case study 2

Wireless and Remote connectivity Case Study – Sanford University

Sanford University is a medium-sized university in the outskirts of Philadelphia. Formed in 1966, it has grown

steadily through the incorporation of additional colleges and further education providers, but retains an

emphasis on engineering, science and technology. Today, it numbers around 15,000 students and 2,000 staff.

As part of a five-year strategic plan, the university’s “Open Kingdom” project aims to create a consistent user

experience across the campus, including the provision of wireless network access. This last issue became

critical in the summer of 2012, when the Students body insisted on wireless access for all residential buildings

before starting negotiations on 2013 rents.

“We’d traditionally viewed wired as good enough for everybody,” says John Patrick who is the network and

data center manager for the University. “What became very clear was that wired wasn’t good enough for our

students. Wired wasn’t their typical network experience. They expect the same experience on campus as they

have at home. Students wanted to do their computing anywhere, anyhow, on the go, inside the campus, outside

the campus. They didn’t want to be a slave to the cable.”

Patrick and his team needed a solution in place before the January 2013 deadline. The solution needs to provide

wireless access coverage in the 7 buildings across campus, four of them residential, and for the solution to

provide a robust remote access system (VPN) for faculty and staff.

The solution should not discriminate between devices; students would be free to use smartphones, games

consoles or tablets on the network, for work or play. However, the network needed to differentiate between

staff, students, conference visitors and guests, granting the appropriate access to services. Ultimately, with

thousands of users bringing their own devices onto the network, it needed to maintain the security of the

university’s systems.

Sanford University Layout

Residential buildings - 6 stories with 25 rooms per floor

Classroom / conference building - 4 stories and 40 classrooms per floor. Auditorium and Cafeteria located on

ground floor.

Classroom / Admissions / Library building - 7 stories with 20 offices or classrooms per floor.

Data center on campus - provides IT services to the entire campus.