Networking & Wireless | News
Tennessee Tech Extends WLAN
Tennessee Tech University (TTU) has
extended its WLAN again since overhauling its network in 2011.
The university replaced its aging network infrastructure in 2011 to better
serve its growing student and employee population and cut IT costs while
providing improved mobile device capabilities, including support for
bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and Apple services such as AirPrint, AirPlay and
Apple TV.
The university chose a wireless network solution from
Aerohive because of the company's
proprietary
Bonjour Gateway solution that "simplifies the support of Apple-compatible
devices at universities, making Apple services such as AirPrint, AirPlay and
remote display with Apple TV usable across large networks," according to the
company. Support for Apple Bonjour was important to the university because of
the predominant usage of Apple products in TTU's classrooms.
The university also chose Aerohive because of its controllerless
architecture, which simplifies scalability. According to the company, "with the
Aerohive system, TTU has been able to add more access points as the university
grows and demand increases."
TTU is also using Aerohive's
BR100 branch routers to
provide traveling staff, such as administrators and athletic recruiters, with
remote connectivity and access to TTU resources. The BR100 Routers enable
network administrators to set up a single configuration for remote devices
through the
HiveManager interface, and then when they plug in a new BR100 router for
another remote office VPN, it discovers the HiveManager automatically.
"As the environment changes, we have to adapt to it. That's one of the nice
things about Aerohive; we're not concerned at all about controllers, which limit
how quickly we can grow a network," said Jerry Boyd, director of network
services and operations at TTU, in a prepared statement. "Aerohive's
controllerless architecture has allowed us to quickly and cost-effectively scale
while keeping up with the connectivity needs of our exploding student population
and staff."
Tennessee Tech University is the state's only public technological
university. It is located in Cookeville, TN and serves more than 11,700
students.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.