OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY SELECTS ARUBA FOR CAMPUS-WIDE WIRELESS NETWORK
Wireless Network Delivers Centralized Web-Based Management and Significant Cost Savings to Big 12 University
SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 24, 2006 - Aruba Networks, the Mobile Edge Company, today announced that its industry-leading centralized WLAN technology has been deployed across Oklahoma State University's Tulsa (OSU-Tulsa) and Center for Health Sciences (CHS) campuses. With the implementation of Aruba's Mobile Edge architecture, OSU-Tulsa and CHS have gained a strong competitive differentiator for the entire OSU system by being able to deliver secure mobility to their students and faculty members.
OSU has deployed five Aruba 2400 mobility controllers and over 100 Aruba AP-70 centrally managed access points (APs) to provide wireless Internet access throughout the CHS campus and to more than 2,600 students at the OSU-Tulsa campus.
Ricky Schultz, one of OSU-Tulsa's network specialists, who led the wireless vendor evaluation process, says Aruba's centralized system stood out during the pilot testing in areas such as ease of installation and management of the system, as well as the security options offered.
"The centralized web-based management was one of the key components we were looking for," he explained. "Aruba's APs really are ‘plug and play,' compared with our past deployments; where we had to manually configure each AP before installation."
OSU realized immediate cost savings by not having to buy wireline switches and pull wire to common student areas, auditoriums, and classrooms for network access. Aruba's Mobile Edge architecture is deployed as a seamless overlay on top of the existing wired network, requiring no physical or logical reconfiguration. As a result, Aruba provides the two sites with complete mobility campus-wide while simultaneously delivering significant savings in CAPEX and OPEX.
Aruba's Mobile Edge architecture provides students, staff, and faculty members with free, full access to the Internet and resources such as library databases, from anywhere on campus at any time, enabling true mobility. "With this new technology we've been able to transform any location on campus into a learning environment," said Dana Saliba, OSU-CHS & OSU-Tulsa's IT Interim Director. "Our deployment was very smooth and the product is easy to use."
The CHS campus plans to extend the wireless network to its medical clinics for their everyday business such as electronic medical record access by doctors and nurses on their laptops and tablet PCs. The OSU-Tulsa campus plans to expand its wireless infrastructure to include a large research facility currently under construction.
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a fast-growing enterprise infrastructure company enabling the Mobile Edge, an evolutionary new network architecture that addresses three top concerns of IT managers--mobility, security and convergence. The Mobile Edge extends the reach of enterprise networks, providing secure access to information and voice services anywhere a user needs them, enabling new applications, allowing organizations to compete more effectively, and bringing about dramatic economic benefits. To deliver the Mobile Edge, Aruba manufactures and markets a complete line of fixed and modular mobility controllers, wired and wireless access points, and an advanced mobility software suite. 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.
About Oklahoma State University
The OSU System has five campuses, including OSU-Stillwater, OSU-Tulsa, OSU-Oklahoma City, OSU-Okmulgee and the OSU Center for Health Sciences, with a total enrollment of about 32,654 students. OSU-Tulsa, the newest campus in the OSU-System, was created in 1999 to bring OSU degrees and research initiatives to the Tulsa area. OSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine at OSU-CHS is listed among the nation's best medical schools in the U.S. News & World Report "2007 Best Graduate Schools Guide."
For more information about OSU-Tulsa and CHS, please visit www.osu-tulsa.okstate.edu and www.healthsciences.okstate.edu, respectively.