Case Study

Juniper Helps Armstrong Atlantic

State University Build the Best
Network and Achieve 30%
Savings in Maintenance

Summary Located in beautiful Savannah, Georgia, Armstrong Atlantic State University focuses on

Company: student success as its singular guiding principle. With about 7,400 students, Armstrong

Armstrong Atlantic State University is small enough to foster a sense of community, but large enough to offer more than
100 academic programs that prepare graduates for success in their careers and their
Industry:
communities. Armstrong awards the most undergraduate degrees in the allied health
Higher Education
professions in the University System of Georgia.
Challenges:
As the number of mobile devices Challenge
on campus exploded, the university
Technology is a disruptor in the educational market, says Robert Howard, CIO at
needed to increase its wired
network capacity. Armstrong. More students, faculty, and staff want to access coursework, applications,
and information from their laptops, tablets, and smartphonesboth inside and outside
Network Solution:
the classroom. As with other universities, the consumption of video, whether for
EX4600, EX4500, EX4200,
education or recreation, continues to spiral upward. Armstrongs online and blended
EX3300, and EX2200 Ethernet
Switches learning programs offer active duty military, veterans, and nontraditional students a
pathway to learning.
Junosphere Classroom
Results: Armstrong must balance the advantages of a small school experience with the reality
Lowered network operating cost of budgets. Our number one priority is giving the best experience to support student
while meeting growing demand success at the best cost, says Howard. We look for ways to be economical and be good
for bandwidth stewards of the taxpayers money while giving students the best experience possible,
Enabled support for online and whether it is students who consume IT services on campus or prospective students.
blended learning programs
Saved 30% on network At Armstrong, part of our job is to build the best student experience.
maintenance costs
Part of that student experience is building the best network for their
personal lives and their educational curriculum as well. Juniper has
enabled us to build the best.
Robert Howard, CIO, Armstrong Atlantic State University

Armstrongs network had grown organically over the years, but it had an opportunity to
holistically design a network that would support the universitys current and future needs
while reducing cost. The university decided to replace its incumbent network vendor.

We had a perfect storm of funding opportunities and we were able to partner with Juniper
in a way that made sense, says Howard. We had initial capital savings, but like other IT
organizations, weve been continually hit with astronomical cost increases for maintenance.
Anything we can do to reduce cost is good.

1
Juniper Helps Armstrong Atlantic State University Build the Best Network and Achieve 30% Savings in Maintenance Case Study

Solution The new network from Juniper enables Armstrong to support the
growing use of technology in its academic programs as well as
Armstrong deployed Junipers switching, security, and wireless
residential life. Its a fundamental part of a students education
products to enable simple, secure access to critical information
to have ubiquitous access to wireless networking and all of the
and applications. We are end-to-end Juniper, says Howard.
tools that the Internet provides.
Armstrong uses the high-performance, highly available Juniper
The university has also reaped a 30 percent savings on
Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches in its data center and
maintenance contracts. With Juniper, we have even better
campus networks, including EX4600, EX4500, EX4200, EX3300,
service at a lower cost, says Howard.
and EX2200 switches. Using EX Series switches has reduced
complexity, maximized uptime, and minimized risk to our With the new network from Juniper, operations have been
organization, says Howard. simplified. Weve made it easier for our staff to do their
jobs, says Howard. Weve increased security and reduced
Juniper Networks Virtual Chassis technology enables multiple
complexitythats a win for us.
interconnected EX Series switches to operate and be managed
as a single logical device, consolidating switch layers to reduce Another benefit of deploying a Juniper network was the ability to
management overhead. Meanwhile, programmability delivers the incorporate Junosphere Classroom, a virtual environment from
flexibility required for the network to quickly respond to changing Juniper that can be used for network planning and modeling, into
educational needs. its curriculum for its computer science and IT program. With
Junosphere Classroom, our faculty and students can do network
Armstrong uses Virtual Chassis technology to allow for ease
design and testing in the cloud, he says. Junosphere has been
of management and Layer 2 hardware diversity without the
well-received.
complications and convergence times introduced when using
Spanning Tree, says Howard.
Next Steps and Lessons Learned
Armstrongs campus core consists of EX Series switches in a Armstrong prides itself on offering a diverse body of students
mixed-mode GbE/10GbE Virtual Chassis configuration spread a small school, affordable educational experience that will
across three geographically distant locations. Each location has a instill a love of learning that will last a lifetime. It continues to
pair of EX4200 or EX4500 switches. expand, and in fall 2013, the university will break ground on a
major expansion for the Armstrong Liberty Center in Hinesville,
In the data center, Armstrong uses a pair of EX4600 switches
GA , which brings higher education to the surrounding areas and
with XRE200 External Routing Engines. Using Virtual Chassis
special services to Fort Stewart and military families.
technology, the top-of-rack switches can connect to the network
core via different line cards on different chassis. Virtual Chassis For More Information
also greatly simplifies the configuration and management of
To find out more about Juniper Networks products and solutions,
Armstrongs top-of-rack switches.
please visit [Link].
Results
About Juniper Networks
At Armstrong, part of our job is to build the best student
Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From
experience, says Howard. Part of that student experience
devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers,
is building the best network for their personal lives and their
Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that
educational curriculum as well. Juniper has enabled us to build
transform the experience and economics of networking. The
the best.
company serves customers and partners worldwide. Additional
information can be found at [Link].

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3520467-002-EN Aug 2015