Aruba updates portfolio and addresses iOS devices

Aruba Networks has unveiled updates to its network architecture, networking equipment and an enterprise product to manage Apple iOS devices.

The need for IT to enable context-aware mobility, which identifies the user, device, application and location is critical.

– Dominic Orr, Aruba

On Tuesday, the company said the products, which centre on its Mobile Virtual Enterprise (Move) architecture, would help customers move from wired to wireless infrastructures and help them manage the variety of mobile devices — such as tablets — that their workers bring in.

Move is based on ArubaOS 6.1 Mobility Services, a suite of network services that the company said can manage security, policy and network performance for all users and devices that are accessing the network.

"In a world where users are always on the move and utilising more than one device, the need for IT to enable context-aware mobility, which identifies the user, device, application and location is critical," Aruba chief Dominic Orr said in a statement.

iOS support

The iOS support comes from Aruba's purchase last year of Amigopod, a company that specialises in visitor network access. Aruba's new Mobile Device Access Control (MDAC) product is designed to allow the self-registration and automatic certification of iOS devices, with support for up to 10,000 concurrent sessions. It uses a new feature called Mobile Device Fingerprinting, which makes it possible for the network to identify and monitor iOS and other mobile device platforms.

The company has also added an application-level gateway that gives priority to video traffic such as Apple's FaceTime videoconferencing service. The new Aruba Ap-134 and AP-135 access points are also geared towards multimedia application support in high-density environments.

Aruba also unveiled its S3500 range of Mobility Access Switches, which come in 24- or 48-port models, with or without Power-over-Ethernet Plus (PoE+) support. According to the company, these switches can be deployed on top of existing switched infrastructure, integrating role-based access across wired and wireless networks.

The company has used virtualisation to put the capabilities of its mobility controllers into an 802.11n access point. Dubbed Aruba Instant, this access point makes it possible to deploy a standalone wireless LAN with enterprise-grade features and functionality, Aruba said. Aruba Instant networks can also be managed in groups, using cloud-based Aruba Airwave software.

The company also announced a "fully-hardened" 802.11n access point for outdoor networks, the AP-175.