Extreme unites wired, wireless nets

Extreme Networks this week plans to roll out a blade that ties wireless LAN access points into the company's Alpine 3800  wiring closet switches.

The 32-port module, with Power over Ethernet  (PoE), fits into Extreme's unified access strategy, which involves letting the existing network infrastructure support a range of clients. New code, added to the Alpine's management module, is the basis for authenticating wireless users, and securing and managing the access points.

Also new:

• Code changes so the switch can use a device's media access control address to authenticate with RADIUS servers.

• Use of Secure Sockets Layer to encrypt the network logon.

• RF Manager, a rebranded third-party application for designing and managing the WLAN radio environment; modified to work with the Alpine switch and Extreme's EPICenter network management system.

Extreme is the first vendor to introduce this WLAN approach in wireline switches, although Cisco and Foundry Networks have said they'll do the same. By contrast, WLAN switches from companies such as Airespace are dedicated boxes that create, in effect, a WLAN that's separate from the wired infrastructure.

Last September, Extreme began shipping the Summit 300-48, an edge switch that could handle wireless and wired applications, with its companion thin access point, the Altitude 300.

The software developed for the Summit has been incorporated into the system and management software for the Alpine. The switch powers eight of the 32 10/100 Base-T ports in the new WLAN module. A separate power supply unit has to be added for the remaining 24 ports.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has adopted the unified access approach through its use of Extreme's high-end Black Diamond and Summit switches. The museum deployed 15 Summit 300 switches last year and created a WLAN covering the public areas of the downtown site with 20 Altitude access points.

"Unified access is the way wireless integrates into your switches, with the wireless 'smarts' built into the switch," says Leo Ballate, IT director for the museum. "You have one central interface, and you can manage the access points, the [Summit] switches and the Black Diamond."

Using Extreme's EPICenter management system, Ballate's seven-person department can administer the entire network.

The new Alpine 3800 802.3af PoE module is expected to ship next month, and costs about $3,000. A basic version of the RF Manager software costs about $5,000, and the advanced version nearly $14,000.