Juniper Networks Warrior

Chapter 3. Data Center Security Design

In this chapter, a customer engagement is recreated that includes the design and testing of a data center security solution. The security is provided by Juniper Networks SRX5800 Series Services Gateways (SRXs) embedded in a Cisco infrastructure. To say the least, this engagement tested the technical and political skills of our small Juniper Networks warrior tribe: competing tribes had to work together to meet the demands of the customer, and bury the hatchet, so to speak, for the betterment of the project. It was a tough engagement, but in the end, it allowed Juniper Networks to get a foothold in a Cisco shop (something that has occurred more and more regularly in the last decade).

Many years ago, in a previous life, I designed equipment for a company that had two competing product lines. My product line was the cash cow, an old technology device that was feature rich and established. The other product was based on newer technology but was not as feature rich and definitely not established in the marketplace. When the company responded to requests for proposals, the two groups were encouraged to compete for the contracts. From these competitions, I learned the political side of technology—not always a nice place to be, but just as important as the technical side. We used incomplete results and misleading descriptions to make the other side look bad, while avoiding any hitches that might have cropped up in our design.

When I started down the path ...