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University of Central Arkansas Relies on Enterasys Solution to Provide Secure Wired and Wireless Network Access to Students and Faculty

Posted on: Thursday, 15 February 2007, 12:00 CST

ANDOVER, Mass., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Enterasys Networks Inc., the Secure Networks Company(TM), today announced that the University of Central Arkansas provides secure, reliable network access to 12,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff across 50 buildings using an Enterasys Secure Networks(TM) infrastructure.

The UCA network delivers state-of-the-art performance and security, leveraging the university's investment in Enterasys products made over several years. The university also has deployed some of the newest Enterasys products, such as SecureStack switches and RoamAbout(R) wireless switching, which deliver granular policy-based control of network traffic in residence halls.

UCA's entire Secure Network faces its ultimate test at the beginning of each academic year when 4,000 resident students return to campus. "We didn't experience any issues during this year's move-in," said Brent Herring, associate director of information technology for the University of Central Arkansas, "and we have been able to continue ensuring a secure, reliable connection for each student who has logged on to our network."

Enterasys' architectural approach of embedding security directly into the network infrastructure appeals to UCA because of both its unmatched security capabilities and the ease of managing the network. "With other vendors, if we buy a switch we have to deploy another product to secure it," said Herring, "but with Enterasys, the security is already there. That's a huge advantage."

As is the case at most college and university campuses, ensuring the highest levels of security and control are priorities at the University of Central Arkansas. To help fulfill these requirements, UCA relies on Enterasys' Dragon(R) Security Suite to provide intrusion detection and prevention services and the NetSight(R) enterprise management platform to manage the entire network, including equipment from other vendors. "All organizations face a range of threats," said Herring, "but the number of internal threats is especially high on a typical university campus. A corporation may have a few disgruntled employees, but on a university campus there are literally hundreds of 'wannabe hackers' scanning the network every day. We respond to that very real threat by leveraging the embedded security capabilities of our Enterasys hardware and by using Dragon and NetSight to help us predict and prevent threats before they impact our infrastructure."

Herring uses NetSight's ability to pinpoint rogue devices on the network as a great example of proactive protection. "When we find a problem, we need to know who the user is or where they're plugging in. With a few clicks, we can simply locate and block access for that user no matter where they try to connect," he said. "They almost always come to us to complain that their connection isn't working, and we can immediately explain to them that they have violated the university's acceptable usage policies for the network."

UCA recently deployed an Enterasys wireless solution in a number of on- campus apartment buildings after the university experienced serious problems with the reliability of another vendor's wireless solution. "Nearly 1,000 of the 4,000 students who reside on-campus live in apartment complexes owned or leased by university that can't be connected to our wired infrastructure because of structural issues," said Herring. "To eliminate the expense of purchasing commercial Internet service for these buildings, the university hired a vendor to design and implement a wireless solution. Unfortunately, when large numbers of students tried to connect to the wireless network, it collapsed under the load. We immediately redesigned the network using Enterasys RoamAbout wireless switches and access points, and the new system works exceptionally well.

"We have only seven people managing a network with almost 14,000 users. The centralized command and control management software ensures we remain efficient and cost-effective while delivering a highly available architecture with both physical and logical redundancy," he said. "We also greatly appreciate the helpful and friendly Enterasys GTAC technical support team," Herring said. "We've never experienced better support from any vendor and appreciate their great attitude and quick resolution of our issues."

In the future, the university expects to expand its deployment of policy- enabled SecureStack C2 switches in residence halls and to enhance its security posture by leveraging the features of Dragon(R) Intrusion Defense.

"We have tremendous confidence in Enterasys because both the company and its products continue to deliver for us," said Herring. "We've deployed Enterasys products in environments where you wouldn't expect a cast-iron stove to survive, yet they keep working. Recently, one of our Matrix switches was completely flooded. The Enterasys support team jumped into action and had a replacement unit in operation within 24 hours, which saved the day. With Enterasys, reliability is never an issue; downtime is never an issue. When we can expect performance at that level, that's the kind of product-and company- we want to work with."

About Enterasys Networks

Enterasys Networks-the Secure Networks Company-is owned by a private investor group led by The Gores Group, LLC and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC. Enterasys' unique Secure Networks solutions secure any network from any vendor and ensure the integrity and performance of IT services and the business users that rely on them. Thousands of leading companies, government agencies and educational institutions in more than 70 countries rely on Secure Networks solutions to maintain business continuity and protect vital information. The company's culture is centered on the principle "There is nothing more important than our customers." Delivering on that commitment, Secure Networks provides granular, policy-based command and control of individual user, application, device, port and flow performance, and security. Enterasys' architectural approach to network security offers a long technology lifecycle and significant operational and business benefits, while reducing total cost of ownership. Information about Enterasys' award-winning policy- enabled switches, routers, wireless products, security software, and services is available at http://www.enterasys.com/.

About The Gores Group

Founded in 1987, The Gores Group is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. The Gores Group has become a leading investor, primarily in the technology and telecommunications sectors, having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, The Gores Group maintains offices in Boulder, Colorado and London. For more information, please visit http://www.gores.com/.

About Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC

Tennenbaum Capital Partners is a Santa Monica, California-based private investment firm managing over $3.8 billion in assets through private funds. The firm's investment strategy is grounded in a long-term, value approach, and it assists - both financially and operationally - transitional middle-market companies in such industries as technology, healthcare, energy, aerospace, business services, retail and general manufacturing. Tennenbaum's core strengths include its in-depth knowledge of equity and debt-financing vehicles in the public and private markets, as well as a thorough understanding of special situations. For more information, please visit http://www.tennenbaumcapital.com/.

Contact: Kevin Flanagan Enterasys Networks 978-684-1473 kevin.flanagan@enterasys.com

Enterasys Networks Inc.

CONTACT: Kevin Flanagan of Enterasys Networks, +1-978-684-1473, orkevin.flanagan@enterasys.com

Web site: http://www.enterasys.com/http://www.gores.com/http://www.tennenbaumcapital.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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