HP ProCurve Networking - Kundenberichte

	HP ProCurve Networking: HP ProCurve Networking secures wireless technology at major local college
	“Thanks to the ProCurve Network Access Controller (NAC) 800 we are able to automatically quarantine any unwanted devices attempting to access the network, therefore mitigating any risk to our business. Furthermore, the roll-out of the ProCurve wireless technology and Internet Protocol (IP) phones was effortless. Centralised network management saves us time and improves staff productivity and ProCurve’s comprehensive Lifetime Warranty has lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).” Les Black, head of communications and IT, Cambridge Regional College

Cambridge Regional College (CRC) serves the city and surrounding region from a single campus, close to the famous Cambridge Science Park. It currently provides 5,000 full-time students with a variety of vocational courses from seven purpose-built buildings. Additional facilities include computer drop-in and learning resource centres, an indoor sporting venue and the eco-friendly SmartLife complex, which houses advanced video conferencing equipment and amenities to teach modern construction methods.

Objective
CRC has been using HP ProCurve switches to satisfy its networking infrastructure requirements for over ten years. However recent business growth and campus expansion had placed increasing strain on the network and the core switch recently reached maximum capacity. The network infrastructure handles email, Internet, finance and management applications, student records and virtual learning environments and the switch upgrade provided an ideal opportunity to roll-out additional wireless services.

“Our £26 million site expansion plans include a new motor vehicle workshop, a hair and beauty facility and an enhanced sports complex,” explains Les Black, head of communications and IT, Cambridge Regional College. “We therefore needed new switches to support services and provide up-to-date wireless technology throughout the majority of our existing and new buildings.

“However, we had security concerns about wireless technology because user access to our current network was unmanaged, people could use various devices and, on occasions, the network was flooded with viruses. We needed to prevent unwanted devices accessing the system and limit students to Internet and email services. Any solution had to be highly reliable, secure and scalable to support Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony in our older blocks and offer good value-for-money,” continues Black.

Approach
“Choosing who to consult was easy. ProCurve has met our expectations for many years; its switches are reliable, easy-to-manage and they offer low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). On the rare occasions when we had problems, ProCurve always honoured its Lifetime Warrantyu,” says Black.

ProCurve demonstrated an Adaptive Edge solution that would allow the college to expand its networking capability, upgrade its wired and wireless infrastructure, address security concerns and introduce IP telephony within a unified openstandards solution. EXS IT Services Ltd, an HP ProCurve partner, implemented the wireless solution.

At the heart of the solution is a next-generation ProCurve 8212zl switch, the industry’s first core switch with a Lifetime Warranty. ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Modules (WESM) work in conjunction to deliver secure, advanced wireless services to the campus, simplified management and unified wired and wireless operations. In addition, an HP ProCurve Network Access Controller (NAC) 800 automatically evaluates the integrity of devices attempting to access the network.

To support reliable and manageable wireless capability, the solution includes 70 ProCurve Radio Port 210 units, which provide significant additional capacity for future growth and can be centrally administered and configured by the WESM both manually and automatically. Furthermore, radio ports can be distributed across the CRC’s campus without the need to configure individual Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) in every building.

To complement the 8212zl core switch, ProCurve 5406zl switches provide intelligence to the edge of the network and ProCurve 2610 PWR managed edge switches afford Power over Ethernet (PoE) for integration of wireless technology and IP telephony.

To address CRC’s security concerns and aid efficient network management, ProCurve Manager Plus (PCM+) and ProCurve Identity Driven Manager (IDM) software were also incorporated. PCM+ allows the college’s network administrators to configure, update, monitor and troubleshoot wired switches centrally and remotely whereas IDM dynamically applies security, access, and performance settings to network infrastructure devices based on user, location and time. These protocols prevent unauthorised access of devices connecting through wired or wireless to the network, prevent viruses and other threats and allocate the correct level of access for staff, students and visitors.

IT Improvements
CRC now boasts a robust, secure and scalable high-availability network. The ProCurve 8212zl core switch is ideally suited to the campus’s requirements as it provides much needed capacity and enables wired and wireless networking from core-to-edge, with unified security and management. Furthermore the managed edge switches with PoE capability have allowed CRC to rapidly deploy 70 Nortel IP phones, allowing the college to benefit from the improved call clarity and functionality of VoIP.

Business benefits
CRC now has a modern, reliable network that combines wired and wireless technologies, to support its business expansion plans for the foreseeable future. All this is coupled with less expensive calls, enhanced sound quality and scalability afforded by IP telephony.

“Thanks to the ProCurve Network Access Controller (NAC) 800 we are able to automatically quarantine any unwanted devices attempting to access the network, therefore mitigating any risk to our business,” says Black. “Furthermore, the roll-out of the ProCurve wireless technology and Internet Protocol (IP) phones was effortless. Centralised network management saves us time and improves staff productivity and ProCurve’s comprehensive Lifetime Warranty has lowered TCO”, he concludes.

“When I am asked about TCO; the answer is simple. I only have to think about general running costs. The Lifetime Warranty covers any maintenance costs. Our ProCurve solution is excellent value-for-money, offers a good return-on-investment and makes the college future-proof,” concludes Christopher Lang, vice principal Finance and Resources.