SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With more than 497 million portable devices (including smartphones, media tablets, and portable PCs) shipped in 2010 and another 966 million projected for 2014*, managing a business-critical wireless network is a growing challenge for IT departments everywhere. To help address the need to deliver a consistent high-quality user experience, Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN) today announced the availability of ArubaOS 6.0, as well as design guidelines for high-density client environment deployments.
“The combination of Aruba’s industry-leading 802.11n portfolio and the advanced capabilities of ArubaOS 6.0 made the decision to upgrade from Aruba 802.11 a/b/g solutions an easy one. This new system will help keep us at the forefront of both healthcare and communications technologies to enable the best patient care.”
“We recently initiated a system-wide program to move to iPads in clinical use, which, with the existing use of Spectralink phones and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, makes ours a very high-density wireless client environment,” said Dale Potter, senior vice president of information services and CIO of The Ottawa Hospital, a 1,200-bed, multi-campus healthcare system with approximately 1,200 physicians and 3,500 registered nurses. “The combination of Aruba’s industry-leading 802.11n portfolio and the advanced capabilities of ArubaOS 6.0 made the decision to upgrade from Aruba 802.11 a/b/g solutions an easy one. This new system will help keep us at the forefront of both healthcare and communications technologies to enable the best patient care.”
Wi-Fi bandwidth is a finite resource shared among numerous client devices. Legacy 802.11 a/b/g wireless LANs were not designed to serve the high densities of mobile devices entering the enterprise, especially when coupled with latency-sensitive multimedia applications. Neighboring wireless LANs, RF noise sources and wireless security threats can reduce the amount of available air-time and severely impact application performance and corporate productivity.
Here we see the administrator user interface for Aruba's Mobility Controllers. It is currently providing visibility to the Spectrum Dashboard, which is displaying spectrum analysis data from one of the access points managed by the mobility controller. Access Point used here is configured in Spectrum Monitor mode. Using Spectrum Dashboard, IT administrators can remotely monitor any area of interest within their WLAN deployment for channel quality and classify non Wi-Fi noise sources.
ArubaOS 6.0
Available for campus and branch office Mobility Controllers, ArubaOS 6.0 is designed to improve over-the-air reliability and security with:
- Industry-leading application fingerprinting technology – This enables identification of encrypted voice and video protocols and applies quality of service (QoS) over the air. For more information: http://www.arubanetworks.com/solutions/use_cases/voice.php
- Always-on spectrum analysis solution – Integrated into all Aruba 802.11n access points, the Aruba Spectrum Analyzer provides visibility into sources of RF interference. For more information: http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/spectrum-analyzer.php
- Comprehensive wireless intrusion prevention system – Now incorporating tarpit containment and TotalWatch™ technologies, this enables faster threat mitigation without affecting wireless client performance. For more information: http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/wireless-intrusion-protection.php
Published Guidelines
Leveraging the collective experience of more than 11,000 Aruba customers around the world, new technical guides make it easy to adopt best practices for high-density deployments.
- A new validated reference design (VRD), High-Density Wireless Networks for Auditoriums, explains how to implement an Aruba 802.11n wireless network that provides high-speed access for high-density wireless client environments: http://www.arubanetworks.com/pdf/technology/DG_HighDensity_VRD.pdf
- A new whitepaper, iPads in the Enterprise, details how to enable high-performance wireless networking for these quickly proliferating tablets: http://www.arubanetworks.com/pdf/technology/whitepapers/wp_iPad-in-Enterprise.pdf
- A new test report, Own the Air, provides third-party validation of Aruba’s industry-leading RF management technology in high-density environments: http://networktest.com/arubaarm/arubaarm1.pdf
Additional Quotes
TotalWatch enhances the existing scanning algorithm for Aruba's wireless intrusion detection software. It provides complete coverage by scanning 2.4-, 4.9- and 5-GHz frequency bands. 4.9-GHz is the public safety band and some organizations (especially in government) would like to detect any type of interference or intrusion that's taking place in that frequency band. TotalWatch scans 802.11 channels at 5MHz intervals instead of the traditional 20MHz intervals. This provides visibility into intrusions that might be taking place within "in-between" channels. For instance, TotalWatch will be able to detect rogue devices on channel 37 in 5GHz band, where channel 36 and 40 are the traditional 20MHz channels. TotalWatch is also adaptive. It spends more time on 802.11 channels where there is more traffic. This provides faster detection of rogue events as more data is collected from the channels that matter the most.
“RF management is a real challenge in dense WLAN environments,” said David Newman, President of Network Test Inc. “Using a massive (80-client) over-the-air test bed, Network Test assessed Aruba’s WLAN technology to determine whether it could apportion air time and client access in a fair way. It did. In every test case, the Aruba system successfully enforced the service-level agreements we’d defined.”
“An Aruba validated reference design (VRD) is a package of deployment best practices that comprise a reference model for common customer deployment scenarios. Each Aruba VRD has been constructed in a lab environment and thoroughly tested by Aruba engineers,” said Chuck Lukaszewski, director of professional services at Aruba. “By using these proven designs, our customers are able to rapidly deploy Aruba solutions with the assurance that they will perform and scale as expected.”
“With the number of Wi-Fi-enabled devices increasing exponentially, many not having a wired connectivity option, and with the applications on those devices becoming more multimedia-focused and bandwidth-intensive, legacy 802.11 a/b/g networks will simply have to be updated,” said Chris Spain, vice president of products at Aruba. “Upgrading to 802.11n isn’t enough. It’s critical that users consider the advanced functionality of the networks they choose. This should include the best possible application monitoring and control capabilities in addition to solid security. ArubaOS 6.0 ensures that customers will have the features they need to deliver applications – at scale – to large, high-density populations, wherever they may be.”
* IDC, All Eyes on Media Tablets: Opportunities & Challenges for Device Vendors and Content Providers, Doc.# WC20100715, Jul 2010.
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Tarpit Containment operation as shown in this example: Rogue client is trying to associate to a rogue AP. Aruba Air Monitor (AM) detects this event. Aruba AM impersonates the rogue AP and creates a "tarpit". Aruba AM breaks the connection between the rogue client and the rogue AP. Rogue client associates to Aruba AM "tarpit" in preference of the rogue AP. Rogue client stops association attempts to rogue AP - since from its perspective it already is connected to the rogue AP.
Aruba is the global leader in distributed enterprise networks. Its award-winning portfolio of campus, branch/teleworker, and mobile solutions simplify operations and secure access to all corporate applications and services – regardless of the user’s device, location, or network. This dramatically improves productivity and lowers capital and operational costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter, Facebook, or the Green Island News Blog.
© 2010 Aruba Networks, Inc. AirWave®, Aruba Networks®, Aruba Mobility Management System®, Bluescanner, For Wireless That Works®, Mobile Edge Architecture®, People Move. Networks Must Follow®, The All-Wireless Workplace Is Now Open For Business, RFprotect®, Green Island, and The Mobile Edge Company® are trademarks of Aruba Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to (1) the expected performance of ArubaOS 6.0, (2) the belief that ArubaOS 6.0 will help us reduce network operation costs significantly and (3) anticipated demand by new and existing Aruba for the new features being made available in ArubaOS 6.0. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions which, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the market performance of ArubaOS 6.0 and the pace of adoption of ArubaOS 6.0 to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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© 2010 Aruba Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice.
