Johnson & Wales Goes to Aruba
University Standardizes on Aruba Wi-Fi Switching System to Better Scale and Secure Wireless Networks in Campuses Nationwide
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, August 11, 2003 – Aruba Wireless Networks today said that Johnson & Wales University has standardized on its wireless LAN (WLAN) switching system to provide more than 16,000 users, including faculty, students and guests, with secure 802.11 a+b wireless access. The system is also being used to provide remote troubleshooting and RF visibility to help streamline operational costs and shorten problem resolution times.
The private university, known for its world-class culinary school, is initially integrating three Aruba 5000 Wi-Fi switches and 50 Aruba 50 access points its Providence, Norfolk, Charleston, North Miami and Denver campuses.
Johnson & Wales currently operates an extensive 802.11b network consisting of over 250 legacy access points. These access points will be terminated on and managed through Aruba’s WLAN switching system.
Scaling Security and Managing the Air
Already equipped with an extensive 802.11b Wi-Fi infrastructure, Johnson & Wales was finding it difficult to use this legacy equipment to provide different types of security to a diverse user community and had no effective way to remotely troubleshoot user and RF problems.
“The larger the wireless network and user community became, the harder it became to manage and secure,” said Joshua Wright, senior network and security architect for Johnson & Wales. “Wireless use has doubled in less than a year and our wireless environment changes constantly. It became imperative to implement a better wireless model that lets us react to design changes quickly and in a centralized fashion.”
Wright added that because the university has no control over each student’s PC that providing flexible security model that could easily accommodate different users groups became a huge challenge. “We needed to provide a secure Web-based captive portal capability for students and a simple option for them to use IPSEC. But we also needed a robust 802.1X / PEAP implementation for faculty and administration staff – all at the same time,” commented Wright. “I just couldn’t do this with fat or even fit APs and first generation appliance products.”
Remote wireless monitoring also posed significant challenges for Johnson & Wales. Handheld remote monitoring devices required IT staff to walk around the university campuses in order to capture traffic and troubleshoot problems. As Johnson & Wales moves to more robust encryption mechanisms, such as TKIP (WPA-1), these devices can capture but not decrypt traffic as the electronic keys rotate and are not readily available on these devices.
“Remotely managing APs and the RF environment was a nightmare without a centralized architecture,” said Wright. “The human effort required to troubleshoot problems was cost-prohibitive, and the tools for analysis quickly become obsolete as standards changed and security schemes emerge.”
Wi-Fi Switching as To the Rescue
To address these concerns, Johnson & Wales is integrating a centralized Wi-Fi switching architecture from Aruba. Wi-Fi switching is the newest development in large-scale 802.11 networks that provides a centralized approach to building, scaling and securing wireless environments.
Aruba Wi-Fi switches and Aruba 50 access points are being used to provide 802.11a user access and for advanced RF management and remote diagnostics. The Aruba Wi-Fi system enables Johnson & Wales to provide simultaneous support for multiple security schemes.
Users are presented with a secure Web-based (SSL) captive portal capability along with the option to download the Aruba VPN LaunchPad, a seamless interface to existing VPN clients that combines automatic configuration with strong encryption. Concurrently, faculty and staff use 802.1X mechanisms and are authenticated through the University’s Funk Steel Belted RADIUS server.
“The Aruba solution gives us much more flexibility in providing different security solutions to different users,” noted Wright. “Aruba’s VPN LaunchPad lets us provide stronger security to students who want it, while providing a consistent client interface without having to purchase IPSEC client licenses for every student.”
Aruba 50 air monitors are used by Johnson & Wales’ IT group to gather wireless traffic statistics and as a mechanism to detect improper use of the WLAN. Johnson & Wales can now identify and automatically disable rogue APs in remote locations.
The Aruba system also gives Johnson & Wales the power to better control the wireless network and quickly react to change. AP signal outputs in remote locations can be altered as user traffic patterns change. APs can be turned into air monitors on-the-fly to gather wireless statistics and air monitors can be turned into APs on-the-fly for on-demand redundancy.
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