Temple U Deploys Crossbeam Security for Campus Communications

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 10/24/08

Temple University in Philadelphia has deployed Crossbeam Systems' X-Series security platform to secure campus-wide communications. The X-Series, Crossbeam's highest-performing security switch, consists of a "chassis" from which other vendors' applications can be run. The Crossbeam hardware facilitates the consolidation, virtualization, and simplification of security services delivery.

"We need a security infrastructure that can scale as needed and facilitate the increasing use of popular multimedia-based services for teaching, research, and everyday communications," said Adam Ferrero, executive director of network services. "Crossbeam provides the only platform on the market that allows us to deploy the security applications of our choice, at the 10 gigabit speeds we require, to protect users without sacrificing performance."

Temple selected Crossbeam after a recent evaluation determined that the university's current infrastructure wouldn't support its security requirements over the next five to 10 years. According to Ferrero, the installed network switches and security applications operated fine under normal traffic loads, but when stressed during spikes or peak hours of use, performance suffered and jeopardized the user experience. Temple wanted to solve the problem before the fall 2008 semester began.

"The main criterion was our ability to deploy the industry's best firewall and intrusion prevention systems on a single architecture that could grow with our needs, without having to overhaul our network for each incremental change," he said.

Ferrero's requirements included support for both Check Point Software Technologies' VPN-1 VSX virtualized firewall and IBM's Proventia Server intrusion prevention system and the capacity to support data throughput speeds of 10 Gbps.