Home > News > featured news > Extreme Networks and Wireless Broadband Alliance Deliver OpenRoaming Connectivity

Application Infrastructure

Extreme Networks and Wireless Broadband Alliance Deliver OpenRoaming Connectivity

Extreme Networks, Inc. | September 29, 2021

Extreme Networks Inc. a cloud-driven networking company, today announced it has successfully implemented support of Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) OpenRoaming™ at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV) in Portugal. OpenRoaming enables students, teachers, and other users on IPV's campus to connect to a high-speed, secure, carrier-grade Wi-Fi 6 network wherever they are, indoors and outdoors, without experiencing disruption to their wireless network connection. IPV is the first organization in Portugal to participate in WBA OpenRoaming.

In addition to OpenRoaming, Extreme has led the market in Wi-Fi carrier offload for 4G and 5G networks. In February of 2020, the company partnered with Verizon to create "smart stadium" technology at Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Verizon's wireless network was linked to ExtremeWireless™ Wi-Fi access points and ExtremeAnalytics™ software, providing seamless connectivity and authentication for fans in and around the stadium. Extreme currently offers RADSec and carrier offload with all major wireless carriers in the U.S.

WBA OpenRoaming delivers seamless handoff from any number of cellular networks to Wi-Fi, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity for users much like how smartphones connect instantly to various telecommunications networks. Extreme worked with Aptilo Networks to bring OpenRoaming to IPV's campus alongside a Wi-Fi 6 network deployment. Now, students, staff, and visitors can connect to the IPV campus network without requiring manual authentication. This results in better experiences for users and a reduced workload for IPV's IT team, who previously had to manually authorize every network user from outside of Viseu to access on-campus Wi-Fi.

Key Benefits:
Simplified connectivity for users and reduced demands on IT: Previously, European regulations forced IPV's IT team to add and remove network users manually, including staff members and students, making it complicated to access Wi-Fi on campus. With OpenRoaming, students and staff on IPV's campuses can easily connect to the wireless network without losing account settings or history, and the IT team can focus on furthering the use of technology across the IPV campus.

Improved student outcomes and opportunities: OpenRoaming simplifies IPV's ability to expand programming and bring new events to campus, without requiring the IT team to set up secure network access each time. They can provision different levels of service for different users and events depending on specific needs. IPV's student base can now access resources through the same user account across all their devices on IPV's campus without paying for a broadband connection or setting up a new account.

Increased wireless network security: IPV and similar organizations can benefit from the freedom of OpenRoaming without opening themselves to potential security risks or failing to comply with local regulations. OpenRoaming leverages existing security protocols such as Passpoint, RADSec, and standards 802.1x and 802.11i to ensure network security without compromising user privacy. It pairs Wi-Fi network providers with identity providers, such as mobile operators and ISPs, who register authenticated users and enable them to connect to any participating wireless network automatically.

Executive Perspectives:

OpenRoaming is key in delivering seamless, secure access to Wi-Fi, which is a necessity for modern higher education institutions like IPV that seek to provide students with the best possible resources for learning. WBA members like Extreme are helping deliver reliable, high-speed connectivity around the globe and we are proud to support them as our world becomes more reliant on wireless networks.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance

Luís Almeida, Senior Network Administrator, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu
"IPV is incredibly excited to be part of WBA OpenRoaming. This implementation will improve user experiences for everyone who accesses Wi-Fi on our campus – students, teachers, employees, visitors, and participants in the various national and international conferences we host – not to mention reduced stress for our IT team in managing the network. Our experience with Extreme throughout this project has been wonderful, and we hope to be an example of what OpenRoaming can achieve for other institutions and communities across Europe as the project continues to grow."

Nabil Bukhari, Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Extreme Networks
"Open roaming between 5G and Wi-Fi networks is critical in enabling next-generation consumer experiences and the Infinite Enterprise. Seamless and secure connectivity inside and outside of buildings makes things like smart cities and working and learning from anywhere a possibility. Extreme is proud to be part of the WBA's consortium of industry leaders that are striving to make connectivity more seamless and accessible, and we're confident it will have a positive impact for everyone on IPV's campus."

About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is the global organization that connects people with the latest Wi-Fi initiatives. Founded in 2003, the vision of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to drive seamless, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem. WBA's mission is to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies, cities, regulators and organizations to achieve that vision. WBA's membership is comprised of major operators, identity providers and leading technology companies across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision.

Spotlight

Cloud-first, resilient, and ready to serve

Digital transformation was a critical step in Citizens Bank's journey toward resilience. They wanted to reduce costs and generate new revenue by bringing new offerings to customers. Citizens Financial Group, a.k.a Citizens Bank, is the 13th largest retail bank in the U.S., with roughly 1,000 branches across 11 states. The bank p

More featured news

Spotlight

Cloud-first, resilient, and ready to serve

Related News

Data Storage

Astera Labs First to Break Through the Memory Wall with Industry’s Highest Performance CXL Memory Controllers

Business Wire | September 21, 2023

Astera Labs, the global leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for AI infrastructure, today announced that its Leo Memory Connectivity Platform enables data center servers with unprecedented performance for memory intensive workloads. Leo is the industry’s first Compute Express Link™ (CXL™) memory controller that increases total server memory bandwidth by 50% while also decreasing latency by 25% when integrated with the forthcoming 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor. Through new hardware-based interleaving of CXL-attached and CPU native memory, Astera Labs and Intel eliminate any application-level software changes to augment server memory resources via CXL. Existing applications can effortlessly “plug-and-play” to take advantage of the highest possible memory bandwidth and capacity in the system. “The growth of computing cores and performance has historically outpaced memory throughput advancements, resulting in degraded server performance efficiency over time,” said Sanjay Gajendra, COO of Astera Labs. “This performance scaling challenge has led to the infamous ‘memory wall,’ and thanks to our collaboration with Intel, our Leo Memory Connectivity Platform breaks through this barrier by delivering on the promise of PCIe 5.0 and CXL memory.” Data center infrastructure scaling limitations due to the memory wall are none more evident than in AI servers where memory bandwidth and capacity bottlenecks result in inefficient processor utilization. The CXL innovations delivered by Astera Labs and Intel directly address these bottlenecks and lay the foundation for cloud, hybrid-cloud and enterprise data centers to maximize accelerated computing performance. Extending leadership of PCIe® 5.0 and CXL 2.0 solutions Astera Labs has a history of delivering industry-first solutions that are critical to advancing the PCIe and CXL ecosystems. In addition to memory performance advancements with Leo, Astera Labs is also driving interoperability leadership with its Aries PCIe 5.0 / CXL 2.0 Smart Retimers on state-of-the-art Intel server platforms. As the most widely deployed and proven PCIe/CXL retimer family in the industry, Aries features a low-latency CXL mode that complements Leo to form the most robust CXL memory connectivity solution. “We applaud Astera Labs for their contributions to the CXL ecosystem and are delighted to extend our ongoing collaboration. We believe Memory Connectivity Platforms containing innovations from companies like Astera Labs will help deliver enhanced performance on next generation Intel Xeon processors, and accelerate a myriad of memory intensive workloads,” said Zane Ball, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Data Center Platform Engineering and Architecture Group, Intel. Visit Astera Labs at Intel Innovation! Astera Labs will showcase Leo and Aries together with Intel’s latest Xeon® Scalable processors at Booth #210, September 19-20 at the San Jose Convention Center. Talk to Astera Labs’ experts to learn more about industry benchmarks and how to optimize PCIe/CXL memory solutions in data center architectures to deliver optimized performance for applications ranging from AI, real time analytics, genomics and modeling. About Astera Labs Astera Labs, Inc. is a global leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions purpose-built to unleash the full potential of intelligent data infrastructure at cloud-scale. Its class-defining, first-to-market products based on PCIe, CXL, and Ethernet technologies deliver critical connectivity in accelerated computing platforms optimized for AI applications.

Application Infrastructure, Storage Management

Scala Data Centers Invests US$ 80 Million in the First Hyperscale Data Center in Tepotzotlán, Mexico

prnewswire | August 24, 2023

Scala Data Centers, the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market, is building its first data center in Mexico, SMEXTP01, with an initial investment of approximately US$ 80 million. The venture, located in the municipality of Tepotzotlán, about 25 miles from the country's capital in Mexico City (CDMX), will have an initial critical capacity of 5MW reinforcing Scala's strategy of enabling new markets in Latin America to meet the massive demands being made by large cloud and content providers, known as Hyperscale. Scala's new site is projected to begin operations in Q4 2023 and is already anchored by a large Hyperscale client. With 142,133 sqft (about 13.2 thousand square meters) of built area, SMEXTP01 HyperEdge data center will offer maximum customization and modularity and will be supplied with 100% renewable and certified energy, in line with the company's portfolio. "This new project underscores our commitment to enabling new markets in Latin America, either in unexplored locations or in regions with data center presence, but still lacking a dedicated approach to large IT capacities that truly serve the Hyperscale segment," explains Marcos Peigo, CEO and Co-Founder at Scala. "We are proud to spearhead this expansion and create unique conditions for massive colocation clients in the region through innovation, energy efficiency, and sustainable technology," he adds. Geographically, Mexico has a relevant and strategic position in the IT infrastructure segment. As the second largest data center and cloud market in Latin America, the country has robust growth rates of around 22% and 25% per year, respectively, and excellent connectivity infrastructure. Currently, there are 11 submarine cables connecting Mexico to the United States and the rest of the Americas. Alongside Chile, where Scala also operates and invests, Mexico is one of the only countries in the region that will have a direct connection via submarine cable to the Asian market. Scala's SMEXTP01 in Tepotzotlán city will uniquely bring together an ideal scenario for the hyperscale market - energy availability, connectivity, and proximity to a large consumer market for critical IT infrastructure. In addition to the investment in SMEXTP01, Scala continues its accelerated expansion plan, with the construction of new sites at Tamboré Campus (São Paulo, Brazil), Porto Alegre city (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), Lampa (Chile), as well as advanced projects to implement other data centers in Fortaleza city (Ceará state, Brazil), Mexico and Colombia. Since the company's inception in 2020, Scala has invested more than R$ 8 billion (US$ 1,6 billion) in its projects in Latin America and expects to reach 500MW of distributed capacity over the next five years, in four countries in which it operates. In 2023, the company started operating three state-of-the-art data centers in Latin America, located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), (13.2 MW of IT), Tamboré (Brazil) with 6MW of IT and Curauma (Chile) offering 5MW of IT. About Scala Data Centers Scala Data Centers is the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market. Headquartered in Brazil and founded by DigitalBridge, it was developed to meet and exceed the growing demand for digital access in Latin America. Scala has a highly qualified team of over 800 professionals and applies a flexible and innovative approach to providing exceptional quality colocation services to hyperscale clients, cloud-based software and service providers, and large enterprises. We customize state-of-the-art solutions for each client in the construction of the latest generation data centers, with high availability, the best energy efficiency rates, and superior density. All this allied to the best sustainability practices guided by our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) program.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

Tenable Completes Acquisition of Ermetic

GlobeNewswire | October 03, 2023

Tenable® Holdings, Inc., the Exposure Management company, today announced it has closed its acquisition of Ermetic, Ltd. (“Ermetic”), an innovative cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) company, and a leading provider of cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM). The acquisition combines two cybersecurity innovators and marks an important milestone in Tenable’s mission to shift organizations to proactive security. The combination of Tenable and Ermetic offerings will add capabilities to both the Tenable One Exposure Management Platform and the Tenable Cloud Security solution to deliver market-leading contextual risk visibility, prioritization and remediation across infrastructure and identities, both on-premises and in the cloud. With unified CNAPP, iron-clad CSPM protection, and industry-leading CIEM, security teams receive the context and prioritization guidance to make efficient and accurate remediation decisions. Security teams will no longer need to be cloud security experts to understand where the most urgent risks exist and what to do about them. Tenable and Ermetic together will help organizations address some of the most difficult challenges in cybersecurity today: Simplifying security management to meet the increasing demands of cloud infrastructure growth Reducing the risk caused by an explosion in volume of user and machine identities in the cloud Understanding the complex relationships and risks across all assets and identities The unique combination of Tenable and Ermetic will give customers tightly integrated CNAPP capabilities for cloud environments, delivered through an elegant user experience that minimizes complexity and speeds adoption, said Amit Yoran, chairman and chief executive officer, Tenable. We’re delivering unparalleled insights into identities and access, which are absolutely critical to securing cloud environments. And with the integration of insights from Tenable One, customers can also consolidate, simplify and reduce costs. The Tenable One Exposure Management Platform enables customers to gain a more complete, accurate and actionable view of their attack surface. Exposure management shifts preventive security from securing technology silos to applying contextual risk intelligence to protect the business. The acquisition of Ermetic accelerates this shift for Tenable customers, adding a depth of cloud security expertise and capabilities that provide context to prioritize risk and simplify remediation. Ermetic adds analytical strength to ExposureAI, more contextual relationships and deep data insights to make Tenable One an even more effective platform for preventive security. Ermetic will also expand and augment Tenable Cloud Security, which enables security teams to continuously assess the security posture of cloud environments, offering full visibility and helping to prioritize efforts based on business risk. About Tenable Tenable® is the Exposure Management company. Approximately 43,000 organizations around the globe rely on Tenable to understand and reduce cyber risk. As the creator of Nessus®, Tenable extended its expertise in vulnerabilities to deliver the world’s first platform to see and secure any digital asset on any computing platform. Tenable customers include approximately 60 percent of the Fortune 500, approximately 40 percent of the Global 2000, and large government agencies. Learn more at tenable.com.