Dell has announced updates for its OpenManage platform alongside a new generation of network solutions purpose-built for campus environments. New campus network solutions include wireless access points specified at 1.3Gbs via the 802.11ac standard as well as a lineup of streamlined enterprise networking switches. New Dell OpenManage capabilities also reduce system configuration time by allowing administrators to configure a baseline device and automatically replicating server settings to additional servers.
Dell has announced updates for its OpenManage platform alongside a new generation of network solutions purpose-built for campus environments. New campus network solutions include wireless access points specified at 1.3Gbs via the 802.11ac standard as well as a lineup of streamlined enterprise networking switches. New Dell OpenManage capabilities also reduce system configuration time by allowing administrators to configure a baseline device and automatically replicating server settings to additional servers.
Dell has identified rising end-user expectations for streaming media, increased mobility, bring-your-own-device (BYOD), and access to cloud services as a priority for its new lineup of campus network solutions. Dell’s W-Series Gigabit wireless access points, starting with the new Dell W-AP224 and W-AP225, provide transfer rates of up to 1.3Gbps when used as part of an end-to-end 802.11ac wireless infrastructure. These offerings are the first purpose-built 802.11ac enterprise access points on the market, and as part of the Dell 220 series share its centralized configuration, data encryption, policy enforcement and network services, as well as distributed and centralized traffic forwarding and ClientMatch for more predictable Wi-Fi performance.
Dell N-Series Switches
The N-Series is a family of 1GbE and 10GbE switches designed for scaling campus network infrastructures and smoothing the transition to 10GbE from existing infrastructures that utilize 10/100Mbps speeds at the edge and 1GbE in the core. The N-Series incorporates a new operating system and user interfaces meant to feel familiar and accessible to campus network administrators which offers high availability and full bandwidth utilization via multi-chassis link aggregation and supports firmware upgrades without taking the network offline. N-Series switches also support open standards and can interface with Cisco devices in order to integrate into a variety of existing campus network environments.
Dell C-Series Switches
The Dell Networking C-Series provides modular 1/10/40 GbE connectivity with flexible connectivity to enable aggregation and high availability for campuses. The C-Series has the performance to support institution-wide virtual desktop infrastructure with scalable user density and performance, via the modular design that allows customers to “pay-as-you-grow” with Ethernet expansion and deployment options.
Availability
The Dell Networking W-series is available today along with C-series devices using POE+ and 10G line cards; 40G line cards for the C-series are expected in the first quarter of 2014. Dell OpenManage enhancements will be available later this month, with N-series availability slated for early 2014.
Dell Networking W-Series wireless access points
