Brewster Academy Deploys Aruba Wireless LAN With ClearPass to Accommodate Increasing Number of Mobile Devices, Provide Secure Campus-Wide Coverage

WLAN Builds Upon Academy’s Position as Technology Innovator to Enhance Student Learning

Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise, today announced that Brewster Academy, an independent college preparatory school in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, is deploying a new Aruba wireless LAN (WLAN) with the AirWave Network Management System and the ClearPass Access Management System. The new, enterprise-grade 802.11n network is designed to enable Brewster Academy to accommodate the increasing number of smartphones, tablets and laptops being brought onto campus. It will also deliver secure, campus-wide wireless access to Brewster’s 358 students and 175 faculty and staff, as well as guests at the 80-acre property. Building upon Brewster’s reputation as a technology innovator, the WLAN is designed to give students access to all of their educational resources no matter where they are on campus, making the learning process more impactful and efficient.

Brewster Academy, which follows a curriculum based on best practice methodologies and focused on individual student learning, was the first educational institution to implement a 1:1 programming initiative when in 1993 it provided a laptop to each of its students. Today, Brewster pupils continue the tradition of marrying technology with an innovative, individualized educational curriculum by using the new Aruba WLAN and Apple MacBook Pro laptops to access applications such as Moodle, Google Apps for Education, custom wikis, curricular file servers and classroom management systems. Brewster is also using the WLAN to pilot new programs, including iPad and Apple TV testing programs.

Working with Adaptive Communications, a premier value-added reseller, designer and installer of enterprise data networking, enterprise storage and information security solutions, Brewster reviewed solutions from Xirrus, Juniper, Meru and Aerohive, before selecting Aruba. Aruba and Adaptive worked closely together to identify the academy’s needs and deliver a solution that met all of its requirements. Phase one of the new WLAN deployment, which includes 130 Aruba AP 105 wireless access points (APs), AirWave and ClearPass, is complete and delivers wireless access to all of the Academy’s academic areas, including classrooms and congregational areas. Phase two will add an additional 145 APs, delivering wireless coverage to 100% of the campus, including 20 residence halls, and is expected to be completed in July 2013.

When reviewing WLAN solutions, Brewster Academy’s IT department wanted a comprehensive system that allowed easy and efficient management and troubleshooting of the network as well as secure, differentiated access for students, faculty, staff and guests. The academy also wanted to allow its users to register their own mobile devices. Aruba’s AirWave allows Brewster’s IT department to identify who is on the network, where they are accessing the network, the mobile devices they are using and how much bandwidth is being consumed by specific devices. Aruba’s ClearPass enables the academy to securely onboard any device onto the network. By centralizing access policies across the entire network, ClearPass ensures that each user has the right access privileges based on who they are and what device they’re using.

Brewster Academy is a long-time, ardent believer in using technology to enhance student learning and improve institution efficiency. “Having introduced computers into our curriculum twenty years ago, we believe Brewster Academy has more experience with integrating technology than any other secondary school in the United States. Accordingly, we were very deliberate in selecting the Aruba WLAN solution,” said Eileen Taylor, Manager of Information Technology for Brewster Academy. “We wanted a wireless solution that would give us reliability, manageability and scale. Aruba’s solution gives us all of that plus the ability to securely control access to the network and monitor how it is being used. Our new Aruba WLAN benefits students and faculty and enhances the overall Brewster Academy experience.”

“Brewster Academy is an outstanding example of how academic institutions can use wireless LAN technology to expand learning beyond the classroom walls and enable and encourage students to learn in new ways,” said Gerry Festa, Director, Industry Solutions Marketing for Aruba Networks. “With the new Aruba WLAN, Brewster Academy’s faculty, staff and students are more mobile and flexible and the overall learning environment is more dynamic.”

About Aruba Networks, Inc.

Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company’s Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture unifies wired and wireless network infrastructures into one seamless access solution for corporate headquarters, mobile business professionals, remote workers and guests. This unified approach to access networks enables IT organizations and users to securely address the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon, dramatically improving productivity and lowering capital and operational costs.

Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook, and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.

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