Globe Life Field提供智能，快速，安全的Aruba ESP网络的高级粉丝和客人体验

Meeting professional baseball fan expectations for the latest in sports entertainment required the Texas Rangers Baseball Club to build a new ballpark that supplied more technology-enabled experiences than ever before, without adding IT overhead.

"From parking convenience and mobile ticketing to contactless in-seat ordering and mixed-reality social media experiences, we sought a networking infrastructure capable of helping us deliver world-class experiences," explains Michael Bullock, Vice President of Information Technology for the Arlington, Texas-based Rangers. "We also needed to design for the future as our industry is continuously evolving."

阿鲁巴Supplies the Right Combination of Networking Solutions

As plans took shape for the Rangers' 1.8 million-square-foot Globe Life Field, the 41,000-seat stadium called for network-powered amenities such as a 5.5 acre retractable roof and two massive Daktronics videoboards for displaying live and replay images plus granular real-time game-play statistics. Additionally, the Field would encourage fan interaction with purpose-built Selfie Spots, integration with the Major League Baseball's augmented-reality app and while-you-wait customized merchandise creation.

“我们非常专注于LAN和WLAN技术对粉丝体验的影响，”Bullock说。“我们还需要成为未来灵活的，这几乎影响了几乎所有的设计和能力决策。加上我们越来越积极的特别活动业务，因为我们是越来越多的娱乐区的一部分，称为德克萨斯州的生活！”

与可信合作伙伴Lumen和KLA实验室合作，游戏员评估Aruba，惠普，惠普帕特德企业公司和另一个着名的网络供应商的有线和无线解决方案。

“虽然我们是我们以前的设施的3Com / HPE合作伙伴，但我们考虑了阿鲁巴和其他知名的球员，”Billock说。“Aruba具有先进的硬件和创新软件技术的合适组合，而其他提供商提供的复杂管理工具。”

赋予智能，分析和自动化成功权力

The Rangers selected multiple products for the Globe Life Field's Aruba ESP infrastructure. For wireless, this includes a total of 1300阿鲁巴's 530 Series Wi-Fi 6 access points(APs) andoutdoor APsalong with7200系列移动控制器。

For its wired network, the Rangers choseCX 8400 Switch Seriesat the core,CX 8230 Switch Series for aggregationand2930 Switch Seriesfor edge access.

Effectively managing a 400 percent increase in switch ports

On the management side, the Rangers are streamlining wired and wireless network administration by implementingAirWave for network managementalong withClearPass for network access control (NAC) and policy management。The baseball club also adoptednetedit.for coordinating switch configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting.

"Our IT staff not only operates Globe Life Field but also has ongoing responsibility for Globe Life Park," says Bullock.

“要把它放在上下文中，我们在新的设施比旧设施中管理大约400％的交换机端口，”他补充道。“具有前沿，具有高级分析的自动化基础设施可确保我们的精益员工可以在不添加我们现有的头库的情况下做更多。”

Proactively improving user experiences with AIOps

此外，Rangers的部署包括用户体验洞察力（UXI）for Wi-Fi incident detection using AIOps to pinpoint issues that require immediate attention.

"In our dynamic environment it's imperative to proactively remediate experience issues before they affect fans," Bullock says. "The AIOps capabilities within UXI empower us to diagnose and resolve problems remotely and in real time, rather than waiting to troubleshoot after the fact."

今天，Rangers网络支持多种系统，这些系统有助于提供高级粉丝和访客体验，同时使俱乐部能够可靠和安全地运行其组织。

Smoothing the Journey Despite COVID-19

像许多主要建筑项目一样，别人只遇到轻微的障碍，直到Covid-19大流行袭击。在随后的月份期间，棒球俱乐部依赖于其新的基础架构中的自动化能力，以帮助维护项目时间表。

"For example, we have 1400 IPTVs positioned around the ballpark," says Bullock. "Rather than configuring switch ports manually for each TV, Aruba's tools automated the process via device profiling. This reduced configuration time for the TVs, from months to weeks."

The cost savings from automating switch configurations was also considerable. "We saved about a million dollars on integration costs versus the traditional manual methods," Bullock says.

Invaluable service and support helps opening day stay on track

游戏者还赞赏阿鲁巴的技术支持，帮助您按计划继续开放日期。

“我们在我们举办的世界系列之前几周开了几周，”Billock说。“这是108年来第一次世界系列在中立的地面上播放，这对我们的球场准备好了很重要。”

尽管有挑战，但是，Bullock属于Rangers成功开放，选择合适的技术和合作伙伴。“为我们收到的Aruba提供的服务和支持来说是不可能的，”他说。

Reliably and Securely Powering Hundreds of Apps

今天，Rangers网络支持多种系统，这些系统有助于提供高级粉丝和访客体验，同时使俱乐部能够可靠和安全地运行其组织。This includes adopting IoT-enabled solutions like sensors for tracking paper towel dispenser levels, Assa Abloy physical access controls, and advanced building automation systems to keep the ballpark at a comfortable 72F year-around.

The network also supports over 200 business, facilities and IT applications. These range from common cloud-enabled tools including Box, Slack and Monday to highly specialized systems such as the retractable roof controls, Comrex media broadcasting tools, and a HPE Nimble Storage disaggregated HCI (dHCI) cluster that contributes to internal data center redundancy.

"Our network serves as the nervous system for a large public venue that is chock full of network-connected electronic sensors and controls," Bullock says. "Aruba's solutions have enabled us to engineer the equivalent of a living, breathing facility, while minimizing IT and back office overhead by giving us intelligent, automated networking infrastructure."

Profitably supporting revenue-generating special events

The baseball club also relies upon its modern infrastructure to profitably support a wide variety of revenue-generating special events.

"We can expect to host about a dozen major events annually, like the National Rodeo Finals or popular music concerts, as well as many smaller ones, like commencement ceremonies for area high schools," Bullock says.

与建立网络要求的球游戏不同，每个特殊活动都具有独特的规格，使智能有线和无线关键。“随着我们的新基础架构基于软件定义的网络原则，我们的技术人员可以随时随地插入设备，并且它在没有网络工程师的任何帮助下配置自己的设备，”Bullock说。

"Having a network that can dynamically reconfigure itself in a reliable and responsive way is a big win in any stadium environment," he adds.

Reducing manual tasks boosts IT job satisfaction

除了确保Bullock的IT部门可以通过更少的努力做更多的努力，自我维持网络也能提高员工的工作满意度。

“通过高技能的工程师执行较少的繁琐任务，我们不仅可以更明智地使用我们的资源，而且我们也表明我们通过将他们努力更加关键的项目来展示他们的技能，”他说。

More AI-enabled Innovation on the Horizon

Looking ahead, the Rangers expect to evaluate other Aruba's networking solutions such as Central, for unified network management and advanced AIOps, Location Services, to support real-time crowd intelligence, and Air Pass, for seamless device handoffs between cellular networks and Wi-Fi.

“我们肯定会考虑为我们提供更多自动化和可见性的解决方案，”Billock说。“继续创新使我们能够满足风扇体验和运营效率的能力，甚至没有被认为是尚未思考的。”

与此同时,棒球俱乐部的有线和无线infrastructure is playing a starring role in the organization's success.

"Aruba technologies are essential to the operation of our hyper-connected stadium, which is essential to delivering exceptional experiences to our fans and guests," Bullock says. "We can proudly say we'd select the same solutions and partner if we had to do it all over again."