Juniper QFX5220 vs QFX5130: Choosing the Right 400G Data Center Switch

The QFX5220 is a high-radix, scale-out spine switch built on a Broadcom Tomahawk 3 class ASIC with lean tables and shallow buffers, while the QFX5130 uses a Broadcom Trident 4 ASIC with larger forwarding tables and deeper buffers for feature-rich leaf or small-spine roles. Both run Junos OS Evolved and support standards-based EVPN-VXLAN.

For the spine tier of a large fabric, the QFX5220 offers better port density and cost per 100G port. For the leaf tier, or any role where tenant scale, larger MAC and route tables, and burst buffering matter, the QFX5130 is usually the stronger choice. Many designs use the QFX5220 as spine and QFX5130 as leaf.

Yes. The QFX5220-32CD and QFX5130-32CD both provide 32 ports of 400GbE in a 1U chassis, and each 400G port can be broken out into 100/25/10GbE. The QFX5130-48C adds a 48x100G plus 8x400G mix, while the QFX5220-128C focuses on 128x100G in a 4U form factor.

In the 32x400G class both are equal at 25.6 Tbps, but the QFX5130-32CD on Trident 4 pairs that with larger on-chip buffers and tables suited to bursty leaf traffic. The QFX5220 is tuned for high-radix spine forwarding with leaner buffers, and its 4U QFX5220-128C trades raw capacity (12.8 Tbps) for 128x100G of aggregation density. The right pick depends on whether you prioritize table and buffer depth or port radix.

Yes. Both run Junos OS Evolved and integrate with Juniper Apstra for intent-based fabric automation and with Mist AI for assurance, so you can operate a mixed QFX5220 spine and QFX5130 leaf fabric from a single automation and telemetry workflow without proprietary fabric lock-in.

Yes. As an authorized HPE Juniper Networking reseller, we can source both the QFX5220 and QFX5130 through TAA-compliant channels and quote them on federal and SLED vehicles including GPC, SAP, FAR, and GSA eBuy, along with Juniper Care support contracts.

For dense 100G aggregation and scale-out spines, the QFX5220 typically delivers lower cost per port. Where you need EVPN scale, larger tables, and deeper buffers in fewer boxes, the QFX5130 delivers more usable feature density per port. We can model both options against your fabric design and quote accordingly.

Not exactly. They are complementary platforms on different Broadcom silicon. The QFX5220 remains a strong high-radix spine, while the Trident 4 based QFX5130 is the more flexible, feature-rich leaf or small-spine option. The best fabric often combines both rather than treating one as a drop-in replacement.