Networking & Wireless
Utica College Upgrades Network
Utica College in New York has upgraded its wired and wireless network to improve the
teaching and learning experience and improve network access and
management at its main campus and three satellite locations.
The
college serves more than 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students and
wanted to make it easier for those students to access e-learning tools
without hiring additional network engineers. The college selected a new
software-driven wired, wireless and analytics solution from Extreme Networks, and Extreme partnered with infrastructure optimization company GSS Infotech to implement both the wired and wireless network.
The
new wireless network uses the 802.11ac standard, which promises
benefits such as increased capacity and speed. ExtremeWireless's
visibility into application use across the network is designed to
optimize application performance, and Utica College expects students
and faculty to experience greater reliability when accessing e-learning
applications. The college also implemented the ExtremeControl
integrated management suite to provide IT staff with improved
visibility across the wired and wireless network.
"With the
help of Extreme, we've reduced the complexity of our network and made
it easier for people to access and use our systems," said Vijay Sonty,
CIO of Utica College, in a prepared statement. "The gains in efficiency
and simplicity alone have had true bottom line results. Now, a single
network engineer can easily maintain a network that serves 4,000 users,
where the customary ratio is one engineer to 200 users."
According
to Extreme Networks, the college's new wired and wireless network can
support more than 4,000 users and more than 50 applications across the
128-acre main campus and three satellite campuses.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.