The modern world of work is about BYOD and pervasive mobile connectivity. To help enable the modern networking world, wireless vendor Aruba Networks is now updating its core Aruba OS operating system to further improve the survivability of pervasive mobile connectivity.
Ozer Dondurmacioglu, product manager at Aruba, told EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet that the new ArubaOS 6.1.3.4 is an update to the company’s existing set of algorithms. ArubaOS is the Linux powered operating system that runs on Aruba’s mobility controllers.
“It is designed to accommodate an even higher density of devices and more demanding network design requirements,” Dondurmacioglu said. “Since there are no specific hardware or software components that are attached to this release, and because we have a solid set of differentiators in these two areas, we decided to go to market sooner than our major release cycle.”
Dondurmacioglu explained that among the major enhancements in the 6.1.3.4 release is a feature that enables mobile device and application survivability during network outages, after a Mobility Controller failover takes place. Another key feature is the ability to maintain total AP performance and the ability to offer a consistent experience to individual mobile devices as the number of mobile devices associated to the same AP continues to increase.
Unified Communications
The new ArubaOS updates is also certified to deliver the Microsoft Lync unified communications solution. Dondurmacioglu said that Aruba has been working with Microsoft’s Lync development team directly as a technology partner.
“Our innovation with regard to identifying and prioritizing Microsoft Lync calls is an Aruba innovation and it is the primary reason for Aruba being the only wireless LAN vendor to date that has received qualification in the Microsoft Lync Server Wi-Fi compliance program,” Dondurmacioglu said. “We have learned a lot from the Lync team at Microsoft with regard to how the application performs signaling and starts media streams – and we have implemented deep packet inspection to track Lync flows dynamically, thanks to the stateful firewall on the Aruba Mobility Controllers and the Aruba access points.”
While Aruba is certified for Microsoft Lync Server, it can also enable other popular unified communications applications as well including SIP, Polycom SVP, Cisco SCCP, VOCERA, Alcatel NOE, and Apple FaceTime protocols.
“The signaling ports and media streams are automatically identified when necessary, are applied appropriate QoS markings and protected over the air during Wi-Fi congestion,” Dondurmacioglu said.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
