent lower operational expenditures than traditional solutions, demonstrates the elimination of up to 90 percent of network trouble tickets, 85 percent of IT onsite visits and up to 50 percent reduction in network incident resolution times.

The announcement mentions the expansion of Juniper Networks, AI OPS and Virtual Network assistant. How does the integration of digital experience contribute to end to end insights across various infrastructures and what benefits does it bring to users?

Juniper is expanding its AI Data Center solution, which is the fastest and most flexible way to deploy high performing AI training and inference clusters, and the simplest to operate with limited IT resources. The Juniper solution consists of a spine-leaf data center architecture with a foundation of QFX switches and PTX routers operated by Juniper Apstra, the only multivendor solution for DC fabric management, automation and assurance. With unique intent-based operations via Apstra, the new Marvis VNA for data center and validated AI designs, Juniper takes much of the complexity out of AI Data Center networking design, deployment and troubleshooting, allowing customers to do more with fewer IT resources. The solution also delivers unsurpassed flexibility to customers, avoiding vendor lock-in with silicon diversity, multivendor switch management and a commitment to open, standards-based Ethernet fabrics.

The AI-Native Networking Platform exceeds sustainability requirements without sacrificing performance and security. Its AIOps enables fast and remote troubleshooting, significantly cutting inter-site travel by 85 percent in certain instances. Furthermore, it features power-efficient hardware which minimizes energy consumption and is modularly built to make repairs easier and prolong product life.

In the context of the AI networking platform that you’ve unveiled recently, how does Juniper Networks see itself playing a role in the future of AI driven networking solutions or where are you headed from here?

AI is the biggest technology inflection point since the internet itself, and its ongoing impact on networking cannot be understated. At Juniper, we have seen first-hand how our game changing AIOps has saved thousands of global enterprises significant time and money while delighting the end user with a superior experience. Our AI-Native Networking Platform represents a bold new direction for Juniper, and for our industry. By extending AIOps from the end user all the way to the application, and across every network domain in between, we are taking a big step toward making network outages, trouble tickets and application downtime things of the past.