BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY COMPLETES DEPLOYMENT OF SECURE MOBILE EDGE NETWORK WITH ARUBA NETWORKS
Ubiquitous Wireless LAN to Cover 235 Acre Campus and Remote Residences
SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 16, 2006 – Aruba Networks, the Mobile Edge company, today announced that Brandeis University has successfully completed the installation of an Aruba network that provides students with secure mobility and ubiquitous wireless access from anywhere on its 235-acre campus and from remote residential locations. Brandeis has deployed 820 Aruba AP-70 access points (APs) and six Aruba 6000 mobility controllers to cover 110 buildings on campus. In addition, Brandeis is also deploying Aruba’s Remote Access Point service to deploy VoIP phone services and mobile access for senior executives and others who work remotely.
Aruba Wins Competitive "Shootout " with Unique Security Architecture
Prior to the Aruba deployment, Brandeis had a legacy environment of Cisco APs in stand-alone mode at two dozen locations across campus. Brandeis wanted to increase the coverage of its mobile network on campus, and felt that it needed better configuration and control over the wireless network, while increasing overall security of the WLAN. The university issued an RFP to a number of vendors and had a competitive "shoot out" on campus which included all major WLAN vendors in the market. The in-depth RFP covered all aspects of mobile networking such as RF spectrum management, rogue AP mitigation, and the ability to deliver a WPA2-secured network.
Aruba Networks' role-based access control (RBAC) capability uniquely differentiated Aruba over its competition and plays a central role in providing secure access to mobile users. RBAC uniformly applies security policies based on a user's role; such as student, faculty, administration; and can further control access to secure resources based on a user's departmental affiliations. RBAC is enabled on centralized mobility controllers and works in tandem with a WPA2 enabled wireless network running on Aruba's centrally controlled thin APs.
Adaptive Radio Management, Unique Mobile Networking Features Reduce Burden on IT Staff
Ease of deployment and ongoing manageability were also key factors in the RFP, as Brandeis has only two people in its networking group to support both the wired and wireless networks. The university needed a solution that would easily, seamlessly, and securely integrate into existing network infrastructure without disruption.
Aruba's unique mobile networking capabilities such as VLAN pooling, industry-leading controller scalability, and centralized architecture enabled Brandeis to rapidly roll out the mobile network--covering all dorms, student centers, outdoor locations, academic and administrative buildings on campus. Features such as Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) continuously tune the RF environment without manual intervention, making it very painless for ongoing wireless network management.
"We had our entire campus network designed--including configuring the Aruba system and all APs and SSIDs--within a month," says John Turner, director for networks and systems at Brandeis. "After that incredibly quick implementation, the time-consuming part was pulling cable to the 820 individual APs. To this day Brandeis only has two staff members managing the wired and mobile network, which now includes all 820 Aruba APs and six mobility controllers."
Increased Mobility Through Remote APs and VoWLAN
Brandeis has a wireless VoIP network configured campus wide on the Aruba wireless network, and is using it today with a small number of wireless VoIP phones. The VoIP pilot is over and Brandeis is ready to expand its use.
The university has also deployed Aruba Secure Remote AP's to provide wireless connectivity and secure wired VoIP to its senior exec's and remote teleworkers. This secure solution allows Brandeis to place hard phones into the homes of its executives and teleworkers and keep them connected and productive.
About Brandeis University
Characterized by academic excellence since its founding in 1948, Brandeis is one of the youngest private research universities, as well as the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college or university in the country. Named for the late Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis University combines the faculty and resources of a world-class research institution with the intimacy and personal attention of a small liberal arts college.
For students, that means unsurpassed access--both in and out of the classroom--to a faculty renowned for groundbreaking research, scholarship, and artistic output. At Brandeis, professors bring newly-minted knowledge straight from the field or lab to the graduate and undergraduate classrooms. Brandeis supports an innovative and exciting program of learning that emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge and the solution of real-life problems. Undergraduates, from the very first year, enjoy leadership positions and research opportunities typically available only to upperclass and graduate students.
Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, on 235 attractive suburban acres, Brandeis is in an ideal location just nine miles west of Boston. Brandeis is ranked in the top tier of the nation's universities. Our graduates depart to pursue careers in a wide array of fields, and advanced studies in the nation's leading graduate and professional schools.
About Aruba Networks
Aruba Networks is a fast-growing enterprise infrastructure company enabling the Mobile Edge, an evolutionary network architecture that represents a new approach to transitioning enterprise networks from a fixed, port-based architecture to an architecture centered on secure, identity-based mobility. The Mobile Edge simultaneously delivers mobile data and VoIP services, as well as a common user experience to mobile workers in the office, at home and on the road, by creating a secure mobility overlay that spans the LAN, the WAN and the Internet. To deliver the Mobile Edge, Aruba manufactures and markets a complete line of fixed and modular mobility controllers, wired and wireless access points, an advanced mobility software suite, and a mobility management system. Privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California, Aruba has operations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and employs staff around the world. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
Media Contacts
Don Reckles
Aruba Networks, Inc.
408-329-5108
dreckles@arubanetworks.com
Jay Nichols
Sterling Communications, Inc.
415-392-2300
jnichols@sterlingpr.com
John Turner
Brandeis University
781-736-4569
turner@brandeis.edu
Aruba Networks and Aruba The Mobile Edge Company are trademarks of Aruba Wireless Networks, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Portions © 2006 Aruba Wireless Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice.