New Series of 802.11ax Access Points, 802.11ax(Wi-Fi6)-optimized Switches, and AI-Powered Software to Give Organizations a Secure, Autonomous Network for the Mobile, Cloud and IoT Era

 

HONG KONG, CHINA, RIAUONE.COM, - November 14, 2018 - Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today announced a new family of 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) IoT-ready wireless access points (APs) and complementary access switches, along with innovations in security, intelligent power management, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered automation and service assurance, to deliver the performance, simplicity and reliability that organizations need to give users exceptional digital experiences.

 

The new wireless APs support the latest Wi-Fi standard and are the first to be Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) certified for the new WPA3 and Enhanced Open security standards to provide stronger encryption and simpler IoT security configuration.

 

Aruba is also the first Wi-Fi vendor to integrate Bluetooth5, the latest version of the Bluetooth wireless communication standard, into its APs combined with an integrated Zigbee radio. These new capabilities enable IoT use cases, such as smart door locks and electronic shelf labels, while Bluetooth5 delivers user-aware indoor location allowing IT to create personalized experiences.

 

In addition, Aruba is delivering industry-first power management innovations allowing customers to preserve their existing PoE switch investments while significantly reducing AP power consumption during off-peakhours. These unique features include Intelligent Power Monitoring, a capability delivered by Aruba Operating System (AOS) 8, and NetInsight Green AP, part of Aruba's AI-powered analytics and assurance solution.

 

Enabling the Experience Edge

 

Enterprises preparing for the future of work must offer engaging, consumer-like experiences and deliver technologies that enable, rather than hinder, streamlined work execution, according to Gartner [1].

 

Kenneth Ma, director and general manager of Hong Kong and Macau, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company said: "Organizations are already experiencing crowded or overlapping coverage networks. The new 802.11ax Wi-Fi standards solve these issues and improve overall transmission efficiency, throughput as well as user experience. In verticals such as hospitality, retail, education, healthcare and large public venue, the upgrade provides better performance and enhanced Wi-Fi coexistence to accommodate to different needs of different applications or devices- be it voice, video, data or IOT".

 

The network at the edge is what connects people and IoT to this digital world. To enable these new experiences, the technology must be able to deliver improved and consistent service to address growing business demands and heightened user expectations. This requires not only a state-of-the-art network, but also the ability for technology to proactively anticipate issues in an ever-changing environment before they impact users and the business.

 

To meet these new demands, Aruba is introducing the following new products and innovations:

 

The Aruba 510 Series APs , a new series of 802.11ax, IoT-ready APs, with advanced security, AI-powered RF optimization, intelligent power monitoring, and integrated Zigbee and Bluetooth 5 radios.

The Aruba 2930M access switches , with support for the 802.3bt standard to provide higher power PoE (up to 60 watts per port), a requirement for some high-end 802.11ax APs.

 

Support for Wi-Fi Alliance WPA3 and Enhanced Open Security Standards to deliver state-of-the-art device security. Aruba is the first vendor in the industry to receive WFA certification for these new standards.

Green AP, a unique, new feature of NetInsight, Aruba's AI-powered analytics and assurance solution, that dynamically powers down APs when user devices are not present, offsetting the increased power requirements associated with select 11ax APs.

 

Leveraging Aruba's Rich Heritage to Bring Intelligence to the Network

 

An effective AI solution requires expertise, clean data to feed the algorithms that deliver network automation and assurance, and real-world experiences to validate the solution's effectiveness. Aruba has a unique advantage over many competitors, including 16 years of Wi-Fi expertise, with learnings and best practices built into the AI algorithms from the largest edge networks in the world and from millions of installed APs to deliver secure, autonomous network operations.

 

The new 510 Series APs work in concert with Aruba NetInsight to proactively monitor the network, generating actionable insights and recommendations based on peer comparisons and benchmarks, and applying themto the network autonomously. This allows businesses to deliver the kind of improved performance and efficiency needed for today's highly mobile and IoT-centricbusinesses, while continually improving experiences for their users and customers.

 

Built for IoT with Zigbee and Bluetooth 5 Integration

 

The Aruba 510 series is the industry's first set of 802.11ax APs with integrated support for Zigbee and Bluetooth 5, enabling Aruba customers to support 74% of IoT devices. Having all three wireless technologies available in a single APgives customers powerful, extensive connectivity.  In addition, customers can significantly reduce both their capital and operational expenditures since the Aruba infrastructure with Zigbee integration eliminates the need to deploy and operate a separate network.

 

Smart Energy Management with Green AP and Intelligent Power Monitoring

 

As higher performance 802.11ax APs handle more devices and traffic, they will also consume more power. In addition, network architects generally design AP configurations for the highest capacity scenarios, and these combined factors mean that many organizations are confronted with rising power costs.

 

Green AP, a new feature of NetInsight, allows technology organizations to intelligently manage APs to reduce power consumption by up to 72% dramatically lowering costs, while supporting social responsibility. Using Green AP, APs can be automatically turned on or off based on utilization, resulting in significant energy costs savings and creating an environmentally-friendly network.

 

Additionally, Aruba's Intelligent Power Monitoring (IPM) actively measures the power utilization of an AP and dynamically adapts to the available power resources. Technology organizations can define and prioritize which capabilities to disable when an AP is operating over its power budget. IPM will begin taking power reduction steps autonomously as defined by the priority definition until the AP is operating within the power budget.

 

State-of-the-Art Security with WPA3 and Enhanced Open

 

Aruba is the first networking vendor to release products that have received WPA3 and Enhanced Open certifications from the Wi-Fi Alliance. With support for WPA3 and Enhanced Open, Aruba's new suite of 11ax APs can deliver the security enterprises need as more users, devices and things join their networks.

 

WPA3 adds new features to simplify Wi-Fi security, enable more robust authentication, and deliver increased strength for industries with highly sensitive data, such as government or finance. Wi-Fi Enhanced Open complements the security WPA3 delivers by improving data privacy while maintaining ease-of-use in open public networks where user authentication is notrequired, such as local coffee shops, airports and stadiums.

 

Availability

 

The Aruba 510 Series APs will be available in HK soon. The Aruba 2930M access switch is available now. The new version of NetInsight with Green AP will be available in the first quarter of 2019.

 

Supporting Quotes

 

Home to the Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium is located in Charlotte, North Carolina and supports more than 75,000 fans.

 

"Our fans expect an outstanding connected stadium experience," said James Hammond, Director of Information Technology for the Carolina Panthers. "In order to continue to deliver that experience, we need to prepare for the future demands on our network which is why we're evaluating Aruba's .11ax APs to support new applications and greater IoT and mobile device density requirements."

 

CSPI is a Florida-based solutions provider helping customers meet the performance, availability and security requirements of their network, applications and services.

 

"The real value in the Aruba 802.11ax solution is that the infrastructure is leveraged with automation and IoT in mind," said Peter Kaufman, Vice President, Advanced Technologies, CSPi. "By using NetInsight and new IoT protocols like Zigbee, our customers will be able to create the autonomous experiences they want while delivering performance-stringent applications and securely connecting IoT devices over Wi-Fi with ease."

 

Zunesis is a Colorado-based IT Solution Provider and Value Added Reseller (VAR) that delivers end-to-end infrastructure solutions, IT business solutions, and IT professional and consulting services in the Western United States.

 

"Our customers are seeing a major increase in IoT use cases resulting in additional requirements for the network and IT," said Steve Shaffer, Founder and CEO, Zunesis. "A significant benefit of the Aruba 802.11ax solution is that it's built with integrated IoT connectivity capabilities. Having one hardware platform with Aruba that supports Zigbee and Bluetooth 5 will help eliminate the need for separate IoT networks, allowing organization to get more out of their infrastructure investment while reducing IT overhead." (roc/red).