BYOD Pressures Oral Roberts U to 10-Fold Network Capacity Upgrade
Oral Roberts University has seen a 33 percent increase in the number of users accessing its network. The school, with 3,000 students and 1,000 employees this year, saw an increase of 1,000 network users from the previous year — along with 3,500 additional devices. That pressure, combined with the need for increased bandwidth for virtualization, drove the campus to upgrade its infrastructure, increasing network capacity 10-fold.
Administrators decided to upgrade the university's existing N-Series
equipment from Extreme Networks to
the high-performance
S-Series
equipment from the same company. According to information on the company's site,
the S-Series is a Terabit-class family of switches optimized for use with voice
and video, virtualization and cloud computing technologies.
The equipment works together with Extreme's NetSight Network Management and
Security Information and Event Manager (SIEM) tools, which provide automated,
policy-based traffic prioritization, quality of service (QoS) and bandwidth
management and policy-based user security, according to information from the
company.
The new infrastructure increases the university's network capacity from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps. The university is using its newfound network bandwidth
to accommodate technology such as Apple TV, virtual desktop infrastructure
(VDI), iPads, Smart Boards, and IP cameras in classrooms and dorms across
campus. The university is also considering expanding its use of digital content
in the classrooms.
According to the company, the S-Series also helps the university save money
by reducing energy costs. The system's power system modularity cuts "power and
cooling costs by providing optimal incremental power consumption," according to
information on the company's site.
Oral Roberts University is a liberal arts university located in Tulsa, OK,
serving more than 3,000 students and employing more than 1,000 faculty and
staff.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].