The popularity of wireless LANs (WLANs) has created new challenges for
today's networking professionals. These individuals must respond to the
growing demand for enterprise WLANs from end users who have embraced the
freedom and flexibility of wireless connectivity and business executives who
recognize the competitive advantage of business critical mobile
applications.
Organizations can no longer choose not to deploy WLANs,
because in the absence of sanctioned WLANs, employees are creating WLANs using
rogue (or unauthorized) access points. These rogue access points create
security breaches that put the entire network at risk. To reduce the chances of
rogue WLAN deployments that expose the wired network to intrusion, network
administrators need to install corporate-sanctioned WLANs. This will provide
network administrators with the control they need to effectively manage their
wired and wireless infrastructures and keep their networks secure.
Networking professionals must also integrate the WLAN into the existing
wired network and scale the WLAN to support hundreds to thousands of users
located in campuses and remote sites spread over great distances
,
. They
must provide a highly available medium that meets the expectations of
enterprise users accustomed to the high availability of wired networks. In an
era of tight budgets, enterprise network managers need to deliver
enterprise-class mobile computing applications in all locations with solid
network security, mobility, and control, all while achieving the lowest total
cost of ownership. The right WLAN solution takes full advantage of existing
tools, knowledge, resources, and the wired infrastructure to address critical
WLAN security, deployment, and control issues.