Juniper Networks to Combine with HPE
Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s plan to acquire Juniper Networks is raising concerns among network engineers about further consolidation in the industry and the fate of Juniper’s widely liked Junos-based routing and switching portfolio. Many fear HPE will repeat patterns from past acquisitions—such as Cray, 3PAR, and parts of Aruba—by cutting costs, weakening support, or discontinuing overlapping products, even as some note Aruba and Nimble were largely left intact. Commenters also criticize the “AI-native networking” branding as empty buzzwords, while weighing potential shifts to alternatives like Arista, whitebox switches, or remaining with Cisco in response to the deal.
Overall Reaction to HPE–Juniper Deal
- Tone is predominantly pessimistic: many see this as “another one bites the dust” and broader “enshittification” / consolidation.
- Several commenters explicitly say “Juniper died today” or expect its products to decline under HPE.
- A minority argue it could be good if HPE treats Juniper like Aruba initially (largely left alone) and uses Juniper to lead networking.
HPE Acquisition Track Record & Reputation
- Multiple examples cited of HP/HPE acquisitions whose products later stagnated or disappeared (e.g., Digital, LeftHand, 3PAR).
- Aruba and Nimble are seen as mixed outcomes:
- Aruba hardware and CX switches considered technically solid, but support and overall experience reportedly worsened.
- Nimble storage support is described as still “shockingly solid.”
- HPE’s handling of Cray/HPC is criticized; support quality is said to have dropped after the acquisition.
- Broader HP brand discussion: consumer printers are heavily disliked (lock-in, cloud requirements), while older/enterprise laser printers are viewed positively.
Impact on Juniper Customers & Products
- Longtime Juniper users (SRX/EX/QFX/MX/PTX) express concern and consider accelerating migration plans.
- Junos is widely praised: clean hierarchical config, commit/rollback, BSD underpinnings, and strong historic support.
- Some note long-lived, reliable platforms; others report SRX being notably buggy vs. MX.
- Lack of cohesion across Juniper’s many product lines (EX/QFX/SRX/MX/PTX/Mist/128T/etc.) is seen as a weakness; HPE has overlapping, similarly fragmented offerings.
Alternative Vendors & Architectures
- Suggested alternatives: Arista, Cisco, whitebox switches with Cumulus or similar NOS.
- Whitebox is described as commodity switch hardware running various Linux-based OSes, enabled by Broadcom ASICs and “network as code” trends.
- Some argue high-end routing/switching is becoming more commoditized and that cloud providers are increasingly using in-house designs.
“AI-Native Networking” & Mist
- Marketing language like “AI-native networking” and “AI stands for All In” is widely mocked.
- Mist is highlighted as the concrete “AI” piece: uses machine learning to diagnose and suggest fixes for network issues. Some find this genuinely interesting, others remain skeptical.
Market Structure & Regulation
- Concerns about industry consolidation into a few dominant vendors with very high market share.
- Debate over whether regulation, political parties, or large corporate interests are driving the lack of real competition; views conflict and remain unresolved.