D-Link Notre Dame Case Study.pdf - FTP

Business Class WirelessCustomer Profile:Athol Murray College of NotreDame is a private high schoollocated in Wilcox, Saskatchewan,Canada. The school is famous forgraduating world-class hockeyplayers as well as top minds.The co-ed student body consistsof 330 heavy Internet users thathail from all over the world. Formany of them, the Internet is theirmain means of communicationwith friends and relatives backhome. And they’re teen-agers, soonline connections are important.They’re frequently busy onFacebook, Skype, IM programsand MSN.“Our D-Link account managerarranged a building-by-buildingsite survey to determine the mostappropriate locations for the accesspoints. The technicians evaluatedpower options and POE switchplacement options. That servicewas totally invaluable for us.”Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Installs Easy-to-ControlWi-Fi ® Network in Challenging, Mixed-Structure CampusPower over Ethernet (PoE) and Seamless Roaming Ensure Painless Installation andTransparent MobilityThe ChallengeLast year, if Notre Dame’s students wanted Internetaccess, they had to physically connect into Ethernetlines at two locations on campus. Both studentsand faculty lobbied for better availability – wired orwireless. Anything would be an improvement.Notre Dame needed an easy to install solution thatwouldn’t burden their two-man staff once it was upand running.“Hard wiring requires more support and, obviously,more infrastructure,” said Pat Vigneron, NotreDame’s IT director. “From a cost and a supportstandpoint, we determined that wireless offered awhole lot more for a whole lot less, both dollar-wiseand time-wise.”The buildings on campus are made of brick, woodand metal. And two of the buildings are quite old.“The physical makeup of those two was completelydifferent from any of the other buildings that wewere working with,” said Vigneron. “That presenteda challenge for us. We needed a Wi-Fi hardwaresolution and site strategy that would handle thedrastic changes in building structures.”For many of the students at Athol Murray theInternet is their main means of communicationwith friends and relatives back home.The SolutionNotre Dame used three D-Link DWS-1008 8-PortWireless Switches and 27 DWL-8220AP WirelessSwitch Dualband Access Points to provide seamless,campus-wide wireless coverage for the studentbody and faculty. The APs are all remotely controlledfrom one centralized server room.- Pat Vigneron, IT DirectorAthol Murray College ofNotre DameNotre Dame also wanted to easily manage andcontrol Internet availability schedules and accesspolicies. “Everyone knows the Internet can be themost useful tool,” said Vigneron. “But it can also bethe biggest distraction. The ability to control useand schedule availability easily was one of our topcriteria for selecting a vendor.” In addition to flexiblecoverage and manageability, Notre Dame neededseamless roaming capabilities and Power overEthernet (PoE) for installing switches in areas whereelectric power was not easily accessible.The right solution would have to meet Notre Dame’sspecific needs and be economical. “You can buy anysolution with an unlimited budget, but it might not bethe best value for your dollar,” said Vigneron. “Therewere companies that were willing to come in and dothe whole thing for us, but the price tag was fairlyheavy. So, we had to find something that would workwithin our budget and with our support team.”“The ability to control access scheduling from aneasy-to-use software console sold us on D-Link,”said Vigneron. We can quickly make adjustmentsaccording to management policy by opening therouter control panel and making the appropriatechanges. For example, the dormitories were havingproblems with students sitting on the Internet rightbefore class and missing breakfast. “The dormmanagers asked me how much time it would taketo modify the schedule – shutting off access from7 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. when the students need to begetting ready for school,” explained Vigneron. “I said,‘Probably about five minutes.’ They were quite happywith that answer.”In fact, once the Wi-Fi installation was complete,the entire school was ecstatic with the seamlessnetwork. The PoE worked like a charm in difficultto access roof and ceiling areas of the variedarchitecture. Roaming capability delivers seamlessswitching from AP to AP while students walk aroundcampus and move from room to room.

Business Class WirelessDWS-1008 8-Port WirelessSwitch with PoE• Powered by Trapeze NetworksMobility System• Provides Central Managementfor WLAN Infrastructure• Automatically Configures AllAttached DWL-8220APsDWL-8220AP Wireless SwitchDualband Access Point for DWS-1008Wireless Switch• 802.11a/g Wireless Connectivity• Self-Tuning Features to Adjust& Optimize RF Settings• Zero-Configuration InstallationQuick and Easy ImplementationThe installation took a little over a week. They spentseven days physically mounting the access pointsand a day firing up and configuring the switches.“Sam Vergiris, our D-Link account managerarranged a building-by-building site survey todetermine the most appropriate locations for theaccess points,” said Vigneron. “The techniciansevaluated power options and PoE switch placementoptions. That service was totally invaluable for us.”The site survey allowed Notre Dame to quicklydetermine exactly what hardware was needed andwhere to put it.“Guessing AP placement would have been verydifficult and time consuming on our own,” continuedVigneron. “The D-Link staff have the experience.They took out all the guesswork, and that was hugefor us.”D-Link also helped support the configurationprocess. “The D-Link support was just fantastic,”said Vigneron. “A couple of phone calls here andthere, and the tech support guys got back to us witha solution within a half hour to 45 minutes.”With 27 D-Link wireless access points, thefaculty and students now enjoy seamless,campus-wide wireless coverage.Planning and Site Survey CriticalVigneron recommends detailed planning and sitesurveys for those considering a wireless network.“It’s absolutely imperative that you plan it, map itout and determine the specific needs from a userpoint of view,” he said. “If you can find someonewith site survey expertise, you’re way ahead of thegame. I give D-Link a lot of credit there. To have thatkind of expertise and the right survey tools availablefor the install is critical.”“I was very, very happy with D-Link, from start tofinish. They were excellent,” said Vigneron. “Therewas no sales pressure from Sam, and, like I said, thesite survey was invaluable to us.”Once installed, the D-Link wireless APscan now be controlled remotely from onecentralized server room.D-Link and the D-Link logo and are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries in the UnitedStates and other countries. Copyright © 2003 - 2007. All Rights Reserved. All other company or product names mentioned hereinare trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright© 2007 D-Link Corporation/D-Link Systems,Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17595 Mt. Herrmann Street, Fountain Valley, CA92708 • www.dlink.comCall or visit the web address below for moreinformation on the complete line of business products:www.dlink.com877.528.7789For more D-Link Case Studies visit:www.dlink.com/casestudy2