Aruba Networks has announced that Cambridge University has selected its wireless LAN equipment to offer hotspot and wireless service across the University.
The company has installed its Remote Access Point (RAP) technology, creating a private network that the University’s Computing Service Department will manage centrally. The Department’s Network Division acts as a service provider, offering a wireless hotspot service to any of the 31 colleges that requires it.
The network is called Lapwing and enables students and staff to access the University’s administrative and learning resources. The new network has been in operation for about six months and so far about 200 access points have been installed.
Roger Hockaday, EMEA director of marketing at Aruba, told CBR that the university’s old network was costly and difficult to manage. He said: “The University has had a wireless network for a while, but it used a Fat AP (access point), which was expensive to run. We have installed a Thin AP, which is built with all necessary functions inside.”
The legacy network required manual installation at all the required access points. The new system is centrally managed, which has freed up members of the IT team to work on more important projects, says Hockaday.
Hockaday added that the main benefits of installing a wireless network are to reduce costs and improve access if you have a mobile workforce. He says Cambridge University will benefit on both counts.
Bob Franklin, Network Division, University Computing Service, said: “Since we serve many masters, it is paramount that the University Computing Service’s wireless network be adaptable to a wide range of needs, simple to manage with minimal staff overhead, self-adjusting to accommodate dynamically changing local conditions, and cost effective for our clients, the colleges.”
Not all colleges have signed up for Aruba’s network. The University’s 31 colleges are independent institutions with their own property and income and can choose to install their own Wi-Fi network if they so wish or join the hotspot scheme offered by the Computing Service Department.
Franklin added that installation was quick and painless for the University and they are already seeing the benefits of the new system. “Aruba’s wireless architecture minimised the time required for our initial deployment and has delivered robust Wi-Fi performance ever since. The network’s centralised management and RAP technology are supremely scalable with a minimum number of controllers, and have cut our support overhead costs by minimising field visits. As a result the University’s Network Division can support a greatly expanded network with its existing staff while simultaneously passing operating expense savings directly to the colleges,” he said.
