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Aruba Networks

Aruba Networks Overview

Organizations around the world depend on Aruba products to run their business and increase user productivity while lowering networking costs.

Thousands of global organizations across every major industry category have deployed Aruba's products to meet their campus wireless LAN, branch office, and remote networking, and network management needs. From the main campus to the home office to the mobile user, Aruba provides best-in-class products for securely connecting users to information and applications in the distributed enterprise network.



Mobility Controllers

Aruba's family of mobility controllers are purpose-built network infrastructure devices, designed from the ground up to provide secure, scalable solutions for campus wireless LAN, wired security, branch office deployments, and remote networking.

Running the ArubaOS operating system, the controllers support a number of different software applications - including per-user stateful firewalls, VPN client termination, voice aware services, and wireless intrusion prevention in a single appliance.

Mobility controllers can secure wired networks using the same identity-based, high security scheme used for the wireless LAN, delivering a seamless user experience regardless of the connection medium. All controllers feature multi-processor architectures with separate control, network, and encryption processors. Platforms are available that can scale from the large campus to the small branch or store, providing the performance needed at every level.

ArubaOS

Enabling a Unified Access Architecture for any user regardless of physical location, whether wired or wireless, to securely access the enterprise network with an always-on, consistent experience.

Aruba's solution portfolio includes campus, branch/teleworker, and remote/mobile solutions that simplify operations and secure access to all corporate applications and services - regardless of the user's device, location or network to deliver unprecedented workforce agility.

Powering the Aruba solution is ArubaOS®, which serves as the operating system and application engine for all Aruba Mobility Controllers and access devices. The software architecture of ArubaOS is designed for scalable performance, and is built using three core components. First, a hardened, multi-core, multi-threaded supervisory kernel manages administration, authentication, logging, and other system operation functions. Second, an embedded real-time operating system powers dedicated packet processing hardware, implementing all routing, switching, and firewall functions. Third, a programmable encryption/decryption engine built on dedicated hardware delivers security without sacrificing speed.

ArubaOS is offered as a base set of capabilities, with an additional series of optional software modules enabled through license keys. Optional modules include Policy Enforcement Firewall, Wireless Intrusion Prevention, Public Application Acceleration Services, and xSec Advanced L2 Encryption.

To extend the base capabilities of ArubaOS, a number of licensed software modules unlock additional functionality, including:

Policy Enforcement Firewall

Aruba's Policy Enforcement Firewall (PEF) module for ArubaOS provides identity-based controls to enforce application-layer security, prioritization, traffic forwarding, and network performance policies for wired and wireless networks. Using PEF, organizations can enforce network access policies that specify who may access the network, which areas of the network they may access, and the performance thresholds of various applications. Administrators can build a unified, integrated system for network policy enforcement by leveraging PEF's open interfaces to external services such as content security appliances, NAC policy engines, performance monitors, and authentication/authorization servers.

Wireless Intrusion Protection

Aruba's Wireless Intrusion Protection (WIP) module protects the network against wireless threats to network security by incorporating wireless intrusion protection into the network infrastructure and eliminating the need for a separate system of RF sensors and security appliances. The WIP module provides unmatched wireless network visibility to administrators, and thwarts malicious wireless attacks, impersonations, and unauthorized intrusions.

xSec

xSec is a highly secure data link layer (Layer 2) protocol that provides a unified framework for securing all wired and wireless connections using strong encryption and authentication. xSec provides a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)- compliant mechanism to provide identity-based security to government agencies and commercial entities that need to transmit extremely sensitive information over wireless networks. xSec provides greater security than other Layer 2 encryption technologies through the use of longer keys, FIPS-validated encryption algorithms (AES-CBC-256 with HMAC-SHA1), and the encryption of Layer 2 header information including MAC addresses. xSec was jointly developed by Aruba Networks and Funk Software, a division of Juniper Networks.

Access Points

From high-performance 802.11n Wi-Fi to outdoor mesh to wired-only devices, Aruba access points serve as on-ramps to the enterprise network.

Working in conjunction with Aruba Mobility Controllers, access points are "thin" devices that need no configuration, no software updates, and no management. The mobility controller handles all of these tasks automatically, pushing configuration changes in real time and managing all aspects of the access point.

All Aruba access points are capable of being used for multiple purposes by simply changing their role in the system. This includes acting as wireless scanners to monitor the air for interference and threats, as well as remote access point by securely extending the enterprise network to off-campus locations.

Aruba offers a broad portfolio of APs featured and priced to address the needs of mobile enterprise networks, from large campuses to small branch offices:

  • Single and Dual Radio 802.11a/b/g/n
  • Wireless and Wired Networks
  • Indoor and Outdoor Usage
  • Telecommuter Deployments
  • Harsh Environment / Factory Floor Applications
  • Mesh and Wireless Bridging Deployment

AirWave

AirWave 7™ is the premier multi-vendor operations solution for rapidly changing networks and increasingly mobile users.

As the only operations solution on the market that manages wired and wireless infrastructure as well as mobile devices, AirWave 7 eliminates the need for multiple, single-purpose management tools. Its easy-to-use interface and user-centric approach enables your service desk to triage connectivity issues while your valuable network engineering staff focuses on more strategic work. You also get a simpler way to enforce policies and actionable information that lets you plan for the future.

The results: you save time and money, improve service quality for your users, and make better decisions about your network. AirWave 7 operations solutions are used by more than 1,000 organizations, including many Fortune 500 companies and spanning spanning education, government, healthcare, technology, and retail markets.

AirWave 7 operations solutions are used by more than 1,000 organizations, including many Fortune 500 companies and spanning spanning education, government, healthcare, technology, and retail markets.


Virtual Branch Networks

Aruba's Virtual Branch Networking (VBN) solution leverages the cloud to affordably bring the corporate network to small branch and home offices.

VBN can effectively rightsize branch networks by leveraging a family of compact and affordable Remote Access Points (RAPs) to handle functions that used to require expensive appliances and costly WAN links. All configuration, management, authentication, and reporting are done centrally by an Aruba Mobility Controller in the data center. Processor-intensive network services such as content security and application acceleration are handled in the cloud. VBN can save up to 60% in capital and up to 75% in operating expenses when compared to existing branch router solutions.