INDUSTRY WATCH
The University of Bahrain embarked on an ambitious strategy – the IT team needed to ensure that over 26,000 students and 1,800 staff had seamless campuswide wireless Internet access. Aruba has been UOB’ s vendor of choice right from when the University first decided to invest in a Wi-Fi solution back in 2008. At the time, a mere 60 Aruba 802.11a Access Points( APs) were sufficient to meet requirements.
With a campus that sprawls over 5 sq. km in area and up to 10,000 simultaneous users on the Wi-Fi network, high-density, security, ease of installation and configuration, and rapid troubleshooting were key requirements for success. With expert support offered by Kanoo IT, Aruba’ s integration partner in Bahrain, the IT team decided to undertake the overhaul of the University’ s wireless infrastructure.
One of the biggest challenges during deployment was the sheer scale of the project. Over 80 buildings had to be included for coverage, and access to these could be hampered by security policies, university operational hours, and other such factors.
To overcome this, Kanoo IT proposed the use of Aruba’ s 7200 series mobility controllers. Utilising these would allow the University’ s engineering teams to simply install the APs as per their
ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES DURING DEPLOYMENT WAS THE SHEER SCALE OF THE PROJECT. OVER 80 BUILDINGS HAD TO BE INCLUDED FOR COVERAGE, AND ACCESS TO THESE COULD BE HAMPERED BY SECURITY POLICIES, UNIVERSITY OPERATIONAL HOURS, AND OTHER SUCH FACTORS
convenience, while the IT team could then remotely manage the setup and configuration.
The integrator’ s expertise in design has also enabled UOB to realise the true potential of the powerful Aruba mobility controllers. By implementing the two controllers in Active / Standby mode rather than the traditional Master / Slave mode, Kanoo IT has enabled the University to maintain the same level of control over its wireless network even in the rare case of active controller failure.
Easy to install APs keep deployment on track The coverage and high-density
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