We have only deployed Aruba over the past few months through a campus refresh project so I will answer with that caveat.
1. We have deployed 2 6000 Chassis with 2 M3 Controllers each. Licensing was a little confusing at first, and so was the methodologies used in configuring. Coming from a Cisco shop, there are things that are done differently, so there was a learning curve (easily resolved through training) 2. Our campus is using the 134/135 series of access points so I can not comment on the 105s. I am happy with the 134/135 series of APs being used. 3. Support was a big concern for us during the transition, but no longer a concern. The engineers are quick to respond and have spent plenty of time making sure I understand the solution, and not just fix the problem. They are eager to understand our network and share the information amongst their engineers so I do not have to discuss our design every time I open a case. 4. They had the same bells and whistles as all of the other vendors we considered, but firewall rules at the AP were key, along with the ease of setting up packet captures. One thing that helped was the the amount of universities that have deployed Aruba,especially in Virginia. I attended a few user group meetings prior to the decision and was happy with what I found out. Plus, a large portion of the universities were similar to ours with a Cisco LAN and Aruba wireless. 5. Over the summer we have been able to work with the engineers at Aruba on controller code releases. We had minimal users on campus and during the transition were able to beta test various versions of code, as well as have Aruba engineers on site with monitoring their latest release before it went public. In my opinion, they do everything they can to make the code stable before it is released. 6. Even though it has only been a few months, and the students have just started arriving back on campus, I am very please with our decision to move to Aruba 7. Yes, and even more now with the release of the Android Network Toolkit I think I may be even more happy (http://blogs.computerworld.com/18755/killer_android_app_allows_the_clueless_to_hack_pwn_like_a_pen_tester) 8. We are identifying the gaming stations, successfully, but at this time we are only reporting and not limiting them. Feel free to contect me off line if you would like more details? Chip Greene Senior Network Specialist Univeristy of Richmond ________________________________________ From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kellogg, Brian D. [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 6:41 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Aruba Looking for thoughts on Aruba for the following: M3 controller 105 APs How is their support? What were the differentiators with Aruba that led to your institution choosing them over others? Stability of firmware in APs and controller? If we choose Aruba we most likely will not be able to afford a redundant controller so this is important for us. Overall satisfaction with the Aruba solution? Do you find the Policy Enforcement Firewall worth the price? Are you using it to identify gaming stations and allowing limited access for them successfully? thanks again, Brian ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. Information Services (including the HelpDesk) will NEVER ask for your password or other personal data via email. Messages requesting such details are fraudulent. DELETE THEM WITHOUT REPLY. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
