Silence is golden: Being ahead of the technology curve delivers zero complaints at QCSD

在Quakertown社区学区（QCSD）任职的17年期间，乔·库佐（Joe Kuzo）一直在不断推动使该地区处于技术的最前沿。十多年来，位于费城以北29英里的QCSD为5500名学生和500名教职员工提供了1：1的倡议。

QCSD技术总监Kuzo解释说：“我们一直在曲线领先，因为我们的社区和地区站在技术背后。”“我们的孩子在这里有很棒的经验，技术正在帮助提供。”

Along with the growing use of Chromebooks for e-learning, the District has also seen increased demand on its network for IoT devices such as VoIP phones, HVAC, door locks, alarms, lighting, 2-way radios and more.

That’s why, as Quakertown’s Cisco wireless infrastructure neared its end-of-life, Kuzo targeted a replacement well ahead of any performance issues. With the upgrade, he looked forward to making the break from the District’s existing networking vendor, which delivered less-than-stellar service.

Proof-Positive since the POC

从一开始，库佐和团队就会更加个人关注，并专注于阿鲁巴的地区需求。为了巩固该决定，Aruba为QCSD配备了一个控制器和几个访问点（AP）来进行概念证明。即使在这么小的规模上，库佐也可以看到阿鲁巴的明显优势。

与Aruba的合作使我们能够在1：1，BYOD，Cloud和Elearning计划上领先于曲线。实际上，从财务到学生信息系统到在线资源再到我们的电话系统的所有内容都取决于我们的网络。Joe Kuzo,Director of Technology

库佐说：“从第一天起，阿鲁巴无线的管理很容易管理，并向我们的利益相关者证明了它可以满足我们的需求。”“这绝对是一个很棒的卖点，阿鲁巴愿意在他们的产品后面付出更多英里。”

在POC之后，该地区推出了500多个访问点（AP），包括高中体育场的户外AP。由于体育场位于距离学校的街区，因此在课堂，实践和游戏期间为体育老师和教练提供了重要的生命线，并在锁定时可以进行沟通。最终，该地区将增加室外APS范围的地区，以提供无缝的漫游体验。

最近,QCSD需要升级他们的有线下文structure and decided a single vendor for wired and wireless made the most sense. Performance, footprint and Dynamic Segmentation for IoT devices, plus simple management and monitoring tools, would give the District an integrated set of solutions while reducing administrative hassles. Built-in warranties – which the incumbent vendor lacked – further sweetened the deal.

Hands-Off Access Control

For visibility and control, ClearPass Policy Manager allows the IT team to centrally manage and set access policies. With the tool, they grant appropriate privileges for wired and wireless access, regardless of the connection method or device ownership. Plus, they’ve gained built-in device profiling, reporting and real-time alerts.

At the outset, Kuzo and the team built rules for Chromebooks and iPads, and designed a guest portal allowing guests and parents to access the Internet easily. Looking ahead, Kuzo anticipates automatically fingerprinting the growing number of IoT devices on the network to better understand traffic types.

在需要时，Aruba Airwave允许团队查看AP的位置，网络设备正常运行以及如何连接其开关。

寻找更高的性能

With the more recent move to Aruba AOS 8, the team added even more network functionality to head off performance issues. AirMatch, built into AOS 8, taps into machine learning to help optimize RF channels automatically. The network self-optimizes channels to provide the best experience possible. The changes were subtle but significant, which Kuzo and the team quickly noticed.

“Wireless connections definitely seem more balanced,” Kuzo said. “We’re not hearing some of the previous complaints where apps may have run more slowly during the day, and I believe that’s because of AirMatch.”

After attending Aruba’s Atmosphere 2018 event, where Kuzo and team saw an Aruba NetInsight demo, they decided that enhanced analytics were the next step. After installing the AI-powered solution, data from NetInsight quickly confirmed Kuzo’s suspicions regarding connectivity issues in certain buildings.

库佐说：“我们看到了应该拒绝收音机或更改功率范围的地方。”即使在现场调查之后，这也是以前错过的。

The Making of a Great School Year

夏季升级到AOS 8之后，Quakertown IT团队发现新学年的开始比平常更安静 - 至少在网络上。Kuzo还指出了更牢固的连接性，这可以通过较少的客户端掉落来证明。在关键测试时间或访问其最大平台时，Canvas学习管理系统（LMS）时，这种改善的连接性已转化为没有碎片。

库佐说：“自从学年开始以来，我们的问题实际上是零问题，这是非常不寻常的。”“即使在中学级别的州测试中，同时又增加了两个1：1的成绩。”

The team’s two network engineers have also seen a decrease in the time they spend maintaining and troubleshooting the network. Now, they focus on adding functionality, instead of break fix tasks.

在学区与以前的供应商的经验之后，阿鲁巴的反应水平和关注程度是一个可喜的变化。阿鲁巴（Aruba）有一个投资组合，可满足不断增长的学区的网络和安全需求，并迅速解决出现的任何问题。

In terms of support, Kuzo notes, “By utilizing Aruba Foundation Care, we have a better ability to get direction, advice and support of advanced configurations. The ease of access to a higher level of support simply adds to their dedication to help their customers regardless of size.”

“With Aruba, there’s always someone available, even if it’s just a quick question,” Kuzo said. “We didn’t have that with our previous vendor. We were just another customer to them. Our Aruba experience is that service really is ‘Customer First, Customer Last.’”