Third Largest K-12 District in Texas Deploys Aruba 802.11ac and ClearPass Solutions Across 80+ Schools and Facilities to Connect More than a Half Million Devices
Aruba Networks, an HP company, (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that Cypress
Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD) of Houston, the third
largest school district in Texas and the 23rd largest in the
nation, is deploying a new Gigabit wireless infrastructure to support
the district’s commitment to 21st century K-12 education.
Using Aruba’s
802.11ac solution and ClearPass
Policy Management platform, CFISD plans to adopt a Bring Your Own
Technology (BYOT) policy for its 113,000+ students and 14,000 staff and
teachers.
As part of its vision to maximize students’ potential and prepare them
to be global leaders, CFISD realized they needed to deploy the right
technology across their school campuses and in their classrooms. The
district is implementing a one-to-many device strategy and will allow
students and staff to bring their own devices onto the school campuses.
“We expect to support nearly a half million devices,” said Frankie
Jackson, Chief Technology Officer, CFISD. “To do this successfully, we
need a reliable, high speed infrastructure that can scale, can deliver
uninterrupted coverage across our schools and in the classrooms, and can
authenticate and provide secure access for all of these devices.”
To address these challenges, CFISD replaced its existing wireless
infrastructure with Aruba’s 802.11ac solution, installing more than
8,000 Aruba
200 Series Access Points both indoors and outdoors, 7200
Series Mobility Controllers, AirWave
network management and ClearPass
for 802.1X and guest wireless authentication. With the help of partner
Layer 3 Communications of Houston, Texas, the district is currently
installing the new infrastructure in its middle and high schools and
plans to roll out the new wireless network in its elementary schools in
the fall.
Said Jackson, “Our vision in this district is that in our classrooms,
every teacher and every student can be connected at very fast speeds 100
percent of the time. We anticipate elementary students bringing at least
one device onto campus with them, middle schoolers bringing two and at
the high school level, as many as three per student. By enabling a
reliable, high-speed connection for these devices, we hope to not only
increase the use of technology in the classroom, but to improve overall
academic achievement by allowing students to collaborate, communicate,
problem-solve and engage in creative and critical thinking.”
Jackson noted that the network was crucial to turning CFISD’s vision
into reality. “We knew we needed to fix the foundation before we started
purchasing and bringing in devices. You don’t want to apply new
wallpaper before fixing cracks in the walls,” she said.
ClearPass was a key factor in CFISD’s decision to select Aruba. The
district’s vision – to allow BYOT for all students, staff and faculty,
as well as allow guests to connect to the wireless network – meant that
security, authentication and policy management were key concerns. With
ClearPass, CFISD can now identify all BYO devices and create
differentiated policies based on the type of users – for example,
student, teacher, administrator or guest – to determine the appropriate
network access that each user’s device can have.
“We looked at a number of solutions and Aruba had the policy management
we were looking for and was the best value,” Jackson commented. Jackson
and her team were also impressed by Aruba’s dedication and partnership
with the district and its commitment to helping CFISD meet its goals,
even allowing them to borrow equipment and resources during
implementation.
Added Jackson, “A company that will partner with your district to ensure
you don’t fail is invaluable.”
About Aruba Networks, an HP company
Aruba Networks, an HP company, 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.
To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
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include Aruba Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized),
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Aruba Networks, an HP company
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Director of Corporate Communications
pradda@arubanetworks.com
or
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks, an HP company
Lori Hultin, +1-818-879-4651
Principal
lhultin@arubanetworks.com