Case Study - Cloud-based Wireless Network

Cloud-based, WLAN Solution on VMware Delivers Critical Connectivity & Cost Savings – Seamlessly Across All Manufacturing Locations

“neteffect technologies proposed and implemented ADTRAN’s vWLAN solution, deployed as a virtual machine on VMware, allowing us to move into the realm of network virtualization which resulted in significant cost reduction and operational benefits.”

LD, Director of IT

The Challenge

The Solution

The Benefit

A 100+ year old manufacturing and service company partnered with neteffect technologies when its existing hardware-controller-based solution could not be easily expanded or efficiently managed to ensure consistent connectivity across geographically disbursed locations. Its legacy solution was not scalable and did not provide adequate or reliable coverage. Upgrading to the next controller model was costly, because it required a complete forklift replacement.

A managed service solution was devised utilizing Adtran’s cloud-based Virtual Wireless LAN solution on VMware with Bluesocket 802.11n access points. Thus, the client was able to achieve corporate-wide, consistent Wi-Fi connectivity across all locations, with centralized control and management, within a high-availability configuration.

Adtran’s vWLAN solution delivered exceptional coverage and reliability to enable scanning, label printing, and real-time data collection, thereby increasing productivity throughout the manufacturing process. The high-availability configuration ensures anytime, mission-critical Wi-Fi access and remote site survivability.

Hardware-based Architecture Makes Challenging Wi-Fi Environment

The client’s legacy hardware-controller-based wireless LAN solution posed various challenges, including the inability to centrally control and manage the system, fragmented systems in remote locations, inadequate access-point coverage, unreliable performance, lack of scalability, and the cost of a full forklift upgrade to a larger hardware controller. The client realized that the hardware-controller-based solution could not meet its current needs or scale to meet its future demands. The troublesome hardware-based architecture barred the client from providing seamless, steadfast Wi-Fi access across all of its locations, and therefore hindered efficiency and productivity.

Wi-Fi Virtualization = Freedom from Challenges

neteffect technologies’ solution, using Adtran’s Virtual Wireless LAN (vWLAN), fixed the cross-location connectivity issues and centralized control, which resulted in more scalability and better coverage. Designed on the premise that the same benefits of server virtualization can be brought to the Wi-Fi network, the vWLAN solution leverages virtualization to solve critical capacity and scaling burdens, and provides substantial additional benefits facilitated by a virtualized environment. The vWLAN solution virtualizes user-control and device-management functions onto software that runs on a virtual machine (VM), thereby eliminating the need for hardware-based controllers within the wireless network.

Increased Scaling and Capacity

The client, which was already utilizing VMware managed services, implemented neteffect technologies’ recommendation: a wireless LAN managed service powered by Adtran’s cloud-based vWLAN solution on VMware and Bluesocket 802.11n access points. This solution was chosen in part because it is certified as VMware Ready and helped the client build upon its existing VMware-based virtualization strategy.

Technology Empowering Manufacturing

Ultimately, the client achieved corporate-wide, fault-tolerant Wi-Fi connectivity across all locations, and also gained enormous scalability and simplified administration through centralized, cloud-based control and management. With exceptional Wi-Fi coverage and performance, the client enabled scanning, label printing, and real-time data collection, and attributed these new technologies to increasing productivity throughout its manufacturing process.