University of Exeter selects Lucent Brick
The Challenge
A growing and more demanding user community led to a need for The University of Exeter to find a more advanced firewall that could reliably and easily separate the external network from the campus and residential networks (with over 4000 student rooms).
Exeter wanted a solution that would successfully allow students to access the internet from halls of residence or from campus, while coping easily with the proliferation of new services. Those services included e-Learning, video on demand and links between Exeter and a growing number of satellite campuses.
Ian L C Campbell, Networks Manager at The University of Exeter was clear that the project reached far beyond basic technical requirements: “There is a fine line between education and entertainment. What we do here is like running a commercial service and we want to be seen as moving with the times.”
Trials had already been held of several market-leading products in an attempt to secure the connection between the main campus and student residentialnetworks. All attempts with other firewalls had failed when IP Performance was asked to help.
The Solution
Because Exeter needed to separate their IP networks and did not want to make architectural changes to their network, IP Performance recommended the 1100 Lucent Firewall (the ‘Brick’) as the technical leader in bridging-firewall solutions.
The Brick can be sited in the middle of an existing IP network and recognise different blocks of IP addresses within an existing set up as being in different security domains. This means installation can be performed very easily and without any decrease in the firewall functionality applied at the IP address level.
It’s a technology that IP Performance knows well and one we were able to implement smoothly, particularly because of signifi cant experience with university requirements.
A range of features were available that other trialled packages were not able to equal. A powerful VLAN and virtual firewall functionality also came as standard.
Exeter had experienced a range of failures with other trialled solutions:
- Problems with ACL accounts and with forwarding DHCP
- Maxing out on available sessions (3000)
- An inability to install at layer 2, with the need for significant configuration changes
- Poor explanation of features
- Loop-based fl ooding
- Bridge table corruption
The Brick avoided these shortcomings and proved a good fi t for Exeter’s needs.
IP Performance delivered a comprehensive support service during the trial, ensuring that Exeter understood the technology and were able to base their implementation plans on the full capabilities of the Brick.
The Benefits
The solution outperformed its rivals and familiarity with the product offered by IP Performance ensured the flexibility needed during what could have been a complex implementation. Initial installation glitches were overcome far more easily with this help.
Central management functionality now ensures far simpler expansion than in the past and also much easier updates – important for any firewall. Maintenance cost savings more than offset initial setup costs – central management is particularly important because it avoids recurring visits to multiple sites.
Lucent firewalls have no security-threatening back doors and no CERT® advisories or reported vulnerabilities. If other systems fail, the Brick continues working independently. If the Brick fails, it can be taken out and replaced with a fibre without causing an extended loss of service. The result is that the University of Exeter now has a reliable and secure layer-two firewall that requires far lower maintenance. After-sales and technical telephone support from IP Performance ensures continuity of service.
