- Though Juniper's (NYSE:JNPR) switches and routers often rely on home-grown ASICs, the company's new "compute-integrated" QFX5100-AA data center switch runs on an Intel (INTC) Xeon server CPU. Meanwhile, a complementary "packet flow accelerator" module features an Altera (ALTR) FPGA that can be programmed to run custom apps.
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Juniper claims the switch and module, which are aimed at financial services firms demanding high throughput and low latency, can eliminate the need for a separate server to handle data processing, along with the related network hops. Private Maxeler Technologies provides a programming environment for the FPGA.
- The switch and module begin shipping in Q3. Like Juniper's recently-launched QFX10000 data center spine switches, they take aim at fast-growing Arista (ANET), whose low-latency switches have gained a strong following with HFT trading desks and other financial firms. Arista is no stranger to using x86 CPUs or Altera FPGAs in its hardware.
- Juniper rose 3.2% today; Arista rose 0.6%. Juniper's Q1 report arrives on April 23.
- An aside: Juniper's switch highlights the product synergies that could stem from an Intel acquisition of Altera; deal talks were reported two weeks ago.