Aruba WiFis AUBAruba WiFis AUB

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) today announced that the American University of Beirut (AUB) has standardised on Aruba's Wireless Grid architecture and related products to provide secure, pervasive and high performance indoor/ outdoor Wi-Fi coverage to a massive 70-acre campus.

Considered the largest planned WLAN network in the Middle East, AUB's wireless grid is currently being installed by Aruba's reseller partner, Triple C (Computer Communications Consultants) of Beirut, Lebanon.

"This is a state of the art wireless network in every way. The American University of Beirut will be in position to deploy additional applications it chooses on this high performance wireless network," said Jacques Rahmouch, Business Development Manager at Triple C. "Triple C teamed up with Aruba because it is recognised as a leader in secure and managed wireless solutions. Triple C has a long track record in deploying large networking projects, and a good reputation in the Lebanese market for delivering and implementing network projects in real time."

Consisting of over 300 Aruba 802.11a/b/g grid points, Aruba wireless grid will cover 33 multi- story buildings and 21 outdoor areas where students assemble. The dense deployment of Aruba Series 61 grid points in user workspace will allow AUB to provide high performance 802.11a or b/g wireless connectivity when and where needed. New Aruba 60 series grid points will also be deployed in ceiling spaces to provide outdoor coverage using detachable antennas.

The phased deployment, expected to be completed by September 2005, will bring secure wireless connectivity to a vast array of facilities such as faculty buildings, student buildings, dormitories and gathering areas, the university library, and administration buildings. AUB anticipates over 1,000 users to initially register for the wireless service.

The university's strategic decision to build a massive, high performance WLAN was predicated on improving student and faculty productivity by delivering more flexible access to a variety of data center applications. These applications include email and the Internet, the library catalogue and journals, computer-based courseware, the student information system, and Intranet services.

"Our vision is to deliver value to our students, faculty members and staff by providing ubiquitous and secure access to the university's core business applications and intranet/Internet services," said Rabih Itani, network and security manager, Computing and Networking Services at the American University of Beirut (AUB). "We wanted a state-of-the-art wireless LAN (WLAN) solution with affordable and predictable cost of ownership. By providing centralised, automated, and easy to manage RF capabilities built into the wireless network core, Aruba's solution will allow us to predict and reduce the total cost of ownership."

"The Aruba wireless grid solution will provide end users with productivity gains and simplified work flows, thereby delivering an even higher return on our investment," Itani added.

Aruba's Wireless Grid products allow AUB to cut deployment and operations costs while increasing the performance of WLANs. Aruba's wireless grid uniquely provides AUB with a structured deployment model. Bringing APs out of the ceiling and into the existing structured cabling infrastructure, AUB realises low cost, rapid and dense wireless deployment, resulting in better coverage and capacity over conventional approaches.

The university is deploying 300 new, low cost Aruba 60 series grid points. The software programmable, single radio, 802.11 a/b/g APs will be placed into seven zones of the AUB campus that are interlinked with their wired meshed Gigabit Ethernet connections. The wireless zones will be managed by eight Aruba 2400 series switches equipped with Aruba's wireless IDS software that allows AUB to automatically detect and eliminate rogue APs, wireless interference sources, ad-hoc networks and to block a wide variety of wireless intrusions and attacks.

"Aruba's wireless grid concept seamlessly integrates into and complements our layer 2/3 Gigabit Ethernet wired network. It gives us the ability to cost-effectively build a pervasive wireless environment tuned to performance without sacrificing security. That's precisely what's needed for wireless to become mainstream," said Itani.

"We are proud to partner with such a prestigious university on the largest planned WLAN deployment in the Middle East and provide our leading edge grid WLAN architecture for the benefits of students and teachers. We have also recognised the dedication and professionalism of Triple C, our partner, who has been involved with us from the assessment and design to the integration phase of the project," said Pascal Desaint Ph.D., Aruba Wireless Networks' general manager for France, Southern Europe and Africa.

Aruba Wireless Networks