Fixed Networks Featured Article

Seton Hill University has announced the implementation of a seamless wired/wireless data connectivity “solution” from Enterasys (News - Alert) to provide secure networking for more than 5,000 devices across multiple campus locations.

 

Enterasys delivers an easy-to-manage network that provides always-on connectivity and support for VoIP telephony.

 

The Enterasys network is a full-scale replacement of the Seton Hill University’s previous Cisco (News - Alert) infrastructure.

 

According to Phil Komarny, CIO of Seton Hill University, the University’s previous network environment became increasingly difficult to manage and costly to maintain with time. Since the university’s legacy telephony solution was nearing its end of life, and the infrastructure would not support a VoIP deployment, the university needed a solution that would support more than 2,000 full-time students and 250 faculty members.

 

Komarny and his staff selected Enterasys due to the design criteria of ease-of-use, reliability, scalability, security, interoperability with the school’s Polycom (News - Alert) VoIP phones.

 

After implementing the Enterasys solution, Seton Hill University’s network delivers always-on Gigabit Ethernet to each user’s desktop, secure wireless connectivity for laptops and other devices and traffic prioritization for seamless VoIP telephony across 25 campus buildings in three separate locations. At the same time, the solution reduces deployment, management and maintenance costs.

 

The HiPath Wireless solution provides a cost-effective way for the University to deploy 802.11n technology, delivering wired/wireless integration. It also supports a range of mobile voice, data and location-based applications. Enterasys C-Series switches offer scalable, wire-rate support for environments that require multilayer switching capabilities and support for high-density GbE ports. Additionally, the Enterasys N-Series flow-based switch provides visibility and control of individual users and voice/video/data applications. There is also no need for the university to allocate funds for end-of-life switches in the future since Enterasys offers Lifetime Warranty, according to officials.

 

Enterasys Network Access Control is a complete standards-based, multi-vendor interoperable pre-connect and post-connect network access control solution. It provides extensive network configuration options for granular, identity-based control.

 

The identification and visibility capabilities of the Enterasys Security Information and Event Manager solution help University IT staff to proactively manage the IT security infrastructure and improve remediation and response times. The entire infrastructure is managed by the Enterasys NMS Policy Manager, which will automatically centralize all role-based access policies for users, applications, protocols, VLANs, ports and data flows.