Simplicity Now, Simplicity Later: Aruba 8400

Last June we introduced the first in a new class of core and aggregation switches, the Aruba 8400, born in the mobile-cloud and IoT era. Given the tremendous traction we've witnessed since then, I've started a series of blogs to enable you to learn from early adopters about how our switches are making a difference.

总体而言，当我们与客户交谈时，我们会注意到整个行业的明确相似之处。IT组织的重点是提高弹性，同时降低网络复杂性和自动化管理任务，使他们摆脱繁琐的活动，以专注于前瞻性业务关键性计划。

获得更深层次的体育rspective, I recently sat down with James Banks, Executive Director of Technology, and Bobby Mills, Systems Administrator, at the Texas City Independent School District to discuss their experience with a recent core update to the Aruba 8400 Switch Series.

我们了解您在德克萨斯城ISD有一些独特的教育选择。您能告诉我们更多有关您的机构及其在您所在地区的关键作用的信息吗？

We're located along the Texas Gulf Coast, just to the north of Galveston, within the heart of the vital shipping lane connecting the Houston area to the rest of the world. We serve a student population of 8,800, with a total staff of about 1,900, spread across 14 school campuses and three administrative facilities.

为了增加我们的传统学校，我们最近还建立了一个nationally-recognized30,000 sq. ft. Industrial Trades Center for high school students to help meet regional needs skilled workers in the manufacturing, petroleum and maritime industries. The center is a public-private partnership charged with helping close the skills gap to supply local businesses with the workers they require and enable our students to gain sustainable employment.

在您的机构中采用Aruba 8400网络开关的驱动因素是什么？

Like so many organizations, our existing hardware was aging. We made the proactive decision to replace the solution prior to experiencing any disruptions.

尽管每分钟的教学时间对于任何地区的学生成功至关重要，但对我们来说，情况尤其严重，因为几年前我们吸收了来自表现不佳的地区的大约2500名学生。促进这些学生的能力以及满足我们所有学习者的需求，都取决于获得教学技术的可靠访问。

Why did you select the 8400 instead of another solution on the market?

In addition to Aruba's well-established track record, we were drawn to the 8400's combination of performance and simplification. This included the new ArubaOS-CX a modern software foundation, which supplies intelligent network monitoring, exceptional visibility and an advanced feature set in the switch that is scalable and database-driven.

例如，作为一个精益的IT组织，我们对基于Web的UI和Onboard Aruba网络分析引擎感到兴奋。它提供了使用8400的基于规则的实时监控和智能通知来显着加快检测，诊断和解决问题的能力，这些通知会自动将事件与配置更改相关联。

这些功能将使我们能够主动监视我们的OSPF链接和多播路由，以使流量顺利，可靠地保持运行。

Additionally, our current backbone is primarily 10GbE, but we're planning to scale up to 40GbE. The 8400 not only supplies the capacity but also the capability upgrade seamlessly to minimize end users disruptions.

Most importantly, the switch handles traffic between our server farm and all of our campuses as well as concentrating the WLAN controllers for our entire district. In other words, we rely on the 8400's high-availability and redundancy features to guarantee fault tolerance at our core.

您能告诉我们您部署开关的经验吗？

It was fast, easy and straightforward, especially compared to our past experience. We did require a firmware upgrade, but the Aruba team made certain we had the needed software within a few hours. The last time we deployed a core switch, which was some years ago, it took two weeks to configure and deploy. From start to finish, the 8400 required less than two days.

How about your operational experience with the 8400 since deployment?

我们已经意识到了8400的主要好处：它为我们的用户提供了始终的，高性能的连接，而无需我们的日常干预。由于我们还有许多其他需要注意的关键举措，因此我们尚未充分探索解决方案的功能集，但是我们期待利用许多开关的产品。

To learn more about how your modern mobile, cloud and IoT environment can benefit from the Aruba 8400's flexible and innovative approach to new application, security and scalability demands,click hereor contact your Aruba team.