Cal State L.A. Upgrades to All-802.11ac Network to Enable Collaborative Learning and Support More Than 27,000 Students, Faculty and Staff
Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN) today announced that California State
University, Los Angeles (Cal State L.A.), which has been recognized as
one of the top 20 comprehensive universities in the United States by
Washington Monthly, has deployed a campus-wide Aruba Gigabit Wi-Fi
network. While many of the 23 California State University campuses have
started to upgrade to 802.11ac, Cal State L.A. is the first to implement
an infrastructure that is completely 802.11ac. The new network will
accommodate the surge in wireless devices and mobile applications being
used on campus and provide the performance necessary to support new
education technologies while enhancing classroom collaboration.
Cal State L.A. had an 802.11n infrastructure in place, but found that
the old network could not deliver the comprehensive indoor and outdoor
coverage nor the speed and reliability that its 24,488 students and
nearly 3,000 faculty and staff members required. After a thorough review
of wireless vendors, Aruba was selected by the CSU system to provide Cal
State L.A. with a new 802.11ac network, covering 23 academic buildings
and outdoor campus areas.
“Technology has become an integral component of academic achievement and
engaged campus life,” said Cal State L.A. President William A. Covino.
“Cal State L.A. is committed to excellence, and it is a priority that
our students, faculty and staff have the best service possible for their
mobile devices, including access to a network that can accommodate the
newest devices and the fastest wireless features.”
“The growing use of mobile devices on campus, specifically the
introduction and fast adoption of the new generation of 802.11ac
devices, and the reliance on mobile apps for both academics and
collaboration, prompted us to look at upgrading to Gigabit Wi-Fi,” said
Peter Quan, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Cal State
L.A.. “With the Aruba 802.11ac infrastructure, we can see a
direct link between the performance it delivers and our ability to
support teaching and learning, as well as engage students everywhere on
campus.”
Cal State L.A.’s new network is comprised of Aruba
AP-220 Series 802.11ac access points (APs)
and Aruba
270 Series Outdoor 802.11ac APs – both with Aruba’s patented ClientMatch™
technology, which continuously matches mobile devices to the best access
points as they roam through the campus, and Aruba
AppRFTM technology, which features an integrated next
generation mobility firewall that identifies, polices and prioritizes
the handling of over 1,500 apps, including cloud and social media apps.
Cal State L.A. is also using Aruba’s AirWave
Network Management System, which gives
them complete visibility into the network. AirWave allows Cal State L.A.
to identify the connections on the network, the mobile devices, and how
much bandwidth specific devices are consuming, so the University can
proactively plan for capacity, visualize client performance and
troubleshoot connectivity issues. Cal State L.A. has also deployed
Aruba’s ClearPass
Access Management System for device registration and authentication,
as well as policy management.
Improved device performance has been an important benefit of the new
Aruba network. Since the deployment, 802.11ac devices have been
performing at Gigabit speeds and, with ClientMatch, even 802.11n devices
are performing three times faster than on the old network. “In the first
few weeks that school was back in session, we saw over 11,000 802.11ac
devices on the network and the students have been pleased with their
performance,” said Quan. “As the iPhone 6 and 6+ gain market traction,
we expect to see even more .11ac devices on the network. We have
confidence that our new infrastructure can handle the connectivity
requirements of these new devices, as well as any new applications that
we deploy in the future.”
Looking ahead, Cal State L.A. is investigating Aruba’s AirGroup
capability, which makes it easy for mobile devices to wirelessly print
and share media that leverages UPnP, DLNA, AirPrint and AirPlay
technology while ensuring quality of service (QoS). With AirGroup,
University professors will be able to conveniently leverage Apple TVs
and devices in classrooms for more collaborative learning.
About Cal State L.A.
Cal State L.A. is a university dedicated to engagement, service, and the
public good. Founded in 1947, the University is home to over 23,000
active students, and 235,000 distinguished alumni, who are as diverse as
the city we serve. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, Cal State L.A.
has long been recognized as an engine of economic and social mobility.
Led by an award-winning faculty, the University offers nationally
recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice,
engineering, nursing, education and the humanities.
Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Fine Arts
Complex, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, Hertzberg-Davis
Forensic Science Center, Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility, Billie
Jean King Sports Complex, TV, Film and Media Center and the Center for
Engagement, Service, and the Public Good. For more information, visit CalStateLA.edu,
or like us at Facebook.com/CalStateLA.
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access
solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers
Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a
new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for
every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility
experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined
Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and
trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention.
The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower 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, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more,
visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter
and Facebook,
and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.
© 2014 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include Aruba
Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized), Aruba
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Aruba Networks, Inc.
Pavel Radda, +1 408-419-0294
Director of Corporate Communications
pradda@arubanetworks.com
OR
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks
Lori Hultin, +1 818-879-4651
Principal
lhultin@arubanetworks.com