N-GEN Communications Web-based Seminars ©NGCS

Seminar - An Overview of Communications Technologies

Module 7 - LAN, WAN, VPN, WLAN, MAN, FDDI and Optical MANS                                                      Slide 28 of 45 _________________                                                                                  __________

                                    A Case Study - WLAN

Customer: - Cisco

About the Customer: - Cisco is one of the powerhouses in telecommunications equipment. Cisco provides online information about network design and products to its customers. With an increasing dependence on the Internet as a business tool and the desire to improve employee productivity, Cisco deployed WLAN technology to enhance its existing solutions. WLAN technology offered "anywhere,24X7" network connectivity.

Challenge: Cisco needed a global, scalable and secure wireless end-to-end solution that would integrate with the company's existing network infrastructure. With its global and increasingly mobile workforce, it needed architectural, procedural and user standards. It was looking for a wireless solution which it could turn around and sell to its enterprise customers.

Solution: Cisco set-up a global team to develop architectural standards and address weaknesses in 802.11 security. Cisco teams focused on security, network integration, naming standards, authentication, authorization and accounting, and physical installation considerations. These included:
        - Cisco Aironet 350 access points
        - 802.11b standard (2.4 G Hz offering 11 M bps)
        - Use of EAP Cisco Wireless for security
        - Separate virtual LAN for wireless network
        - 25:1 user to access point ratio
        - Global naming standard
        - Integration into the Cisco enterprise management framework
        - Use of Cisco Access Control Server For authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA)

The network deployment was completed in August 2002.Many other sites , like India, have been added to the network since 2002.

Result: The Cisco WLAN is capable of providing end-to-end solutions worldwide. It has:
        - More than 3000 access Points
        - More than 380 sites
        - 79 countries across the globe
        - More than 32,500 clients
        - 802.11b WLAN Standard
        - 13 Cisco ACS hubs for a globally distributed AAA architecture.

Future plans are to upgrade the network to 802.11a and 802.11g, offering 54 M bps bandwidth.  

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