Aruba's 10000th 802.11n AP

Aruba Networks announced that its shipments of 802.11n enabled access points have passed a milestone 10,000 units. Aruba announced its dual-radio AP-124 and AP-125 802.11n Access Point family in November 2007, and volume shipments commenced in February 2008. The company's AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG field-upgradable access points were announced last month. Based on 2nd generation RF chips, the access points can be powered from a single 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet source and feature 3x3 MIMO operation and ultra-compact packaging.

"The second half of 2007 saw the first shipments of coordinated enterprise-class '802.11n Draft 2.0 Wi-Fi Certified' access points," said Gartner Senior Research Analyst Christian Canales, author of Gartner Dataquest's 2008 Market Share: Enterprise Wireless LAN Equipment, Worldwide, 4Q07 and 2007 report. "Worldwide revenue from sales of WLAN enterprise equipment increased more than 10% from 2006 to 2007, and coordinated access points accounted for 48% of the overall enterprise access point shipments in the last quarter of 2007, versus just 39% in the last quarter of 2006."

The California State University system, recipient of the 10,000th 802.11n access point, selected Aruba's wireless networks for use across its 23 campuses in September 2007. With nearly 450,000 students and 46,000 faculty and staff members, the California State University system is the largest in the country. Aruba was selected after it passed a stringent functional test, and demonstrated the lowest total cost of ownership for the specific criteria used in the evaluation.

Aruba's implementation of 802.11n offers substantive ease-of-use, performance, and interoperability advantages over competing solutions. Aruba's Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology automates wireless LAN set-up and maintenance, and adapts the network in real-time to accommodate user behavior, interference, and nearby networks. ARM features include:

• Airtime fairness to ensure that slower 802.11b/g clients have minimal impact on high speed 802.11n clients in lecture halls, trading floors, convention centers, and logistics facilities with densely deployed clients
• Co-channel interference management for the highest possible throughput in the presence of nearby access points and RF transmitters;
• Intelligent client steering to provide high speed clients with access to the greatest available bandwidth by associating them with the best band, channel and access point.

Interoperability tests published in March validated the efficacy of ARM - laptops containing wireless radio chip sets from Atheros, Broadcom, and Intel delivered the highest throughput with Aruba's 802.11n solution compared with three competing wireless LANs.

"Ease of use, high performance, and interoperability are the hallmarks of Aruba's 802.11n solution, and the fast uptake of our 802.11n access points reflects the importance of these features to customers," said Keerti Melkote, Aruba's co-founder and head of products and partnerships. "Not content to sit on our laurels, we continue to drive innovation into the 802.11n market. A case in point is our new line of economical 802.11a/b/g access points that can be upgraded via software download to 802.11n Draft2.0."

Source Aruba Networks

New Wi-Fi APs from Aruba

Aruba Networks announced a new line of 802.11a/b/g access points that can be upgraded over-the-network to enable 802.11n dual-radio operation. The new access points allow enterprises, schools, universities, hospitals, and other institutions to prepare today for a future migration to 802.11n without incurring the cost of an immediate upgrade.

The new AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG Access Points can be used for wireless access, intrusion-detection monitoring, secure enterprise mesh or remote access point applications. The mode of operation is determined by network-downloadable software, which eliminates the expense of physically accessing the devices to re-purpose or update them. Full 802.11n performance is delivered using existing 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), precluding the need for an expensive PoE upgrade.

"The exact timing of the migration to 802.11n varies by user based on their application requirements, the availability of 802.11n clients, and budget," said Michael King, Research Director at Gartner, Inc. "Since WLAN infrastructure purchases must address both current and future requirements, enabling a flexible approach to 802.11n roll out will meet the needs of a wide range of organizations including those that haven't yet nailed down the timeline for implementing 802.11n."

Aruba's new dual-radio AP-124ABG and AP-25ABG Access Point family is based on the newest generation RF chips and high-performance MIPS CPUs with hardware-accelerated cryptographic processing. Featuring 3x3 Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) operation, the access points include automatic Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) management that supports 802.3af, 802.3at, and PoE +. The access points will operate in 3x3 MIMO mode using a single 802.3af PoE injector over a single Ethernet cable. A local 5VDC power source is provided for non-PoE applications.

Unique to this family of products, a Trusted Protection Module (TPM) manages security credentials to protect access points installed in unsecured areas. The TPM specification was defined by the TPM subgroup of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) for the secure generation and storage of cryptographic keys, and is widely implemented on devices for which high security is essential.

The new access points will be managed by Aruba's vendor-neutral AirWave Wireless Management Suite. AirWave is a leading tool for centrally managing large, multi-vendor wireless LAN, mesh, and WiMAX networks. One of the key benefits of the tool is its ability to simplify technology migrations by integrating both legacy and new infrastructure under a single management console.

"The new access points address two primary customer concerns: how to prepare for 802.11n when the budget to make a full conversion is not available, and how to support 802.11n without replacing existing infrastructure such as 802.3af PoE," said David Munro, Aruba's head of controller platforms. "We believe we have accomplished both objectives with the AP-124ABG and AP-125ABG, and anticipate that the products will be especially attractive to customers such as school districts that are going through a wireless LAN refresh cycle now with an eye on their networking needs one or two years down the line. The new access points should meet today's budget constraints, while paving the way for a future upgrade without a forklift replacement."

The new access points will be shipping early this summer, and will be introduced at Interop Las Vegas, April 29, May 1, booth 1262, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

New WIPS from Aruba

Aruba Networks, a global leader in user-centric networks and secure mobility solutions, today announced a new version of its RFprotect Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) software that allows users to define their own attack-detection signatures and defend against previously unknown, undisclosed, or unpatched vulnerabilities (zero-day attacks). These user-defined signatures can be implemented almost immediately, enhancing security and giving users more control over their threat vulnerability. All other wireless intrusion prevention systems require the supplying vendor to provide updates, leaving customers vulnerable in the meantime when a new attack is developed.

In addition, Aruba customers will be able to make their user-defined signatures available to others by contributing them to the Wireless Vulnerabilities and Exploits (WVE) database at www.wve.org, a community vulnerabilities database. Aruba has long been an active participant in the WVE Project.

"Security is an unending, iterative process in which the best defense is built by rapidly integrating updates about real or potential attacks as quickly as possible," said Rajeev Shah, Aruba's wireless IDS product manager. "User-defined threat definitions are used successfully in other segments of the security market, and we're pleased to be the first to make it available for WIPS."

The new software represents the full integration of the RFprotect software that Aruba acquired from Network Chemistry in 2007. RFprotect software automatically detects network vulnerabilities and contains unauthorized clients and adhocs even as they roam. With its customizable security policies, RFprotect software delivers organization-specific security policy enforcement, reduces false positives, and generates reports to meet compliance requirements.

Originally acquired from Network Chemistry in 2007, RFprotect software automatically detects network vulnerabilities and contains unauthorized clients and adhocs even as they roam. Featuring customizable security policies, RFprotect software delivers organization-specific security policy enforcement, reduces false positives, and generates reports to meet compliance requirements. The new RFprotect software has been integrated into Aruba's secure mobility solutions to enhance Layer 1-2 security capabilities.

"It is important that interval between the detection of a security threat and its mitigation be as short as possible because of the vulnerability created by the gap," said Paul DeBeasi, senior analyst at Burton Group. "Collaboratively developing, testing, and disseminating security features, including user-defined signatures, can minimize the vulnerability more rapidly than relying on a single vendor for periodic updates. This method has been used effectively in areas such as virus detection, and is an innovative way to enhance WIPS security."

The new RFprotect software will be shipping early this summer, and will be introduced at Interop Las Vegas, April 29 May 1, booth 1262, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Wireless LAN systems of 2008

Best-in-class networking products receive honors for 2008. The top winners in the Wireless LAN systems category are:

GOLD AWARD:
Cisco Unified Wireless Network
For network managers who need uptime – and isn't that everyone? – behavior analysis is fast becoming a critical tool. Based on reader feedback, the MARS system from Cisco handily won our gold medal, thanks to its ability to detect network threats of all stripes, malware and misconfigurations alike.

SILVER AWARD:
SonicWall Secure Wireless Solution
The Secure Wireless Solution from SonicWall grabbed the silver in wireless LANs. The solution, which comes fully integrated into the company's enterprise-class firewall gateway appliance, was applauded for reliability and security.

BRONZE AWARD:
Aruba Wireless LAN
Combining the multiple components needed to secure a wireless network into a whole, the wireless LAN system from Aruba Networks earned high marks all around and succeeded in collecting the bronze medal in our 2008 Product Leadership Awards.

Aruba Networks launches industrial and outdoor solutions with new ruggedized, explosion - resistant Wireless LAN products

"Explosion resistant" isn't a label most of us expect to see on a wireless LAN access point, but Aruba Networks' new rugged access points are aimed at industrial and outdoor applications where conditions are harsh, hazardous and even explosive.
The new Aruba AP-85 features two high-powered 802.11a/b/g radios, protected within a weatherproof enclosure that is designed not only to withstand explosions but also to resist triggering explosions by preventing exposed electrical wires from coming in contact with vapours or dust.
The AP-85 enclosure carries the ATEX Zone 2 safety rating, which means it can operate in explosive fumes or dust. The device can run in temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees to more than 55 degrees Centigrade, without the need for specialty housings.
The radios are powered by up to 200 milliwatts - more than double that of most office access points - creating a strong, long-distance signal. It can draw power from standard 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet systems or 12-volt DC sources, such as plant bus power, vehicular power cells or a solar panel. To support fibre-optic network interfaces, the AP-85 can run on auto-ranging 90-288VAC.
Three models offer three different upstream network interfaces: 10/100Base-T Ethernet, and either single-mode or multi-mode fibre for use in hazardous, potentially explosive environments. Specially designed mounting brackets can withstand winds up to 125 mph.
Aruba designed a number of features to meet industrial requirements, says Michael Tennefoss, Aruba's head of strategic marketing. It's the first Aruba access point to let administrators configure and troubleshoot it by connecting wirelessly from a notebook or handheld computer. Others require a technician to physically plug into the access point, according to Tennefoss.
Troubleshooting is also simplified by a high-intensity LED display mounted clearly on the front of the access point. Lower-intensity displays are hard to read from any distance, and at least one rival product has the display mounted on the back, Tennefoss says. The Aruba LED display can be set to turn on for a predetermined amount of time and then automatically shut off, to conserve power.
One optional feature is the ability to run Aruba's mesh networking software, so that packets can travel by hopping from one access point to another, eliminating the need to cable each access point to a switch or controller.
Weatherproof, durable access points for outdoor mesh networks are also available from rivals such as Cisco, BelAir, Strix and Tropos. Motorola, via its Symbol acquisition, also targets industrial enterprises with WLAN infrastructure and handhelds.
Aruba's AP-85 will ship by the end of March. It's priced at $2,500 for the Ethernet model and $4,000 for the fibre-optic models.
Aruba also announced it has certified the Toughbook line of rugged notebook PCs, from Panasonic Computer Solutions, as interoperable with Aruba's WLAN infrastructure.
See more on aruba networks website.

About Aruba Networks, Inc.

People move. Networks must follow. Aruba securely delivers networks to users, wherever they work or roam. Our unified mobility solutions include Wi-Fi networks, identity-based security, remote access and cellular services, and centralized network management to enable the Follow-Me Enterprise that moves in lock-step with users:

• Follow-Me Connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi networks ensure that users are always within reach of mission-critical information;
• Follow-Me Security: Identity-based security assigns access policies to users, enforcing those policies whenever and wherever a network is accessed;
• Follow-Me Applications: Remote access solutions and cellular network integration ensure uninterrupted access to applications as users move.