Modernize Your Network to Digitize Your Business Table of Contents Why a New Networking Approach is Needed...2 Modernizing Network Design and Architecture...2 Transforming the Network to Transform the Business...3 Choosing the Right Provider...4 Conclusion...5 Digital disruption is the new normal. Organizations of all sizes in all industries are embracing digital technologies to meet the needs of a changing workplace and customer base. Mobility, the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, big data, social media and digital transformation are prime catalysts for this new era. Taken together, they deliver a message that is clear and powerful: There is no more business as usual these days. That characterization no more business as usual also applies to the underlying networks that support and enable this new era. Legacy network architectures built for the client-server era were not designed to meet the needs of today s mobile/iot/cloud-enabled organizations and their customers. Where do they fall short? Practically everywhere: Performance, visibility, agility, bandwidth, security and complexity. Users and that category increasingly includes IoT devices don t care whether they are on a wired, wireless or mobile network: They care that they have unfettered and secure access at any time from any location using any device, with zero tolerance for downtime, latency or any other gaps affecting their ability to do what they want, when they want to do it. For network strategists, architects and IT administrators that means a new approach to building networks for now and the future. They need to eliminate the divide between wireless and wired and manage the network as one. They need to embrace innovations in automation, intelligence and security to empower today s digital workplace and address the needs of a digital customer base that is more demanding than ever before.
This paper discusses the new approach required for designing, building and managing networks for this new era. We look at advances and innovations in network design and architecture that fulfill the goals of this new approach. We also examine two organizations that have leveraged technologies to successfully transform their networks and thereby transform their businesses. Finally, we look at specific products and solutions that deliver this new approach to networking. Why a New Networking Approach is Needed The architecture of most campus networks was defined in the clientserver era, when the primary need was to increase wired access speeds and internetwork more locations. Today s challenges are much different. Mobility has changed the nature of access, requiring support for multiple devices per person with unpredictable locations, new traffic patterns, unknown devices on the network and a more sophisticated threat landscape without a trusted perimeter. Cloud computing has also changed the nature of applications toward centralized architectures, shifting user application traffic from client-server to app-cloud. In today s environment the campus network must take on three roles: 1. Access 2. IoT gateway 3. Wireless backhaul The old client-server model is ill-equipped to handle all of these roles, and is particularly brittle in the core of the network. In modernizing the campus network, strategists and architects need to focus on three key areas: Visibility: Network visibility is more challenging than ever. Organizations are increasingly turning to expensive overlays to mirror traffic yet they are still struggling to keep up. Inevitably this approach fails to provide real-time comprehensive visibility. IT managers need to know: What is happening on my network right now? And even more challenging: What has been happening on my network and should I worry? Troubleshooting: Once the network can provide deeper visibility, the next step is to aid the troubleshooting process. The network needs to do more than connect what is happening to where and why it is happening. It should provide intelligent insight to questions such as: If our videoconferencing service has poor quality, what else is going wrong at the same time? And, When was the last configuration change? Automation: Automating network tasks is a common objective for network teams in their efforts to lower costs, increase agility, reduce risk, accelerate time to value and improve security. Campus network administrators are still manually stitching together service set identifiers (SSIDs), virtual LANs (VLANs), virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) and quality of service policies, which requires resources and is prone to human error. Networking experts spend too much time on these keep the lights on functions, and not enough time on the problems of business efficiency, IoT enablement and digital transformation. Automation requires full programmability, easy integration with industry-standard tools and a readiness for the modern world of microservices. Modernizing Network Design and Architecture Modern network design and architecture should start with the seamless integration of the wired and wireless networks. Network teams should be able to integrate wired and wireless solutions for simple deployment, provisioning and management, leveraging advanced visibility, troubleshooting and automation capabilities across the entire network. The network should apply uniform security and access policies to users in headquarters, branch offices and on the road, and users should be able to securely access the network regardless of physical location, whether wired or wireless, with an always-on, consistent experience. So how do you get there from here? How do you modernize your network, unify wired and wireless, and leverage modern tools and technologies to digitize your workplace? It starts with choosing a network provider that understands your network challenges and offers an industry-leading, innovative solution so your employees/customers/business can benefit from the digital world, not be hindered by it. Key capabilities you should look for in a unified and integrated wired and wireless portfolio include: An intelligent core: A modern campus core and aggregation switch should be optimized for mobile users with integrated wired and wireless access. It should enable faster and advanced visibility, with real-time access to network insights; PG. 2
faster time to diagnose and resolve issues; easier policy-based automation and integration; support for modern automation and orchestration tools and languages; scale and mobility for IoT traffic demand, and improved network assurance, with carrier-grade reliability to support critical uptime requirements. A modern operating system: The network should leverage a flexible, fully programmable operating system. The OS should support the automation of many manual tasks, with solutions such as zero touch provisioning. In addition, the operating system should incorporate an analytics engine that leverages full automation and deep visibility to allow monitoring, troubleshooting and easy network data collection. High performance, secure access switches: Access switches should provide an integrated wired/wireless foundation with scalability, security and high performance. Access switches should be simple to deploy, provision and manage and be capable of leveraging user- and port-based traffic tunneling so that policies can be applied and advanced services can be extended to wired users and IoT devices, and traffic can be encrypted to secure the network. A security overlay: With context-aware security policies, network designers can address security challenges by delivering consistent visibility, policy control and workflow automation across wired and wireless networks. With the right solution, you can classify all mobile and IoT devices to define smart policies that determine access to the wired and wireless networks. You can use automated processes to grant or deny user access privileges based on a variety of factors, such as device type, ownership status or operating system. Support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi: As the workplace becomes more mobile-enabled, users demand more bandwidth for streaming, video and other workloads. The network must support the latest innovations across the board, particularly 802.11ac Wi-Fi, in order to support user requirements, enabling higher reliability and quality of service and to support the digital workplace. Scalable and simple management: Building networks can be hard work. Installing cost-efficient infrastructure, optimizing bandwidth, balancing network loads, securing traffic all of these tasks take a great deal of careful planning and expertise. In the age of cloud, distributed computing and bring your own device (BYOD) when network can stretch across hundreds of physical sites and involve thousands of people and devices effective network management is tougher than ever. Transforming the Network to Transform the Business Forward-looking network strategists and architects across all industries are already leveraging modern network designs to support and transform their digital workplaces. Here are two examples: United Airlines United has embarked on an ambitious program to modernize and unify its wired and wireless infrastructure at every airport in the world. A key goal is to give employees the tools, particularly mobile tools, to drive new levels of customer service. Our CEO has made frontline employees the number one priority for us in giving them the right tools and making them mobile, says Brian Doyle, senior manager for network engineering at United. The gate agents will come out from behind that podium and help you wherever you are. The pilots and flight attendants all have iphones and ipads. The ground crews all have handhelds for bag scanning. Modernizing the workplace meant modernizing the network standardizing on a single platform and unifying the wired and wireless networks. In the first five months, United added 1,300 Aruba access layer switches and another 500 core distribution layer switches. At the end of the project there will be more than 11,000 Aruba access points. Standardizing on one platform has helped with reducing complexity and troubleshooting. The network modernization has already had a significant impact on business operations. One of the big drivers of mobility, Doyle says, was for bag scanning. Flight delays is our number one issue and we ve reduced our flight delays due to wireless and bag scanning. In one month, he says, delays were reduced from in the hundreds to merely four. It s a direct bottom line impact because of having a better network. PG. 3
The unified wired and wireless infrastructure also positions United to improve services and efficiencies in the future. Doyle says United is looking at using location-based services to track ground service equipment, caterers and cleaning crews on the plane, among other activities. also modernized the mobility controllers at several of its campuses and modernized the access points in the dorms to address the original wireless challenge. The results have been dramatic in reducing complexity, lowering costs, improving performance and future-proofing the network for further innovation. We re looking for ways to leverage these new 11,000 access points and all of the back-end infrastructure, Doyle says. We re looking at this as not just fixing wireless it s a mobile platform. Everything we re doing is based on that. It s an entire infrastructure and platform we can build on, and layer on top of and add new services that benefit not just our employees but our customers. A smooth operation with a happy employee will lead to a better interaction with the customer. The new architecture significantly enhances our ability to manage our geographically disbursed network, Gardner says. From a configuration perspective, it s vastly more efficient to deploy a common configuration to multiple sites. We re also vastly more nimble. JCU frequently hosts conferences and events, and customers request various forms of access. Previously, it required about a day to design a solution. Now we do it in less than an hour. James Cook University Higher education is one of the most complex and challenging environments for network strategists and designers. Campuses include learning, living, working and leisure environments with unique challenges, such as lecture halls. In today s digital world, teachers, students and administrators require unimpeded and secure network access from any location using any device. James Cook University is the second oldest university in Queensland, Australia, serving a population of 22,000 students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. It is one of the world s leading institutions focused on the tropics, with facilities across Asia-Pacific main campuses in the tropical cities of Cairns, Singapore and Townsville, with smaller study centers in Mount Isa, Thursday Island and Mackey. There is also a campus in Brisbane. At one point, the university decided it needed to install access points in all 1,200 dorm rooms on the main campus in Townsville, Australia. That decision opened the floodgates to a major wired and wireless modernization effort that has given a tremendous boost to digital life throughout the university. Due to our changing needs, we required improved network management, enhanced high availability and greater agility for responding to evolving constituent needs, says Ron Gardner,network engineer at James Cook. The university re-architected its wireless LAN (WLAN) from a flat configuration model to a centralized, multi-tier hierarchical model. It In addition, the university is now efficiently and effectively managing its Wi-Fi, despite a dramatic surge in concurrent devices the result of installing access points in all of the dorm rooms. Previously, our peak device counts averaged about 6,000, Gardner says. Over the past couple of months, that s jumped to 8,000 and we only expect it to escalate from there. Choosing the Right Provider Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, has designed its campus network solution to serve as the foundation for the digital workplace. With solutions such as the Aruba 8400 Switch Series, ArubaOS 8, Aruba Mobility Master, Aruba 802.11ac Wave 2 access points, Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager, Aruba AirWave, and cloud-based Aruba Central, Aruba offers a modern approach to the digital workplace that unifies wired and wireless networks and delivers innovations in visibility, troubleshooting and innovation. Key elements of the Aruba portfolio include: Aruba 8400 Switch Series: This core and aggregation switch combines a fully programmable operating system with carriergrade hardware. It incorporates an industry-first Network Analytics Engine to easily monitor and troubleshoot network, system application and security issues. ArubaOS 8: This is the operating system for all Aruba Mobility Controllers, Virtual Mobility Controllers, Mobility Master and controller-managed wireless access points. It delivers unified wired and wireless access, seamless roaming, enterprisegrade security and an always-on network with the required performance, user experience and reliability to support highdensity environments. PG. 4
ClearPass Policy Manager: ClearPass solves today s security challenges across any multi-vendor wired or wireless network by replacing outdated legacy AAA with context-aware policies. It delivers visibility, policy control and workflow automation in one cohesive solution. Aruba Mobility Master: This is a new component of the Aruba architecture that enables customers to take advantage of advanced features that require central coordination and for networks to scale due to increased demand for mobile and IoT devices. It provides automatic RF optimization and enables hitless failover in the event of a controller outage. Aruba AirWave and Aruba Central:Aruba s network management solutions deliver granular visibility and predictive analytics for small businesses to large enterprises locally or in the cloud. Conclusion The workplace is changing dramatically and dynamically. Employees, customers and partners are more mobile and need to be connected from any location using any device at any time. The explosion of IoT devices is creating opportunities for organizations to leverage analytics for competitive advantage, but it also puts huge pressure on the underlying network for capacity, reliability and security. Legacy network architectures and technologies designed for the clientserver model can t support the needs of the modern digital workplace. A new approach is required, one in which the wired and wireless networks are unified and managed as one, leveraging advanced visibility, automation and troubleshooting. Choosing the right networking provider is one of the most critical decisions for any organization and particularly for the network strategists and designers who will drive that decision. Aruba continues to be a leader in designing modern solutions that address the needs of the new digital workplace. For more information on how your organization can modernize its networks, please visit Aruba at www.arubanetworks.com. PG. 5