Juniper’s High-Performance Network Infrastructure Accelerates the Deployment of Applications and Services for Conducting Cutting-Edge Research: Juniper Networks today announced the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI) has reduced the cost and complexity of deploying a high-performance network infrastructure with Juniper’s integrated routing, switching and security portfolio. LONI has doubled network performance, reduced network management time by 50 percent and increased user productivity with secure anywhere, anytime access to computing resources using any Web-enabled device. This allows researchers to shorten the time from theory to results and improve the productivity of their neural research. “During our evaluation we brought in three vendors, including Juniper and our incumbent networking vendor, to evaluate solutions based on performance and ease of management,” said Rico Magsipoc, chief technology officer at LONI. “We selected Juniper’s MX-series routers and EX-series switches for our network upgrade based on the elegance of the JUNOS software and the overall simplicity of how the routers and switches are managed. The Secure Access SSL VPN appliance enables researchers from around the world to securely collaborate on research projects. Juniper’s networking and security portfolio has simplified our operations while helping us scale performance. Based on the feedback we are receiving from our research community, it is clear the network is much faster.” Located at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), LONI is a leader in the development of advanced computational algorithms and scientific structures for the comprehensive and quantitative mapping of brain structure and function. LONI has the largest neuro-imaging database in the world with more than 25,000 unique scans and at nearly a petabyte in size. Hundreds of researchers work with datasets ranging from 20MB to several hundred gigabytes. As usage of their high-performance computing (HPC) cluster grew, the network infrastructure was straining under the demands. LONI set out to improve performance and simplify the network in order to improve both researcher and IT staff productivity, and overall reliability, while controlling costs. LONI selected the Juniper Networks MX-series Ethernet services router, EX-series Ethernet switches and Secure Access SSL VPN appliances. LONI has deployed Juniper’s MX960 Ethernet services router in the network core. Juniper’s MX-series of high-performance Ethernet services routers provide the flexibility and reliability to support advanced services and applications. The MX-series delivers the most advanced routing features, including quality of service (QoS) features, multicast support, and industry-leading MPLS capabilities, as well as the ability to scale functionality without compromising performance. LONI has deployed the Juniper Networks EX 4200 series Ethernet switches with Virtual Chassis technology and deployed them as top-of-rack switches for its HPC cluster. Virtual Chassis technology allows up to 10 EX 4200 series switches to be interconnected to operate and be managed as a single, logical system. With Virtual Chassis technology, LONI’s IT staff gets the reliability, manageability and high-port densities of traditional chassis-based systems in a compact, cost-effective form factor. Critical to the selection of Juniper’s MX- and EX-series switches was JUNOS software. JUNOS software dramatically increased the productivity of LONI’s network engineering team, simplifying network upgrades and improving reliability with the power of a single source network operating system and a single modular architecture across its routing and switching infrastructure. With JUNOS software, LONI was able to eliminate frequent operating system upgrades previously required with their incumbent vendor. In addition to the productivity gains introduced with a Juniper Networks high-performance network, researchers and IT staff at LONI can now securely access applications and network resources using any device, from anywhere using a standard Web browser. With Juniper’s Secure Access SSL VPN appliances, LONI significantly lowers the total cost of deploying end-to-end layered security, eliminating the need to deploy and manage client-side software to deliver secure remote access to research-critical resources. “Customers such as LONI require flexibility and choice with a secure, high-performance network infrastructure that scales with increasingly demanding requirements,” said Michaela Mezzo, director, Gov-Ed Americas at Juniper Networks. “Our integrated routing, security and switching platforms reduce network complexity and help institutions drive down total cost of ownership so that they can focus on meeting their critical research objectives.”