I’ve been using the Juniper SRX for a few months now and I have to say I like it.  They are FAST, cost effective, and get things done.  However, make no mistake that they do have a high learning curve.  Don’t think you’re going to jump into learning these things super fast like you did your Cisco or whatever counterpart.  For one thing, pretty much everything is done via command line.  Sure, they do have a graphical user interface, but no one uses it and the documentation doesn’t reference it that much.  In fact, in this blog I won’t even be covering the user interface.  We’ll be using command line only.

Here is a quick pic of the Juniper SRX Series Security Services Gateway, specifically the SRX 100:

This unit is a bit larger than my hand.  The higher end of the series can be the size of a small refrigerator.  Notice that it has the Dell logo on it.  For a time, Dell contracted with Juniper to sell the SRX under the PowerConnect name as the PowerConnect JSRX Series.  The devices are still Juniper through and through, the only thing Dell did was pain the front of the box black and put their name on it.  Unfortunately, the relationship between Dell and Juniper has dissolved because of Dell acquiring SonicWall so Dell no longer sells Juniper products anymore.  Bummer.  Maybe what I have will be a collector’s item one day.

As we move forward, I’ll be covering the things I have learned about these cool devices.  While I’m certain most of you already have some type of solution in place for your security needs, who knows, it might be nice to know there is another option out there.

James