区域高层和社区创新者现代化了与Aruba CX 8400，IAP和Central的基础设施和经验

To take its rich 80-year history of educational innovation into the future, California's West Hills Community College District (WHCCD) needed a reliable, modern networking infrastructure.

“我们从一开始就经历了我们现有的Cisco有线基础设施的多种缺陷，”总部位于Coalinga机构的网络工程师Jack Ramsey解释说，该机构还通过与当地学区和工业的合作伙伴关系提供教育和培训。

"For example, whenever the power went out, almost a monthly occurrence in our rural area, 10 percent of our switches failed," he says. "To make matters worse, it could take months to receive warranty replacements. With today's reliance on technology for student success, we had to make a change."

"Our classrooms are active from early morning to late at night," says Jeff Seed, Director of IT Infrastructure and Security at WHCCD. "Plus, we have on-campus housing, which is unique among our community college peers, generates data traffic 24/7."

Respected Reputation and Customer-First Culture Top the List

When it came time for a core-to-edge networking refresh, support topped the priority list. "Our classrooms are active from early morning to late at night," says Jeff Seed, Director of IT Infrastructure and Security at WHCCD. "Plus, we have on-campus housing, which is unique among our community college peers, generates data traffic 24/7."

鉴于其超级IT员工为三个主要校园服务和两个卫星位置分散了3500英里，WHCCD还寻求一种可靠，安全的解决方案，能够扩大规模，以满足不断发展的需求。

WHCCD长期与Hewlett Packard Enterprise合作，用于服务器和存储，习惯了VIP治疗并信任其HPE代表。拉姆西说：“如果HPE的任何设备都失败了，我们可以在几个小时内指望替代者。”

"Our HPE reps introduced us to Aruba solutions," he adds. "Aruba's 'customer first, customer last' culture, along with its respected wired and wireless networking reputation, gave us the confidence we needed to invest."

阿鲁巴CX Core Switching Saves the Day

Working with its local integration partnerAMS.NET，WHCCD从Aruba中选择了具有高级，全面，支持AI的管理工具的端到端有线和无线解决方案。

For wired networking, the institution planned to deploy anAruba CX 8400核心开关, with its microservices-based AOS-CX operating system, at each of its main campuses. Aruba's3810和2930access switches would complete the deployment.

While the equipment was still in the AMS warehouse, the existing core switch at one campus burned up completely. "With Cisco estimating three days just for a replacement to arrive, we called up AMS to ask about installing the CX 8400," Ramsey says. "The next morning, an engineer installed the Aruba switch and brought the entire campus back online in a couple of hours."

Resilient design and analytics engine improve operations and reduce overhead

By pairing the CX 8400 with Aruba's access switches, WHCCD gains the ability to use various task automation capabilities and powerful analytics engine for proactive management and faster troubleshooting. Other management pluses are the Python interpreter and RESTful APIs.

Additionally, the CX 8400's resilient design and open standards operating system provided further benefits. For example, its active chassis components are not only field-replaceable but also hot-swappable, reducing associated operational overhead. Also, having open standards adds flexibility and agility for adopting companion technologies.

Cloud-based Aruba Central and ClearPass Complete the Stack

为了完成现代化并提供无缝的Wi-Fi体验，WHCCD采用了阿鲁巴's indoor and outdoor Instant Access Points (IAPs), for zero-touch provisioning, with阿鲁巴Central, for cloud-based network optimization and management.

Using Central, WHCCD automated device onboarding, including for the many types of user-owned IoT devices proliferating across higher education campuses. "Before, we were approving devices manually," says Seed. "Now, users simply self-register."

Addressing security concerns while eliminating hours of manual effort

For streamlined network access control (NAC), WHCCD unified wired and wireless security with阿鲁巴ClearPass。"The tight integration between ClearPass, our switching environment and Wi-Fi helps us address a number of security concerns," Seed says.

On the wired side, the colorless port capability in the 3810 switches enables ClearPass to assign roles and policies for connecting a specific device in real time. "This eliminates countless hours of manual effort around assigning and updating switch port configurations," says Seed.

对于Wi-Fi来说，这是一个类似的故事，ClearPass根据相同的粒状角色和政策自动授予访问权限，以适用于其有线连接。

Seed说：“使用ClearPass'直观仪表板和颗粒状访问功能，我们不仅为用户提供了在有线和无线方面的一致体验，而且还可以享受明显简化的管理和显着改善的控制。”

"With ClearPass identifying a wider range of device types, we're assured that access roles are properly applied without requiring any additional human intervention," says Seed.

"With ClearPass identifying a wider range of device types, we're assured that access roles are properly applied without requiring any additional human intervention," says Seed.

"I can't say enough about how ClearPass has positively transformed our network management," he adds.

Future-Ready网络和上级支持250美元,000 Savings

随着学术技术的增长越来越多，例如增强现实/虚拟现实（AR/VR），3D计算机辅助设计（CAD）和其他流媒体可视化，WHCCD现在具有可扩展，可靠且具有成本效益的基础架构。

"Due to the redundancy and resiliency built into our core switches we only needed to deploy a single unit at each location," says Ramsey. "That's a considerable capital savings versus installing two cores per campus."

WHCCD is also delighted with its operational savings. "From past experience, we expected to need at least one more person, and probably two," says Seed. "Instead, it's taking so much less time to manage the network that I'm functionally the sole administrator."

And the difference in support is night and day. "Although we have had very few occurrences, we're impressed with the level of expertise Aruba supplies," Ramsey says. "The appropriate engineers are always available to help resolve an issue quickly, even on weekends."

结果，WHCCD估计它将节省至少25万美元，而与以前的供应商保持在一起。拉姆齐说：“这仅是为了初步投资。”“我们当然希望额外的效率能够实现。”

结果，WHCCD估计它将节省至少25万美元，而与以前的供应商保持在一起。

More Capabilities On Deck

Another attractive solution under consideration is AI-enabled User Experience Insight, for a user-centric look at connection and app performance. This tool would assist WHCCD with proactively identifying application and network service issues - before they impact users.

In addition, WHCCD is interested in learning more about solution enhancements that will enable managing the CX 8400 and Device Insight within Aruba Central. This could help the institution further streamline network administration, reduce overhead and improve overall user experiences.

长期的宝贵技术合作伙伴

No matter what the future holds, WHCCD is ready. "With our flexible, adaptable and scalable network we can support the technology and mobility needs of everything from our irrigation engineering program at our Farm of the Future to culinary arts and hospitality management," Seed says.

Most importantly, WHCCD has gained an invaluable technology partner for the long haul.

"When it's a two hour round-trip to your most distant campus, reliable infrastructure, streamlined management and dependable support is critical for delivering on your mission," says Seed. "With Aruba, we have had an outstanding experience – no question about it."