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SUNNYVALE, Calif. – September 27, 2011 – Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) today announced that Florida State University (FSU) is in the process of enabling the deployment of a myriad of new applications and services for faculty, students and staff based on an Aruba Multimedia-grade Wi-Fi 802.11n-based network.

The university began the process of upgrading its wireless infrastructure to address two fundamental issues – network security and student, faculty and staff user experience. Its existing network consisted of a variety of stand-alone 802.11 a/b/g access points which were authenticated with multiple controllers. The traffic was unencrypted and users did not have the ability to move between buildings or into outdoor spaces without having to re-authenticate and re-login. Moving to an Aruba 802.11n-based network with user-based identity and policy enforcement remedied both situations.

The proliferation of smartphones, followed by the unprecedented success of the iPad and other tablet PCs, is adding to the load imposed by mobile laptop-carrying faculty, students and staff who do not need to work in fixed locations like offices. The need for a new class of Wi-Fi, Multimedia-Grade Wi-Fi, had become increasingly important to FSU. Aruba was able to provide it.

“We now have a wireless environment that is fast, secure, efficient, easy to use and easy to operate,” said Michael Barrett, CIO and associate vice president for information technology services at FSU. “With role-based access, users’ information is both better protected and accessed more readily. Our faculty, students and staff can now roam seamlessly throughout the FSU campus without dropping connections or having to re-login. Network management efficiency has increased dramatically. Software and feature upgrades are pushed out centrally and the number of service calls has been drastically reduced. We estimate that, where it used to take one technician to support 200 access points, the ratio has been increased to 1:600. With Aruba 802.11n, the university is poised and ready for the future. Previously unavailable services can now be offered wirelessly.”

In addition, the university replaced more than 40 controllers used for captive portal authentication with just three Aruba M3 local controllers and one master controller. This reduced capital and operational expenditures for FSU, simplified network management requirements and enabled earlier deployment of additional applications and services.

“The explosion of mobile devices that higher education IT departments have seen on campus this year, in the form of both smartphones and laptops used by faculty, students and staff, has created a need for new, ‘mobility-first’ access network design and deployment, or Multimedia-Grade Wi-Fi.” said Robert Fenstermacher, director of product and solution marketing at Aruba. “FSU understands that, and will be able to ensure a high quality experience for faculty, students, staff and visitors as a result.”