Context & Continuity

TechWorld, 3.19.8: Trapeze makes 5000-AP Wi-Fi appliance

My favorite bit is the final paragraph of the article.  Sweet.

Trapeze makes 5000-AP Wi-Fi appliance

By Peter Judge, Techworld

Wi-Fi network maker Trapeze Networks has launched a pre-configured appliance that can manage up to 5000 wireless access points or 1000 wireless switches - and won a giant contract for 802.11n Wi-Fi.

The RingMaster-200 is a hardware version of Trapeze's RingMaster network management software, and is pre-tuned to manage wireless LANs. “Today, it’s common for enterprise Wi-Fi networks to include thousands of access points cover hundreds of acres and span multiple sites," said Ahmet Tuncay, Trapeze's marketing vice president.

Before this product, Trapeze's largest hardware device managed around 200 access points, while rival Aruba was ahead with its MMC-6000 which can manage 2048 APs. Both companies use software to manage larger installations, which has normally run on general purpose servers. Aruba's recently purchased AirWave management platform uses software to go up to 50,000 APs. Trapeze's appliance will make the process of design and management simpler, says Trapeze, saving hundreds of IT hours.

Ringmaster was central to Trapeze's recent success in winning what it calls "the world’s largest deployment" of the new 802.11n standard, a $15 million, five-year upgrade to the wireless LANs at the University of Minnesota. The upgrade will include $3 million on access points alone, swapping out existing APs from D-Link, Cisco and other vendors for around 9,500 of Trapeze's 802.11n access points. Ringmaster "…allowed us to quickly import our own CAD drawings and immediately begin Wi-Fi planning for 300 buildings, including 1,300-plus floors," according to Steve Cawley, the university’s vice president of IT.

RingMaster has been a big part of Trapeze's WLAN strategy from the beginning, for dealing with Wi-Fi propagation issues, and managing the lifecycle of WLANs. The appliance can make a "virtual" site survey based on architectural drawings, and configure access points for specific locations before they are installed.

The appliance is based on a Linux OS, and has two redundant 250GB hard drives to gather monitoring and performance data. The basic unit costs $19,000 (£9,515) including a licence to support 250 APs, which can be extended in steps of ten to 1000, up to 5000, if users buy software keys.

Trapeze's claims - like most claims in the ever-competitive Wi-Fi world - have already been disputed. Aruba told us that it already has an appliance that manages 5000 APs, called the MM-200. We have been unable to find this product on Aruba's site, however.

It's quaint....

In today's NYTimes, I noticed the cover story of the business section on the saga of Jimmy Wales.  The jump landed me at a picture of Rachel Marsden selling one of Mr. Wales' t-shirts.  Then, on the next page was a story about Rush Limbaugh's Mac support issues and how he used his radio program to get his computers fixed. 

And I thought, how quaint.  These are two stories that have been kicking around the internet for a couple of weeks.  And that made me think about why the NYTimes decided to run these stories now or, at all.  It isn't as if either of the stories in the NYTimes added anything to the reporting that has already been done elsewhere.  --I could have written the stories (re-writing what's already on the 'net.)  So, what's the point?  I hope the NYTimes doesn't decide it's OK just to rehash what's on ValleyWag. 

Of course, I scarcely care about Jimmy Wales love life and really, really don't care at all about what type of computer Rush Limbaugh uses much less how he bullies the manufacturer into a level of support no one else receives. 

I just hope that this particular Monday was a bit slow and the editors were grabbing whatever copy they could find. 

Information Week, 3.10.8: University Of Minnesota Plans Wi-Fi Network For 80,000

University Of Minnesota Plans Wi-Fi Network For 80,000

The installation will cover 1,204 acres across the university's two campuses and supercede a current network of scattered Wi-Fi access points.

By W. David Gardner
InformationWeek
March 10, 2008 04:21 PM

The University of Minnesota is preparing to roll out what it calls the "world's largest 802.11n deployment" at the Big Ten university's two campuses. The deployment, to get under way in May, eventually will serve 80,000 students and staff.

[more]

Wi-Fi Planet, 3.7.8: When Disaster Strikes, Wi-Fi Responds

By Jeff Goldman

In a disaster recovery scenario, Wi-Fi can offer the perfect mix of flexibility and interoperability.

<snip>

Similarly, Trapeze Networks is using Wi-Fi for disaster response in schools—company director of product marketing David Cohen says an educational environment is perfect for that kind of deployment, since the same network that’s being used for student and faculty Internet access can support everything from video monitoring to emergency communications.

“To enable all the administrators, firemen, police captains, all those people, to communicate with each other on a wireless network, that is a tremendous resource,” he says.

To that end, Cohen says, it’s the interoperability that really makes Wi-Fi ideal in an emergency situation: any first responder with a Wi-Fi device can instantly access the network as needed.

“Wi-Fi uniquely offers one system with guaranteed interoperability,” Cohen says. “Everything just works together.”

Computerworld, 3.7.8: Faster Wi-Fi deployed at U of Minnesota

Trapeze System Replaces Older Wi-Fi from Various Vendors

By Matt Hamblen

March 7, 2008 (Computerworld) Wi-Fi has become commonplace on college campuses, but the University of Minnesota is embarking on a five-year project to upgrade its Wi-Fi network to the much faster 802.11n standard. The $15 million upgrade would provide about 9,500 access points, one of the largest deployments to date.

 

The first phase of the project, to begin in May, involves replacing 2,200 access points that have been in place for as long as nine years. The access points from Cisco Systems Inc., D-Link Corp. and others will be replaced with 802.11n APs from Trapeze Networks at a cost of about $3 million, said Louis Hammond, assistant director of networking and telecom at the university, in an interview today.

 

Trapeze beat 23 other bids in a rigorous RFP process, and won because of cost and Trapeze's ability to manage the overall Wi-Fi infrastructure centrally and in a secure manner, Hammond said. A key factor was that Trapeze has a planning tool called Ringmaster that allows the university to use computer-aided design drawings of buildings to immediately begin planning where to locate the APs for maximum coverage in 300 buildings with 1,300 floors, and serving 80,000 students, faculty and staff.

 

"We're trying to build a safer and more secure system, and the current Wi-Fi system is open, so this one from Trapeze will lock it down," Hammond said.

 

Even though 802.11n is still in draft form, many vendors are selling products to the existing draft specification. Hammond said the university was concerned about deploying a draft N product, but decided to go with it because the hardware in the standard is finalized and only the software might be changed. "If there are changes, they will be in software," which would reduce the cost and complexity of a change, Hammond said.

 

The university has two campuses, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, covering 1,204 acres. Faster 802.11n, with its longer range, could be useful in eventually supporting real-time video and voice traffic, but will also help as the school prepares to scan bar codes on tickets to football games in a new stadium opening in the fall of 2009.

 

Hammond said the more robust Wi-Fi system could be integrated in the future with WiMax network applications, although he said it is unclear what those applications might be. Trapeze said it could integrate with WiMax technology when it becomes available, meeting one of the conditions of the RFP, Hammond said. "There are still a lot of questions about WiMax," he said.

My Music, My Radio, My Roku.

Hi.  Along the way from there to here, I've become quite enamored of some radio stations.  So has beloved spouse Abby.  We are radio people.  Our union was blessed by the radio and we've chronicled the different chapters of our lives using the radio stations we were listening to at the time. 

KISR
KMOX
KBAI
KOPN
WBGO
WMBR
WHRB
WNYC
WBGO
WBAI
WSHU
KXJZ
KCSM
KXJZ
KFJC
KQED

These call letters trace a route from the middle to the East to the West, the route I've taken from there to here. 

The internet has un-moored radio, as it has so many other things that were once time / space dependent.  Beloved Abby and I miss many of our old friends, but through the magic of internet, we've been reunited.  We've tried many different ways to listen to internet radio but we are Very Impressed with our recently acquired Roku, so impressed we're buying two more. 

Roku is exactly what it says it is, a SoundBridge between the computer and the way we listen to our music.  When my computerized music server is on, Roku seamlessly connects to my library of digitized tunes.  And when the computer is off, it will still connect us to our favorite radio stations. 

Drop dead simple to install.  Never opened the documentation.  Very well designed.  Performs beyond my expectations.  Highly recommended.