Aruba Networks White Paper Sample

Universities are early examples of this trend: a new cohort of tech-aware users arrives each year, armed with state-of-the-art notebook PCs and numerous Wi-Fi enabled devices, fresh from a home experience based on wireless networking. They expect Wi-Fi and a state-of-the-art WLAN has become a differentiator in university recruiting. University IT departments are already measuring the effect on their networks. An Ivy League university reported this year that following a new WLAN build-out over the summer vacation, the first semester of the new academic year saw an overall traffic increase of 25%. But traffic on wired LAN ports decreased by 10% and is continuing to decline, a trend that is set to continue.

The same drivers affect the business world. Consumers of corporate IT services are now accustomed to Wi-Fi networking at home, and with 802.11n, the dominant consumer Wi-Fi technology, wireless performance is alreadyindistinguishable from wired. PC refresh cycles have ensured that 30% of corporate computers are already 802.11n capable at the end of 2008, a figure that is set to increase by 25% per year. Yankee Group, an analyst, predicts that in 2009 wired enterprise switch sales will decline for the first time in history due to wireless substitution. From the IT group’s perspective, then, the terminal equipment is already deployed and users want to move to wireless. End-user benefits of convenience and productivity are well-established. Centralized WLANs automate the inter-access point coordination required for seamless, pervasive coverage across a building, simplifying network management. And perhaps most importantly, the widespread adoption of WPA2/802.1X equipment has removed lingering concerns about the shortcomings of earlier wireless security protocols. The remaining issue is the budget.