Vqfx-20.2r1.10-re-qemu.qcow2 «High Speed»

The filename VQFX-20.2R1.10-RE-QEMU.qcow2 suggests several pieces of information:

  • RE: This likely stands for "Routing Engine," indicating that this image pertains to the routing or control plane aspect of the appliance.

  • QEMU: Stands for Quick Emulator, which is an open-source emulator that allows one to run a variety of operating systems on top of a host operating system. The presence of "QEMU" in the filename suggests that this image is intended to run on QEMU or possibly on a platform that supports QEMU, such as KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) on Linux. Vqfx-20.2r1.10-re-qemu.qcow2

  • .qcow2: This is the file format. QEMU Copy On Write image file is a virtual disk image format used by QEMU. It supports dynamic and fixed-size images and is compatible with KVM.

    • Why use vqfx-20.2r1.10-re-qemu.qcow2 instead of a vMX or vSRX? The filename VQFX-20

    The vQFX is purpose-built for data center switching topologies. While a standard virtual router handles WAN edge routing, the vQFX handles:

    Do not expose the management interface of this image to the internet or untrusted networks. Version 20.2R1 has known unpatched CVEs (e.g., JSA11071, JSA11098). Always place it behind a firewall or in an isolated lab VLAN. RE : This likely stands for "Routing Engine,"

    Summary: A functional but aged disk image for Juniper's virtual QFX switch. Useful for labs and certification practice, but obsolete for production. Requires a companion PFE image for actual packet forwarding.

    This specifies the hypervisor format. QEMU (Quick Emulator) is the backend for KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) on Linux. This file is not for VMware (VMDK) or Hyper-V (VHDX). It is native to open-source virtualization.