Yale Moves Big Into Wi-Fi With Aruba
Project Aims to Deliver Secure Mobility and Converged Services Campus-Wide
SUNNYVALE, CA, MAY 23, 2005 - Aruba Networks today announced that it has been selected by Yale University to provide next-generation equipment for a campus-wide rollout of wireless services to support thousands of users across more than 150 buildings.
Yale is standardizing on an Aruba mobility solution, comprised of Aruba 5000 mobility controllers, ArubaOS mobility software and hundreds of AP 70 multi-purpose 802.11a+b/g access points, to create a centralized wireless and security architecture.
Yale employs over 11,000 faculty and staff with over 11,000 students attending graduate and undergraduate courses. Its campus spans 310 acres throughout New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is using Wi-Fi to provide secure Internet and intranet access with the potential goal of providing "converged services" (voice, video, and data) over wireless.
Yale's wireless rollout reflects growing demands on universities to provide campus-wide secure mobility services for a myriad of users from students to faculty and staff to guests.
Taking Wi-Fi to School
Colleges and universities have recently engaged in much more pervasive and strategic deployments of Wi-Fi across their campuses. This wireless rush is a result of the solidification of standards, advances in wireless security and a validation of new technology that allows central management and control.
Institutions across the country and abroad including Dartmouth College, Emory University, Johnson & Wales, Olivette Nazarene, Ryerson, University of Washington, University of Nebraska, Fresno Pacific University, Appalachian State University, University of Arkansas, University of Virginia, and Fordham University are all moving to centralized wireless deployments.
"Wireless used to be a 'nice to have,' but now there is a real expectation for the technology within higher education," said Joe Paolillo, director of ITS Network Services at Yale. "Until now, providing a reliable, pervasive, and easy-to-mange wireless service on such a large scale just wasn't feasible." An early adopter of wireless technology, Yale had deployed hundreds of conventional APs, managed by a third-party application, in reading rooms of the main library, dormitories, public conference rooms and auditoriums. "We initially viewed wireless as a supplement to our wired network," said Paolillo. "But we quickly realized we needed a more structured and unified architecture that gave us dynamic controls, central security, and a way to improve performance through dense AP deployment."
What's Driving Wireless at Yale
Paolillo highlighted three primary issues that drove Yale to migrate to the next generation of wireless equipment: density (performance and coverage), security, and management.
Using Aruba's wireless grid architecture, Yale can provide better coverage, centralized control, and higher levels of performance by minimizing the number of users contending for each AP. Aruba's wireless grid architecture and ultra-thin AP design lets companies densely deploy APs in user-space without posing a security risk. This eliminates having to run parallel Ethernet cabling and power in the ceiling, where APs have traditionally been deployed. Meanwhile performance and coverage are dramatically improved.
Additionally, new centralized wireless systems allow organizations to identify, manage, and secure users are they move. Yale will use Aruba's mobility system to assign security policies to different users and user groups as they authenticate on the network. These security policies follow each user as they roam. Universities can define and enforce security policies for different types of users based on, for instance, identity, time-of-day, physical location, or type of device being used. With the Aruba system, Yale can also provide simultaneous support, on any port, for different security methods such as Web-based authentication, 802.1x, and VPN connectivity.
"The ability to have universal authentication on any port for all different types of users and devices without having to deploy different equipment and logical networks is huge for us," said Paolillo.
"We can now provide differentiated user access without having to explode VLANs everywhere. Other approaches use VLANs to segregate different users and traffic types. We've found this to be problematic, time-consuming, and disruptive."
Yale is also able to automatically manage its RF spectrum, AP power levels, and channel assignments. Dynamic load balancing lets Yale ensure high levels of user satisfaction in high-density areas.
About Yale University
Founded in 1701, Yale University is a world-renowned private, independent institution located on a 310-acre campus in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University comprises three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and ten professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of research organizations, libraries and museums, and administrative and support offices. Approximately 11,250 students attend Yale. Yale employs some 11,000 staff and faculty.
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