HP Networking and Aastra

Transcription

1 HP Networking and Aastra Solution whitepaper Table of contents Executive Summary... 2 Introduction... 3 HP Networking and Aastra: A true alliance... 4 Commitment to open standards... 4 Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)... 5 IEEE-802.1X... 6 LLDP-MED... 7 Voice over Wi-Fi... 8 Sample topology... 9 Summary... 10

2 Executive Summary The adoption of Voice over IP (VoIP) is no longer a question of if but when. For businesses today the advantages of converged communication networks are compelling however their deployment can be complex and single vendor solutions can often be restrictive. HP Networking and Aastra have formed an alliance to deliver best-of-breed IP unified communication solutions: HP Networking provides a fully secure, reliable and adaptive open-standard foundation for Aastra s Voice over IP and Unified Communications (UC) products. Aastra and HP Networking share the vision and commitment to deliver and support openstandard based solutions providing customers with flexibility and choice. Customers and resellers have the reassurance that together Aastra and HP Networking deliver pre-qualified, open-architecture solutions that have been thoroughly tested and certified for interoperability. HP Networking s unified network strategy ensures seamless integration and management of both wired and wireless Aastra IP phones. Together, HP Networking and Aastra deliver a future-proof solution that can evolve with the customer s needs. Customers can benefit from a higher return on investment and reduced TCO (total cost of ownership). 2

3 Introduction In today s business world organizations demand more and more from their communication infrastructure. For those businesses still using conventional telephony systems, the rising costs and lack of flexibility increasingly drives them to look at new, more productive and cost-effective ways of communicating. The deployment of converged network communication delivering Voice over IP (VoIP) is a natural and logical evolution. Converged networks not only reduce communication costs but can also help businesses modernize their operations and drive new revenue streams. Through the deployment of a VoIP solution, offices and mobile workers across the globe can be unified through a single phone system, making corporate resources available to all employees. Unified communications can also open up a host of opportunities for increased workforce productivity. New, flexible methods of communication and collaborations can be deployed with VoIP services and applications. The advantages of a converged communication network also extend to its management and maintenance. Any changes to the telephony system can be implemented quickly and easily, reducing maintenance costs and eliminating any disruption to daily business. The benefits of a converged communication system are so overwhelming that the widespread adoption of VoIP is inevitable. However its deployment is not a simple step. Decisions over which VoIP solution best addresses business needs and which partners should be trusted to deliver this solution must be given careful consideration. HP Networking and Aastra have formed an alliance to deliver world-class IP unified communication solutions to businesses of all sizes. HP Networking has been leading the market in data networking for over 30 years and is instrumental in driving open standards technology. Aastra is a global company at the forefront of the enterprise communications market delivering a wide range of innovative, integrated IP communication solutions. A combined HP Networking/Aastra offering incorporates HP Networking s Adaptive EDGE Architecture and Aastra s range of open standard IP-based VoIP, mobility solutions and advanced Unified Communications applications. 3

4 HP Networking and Aastra: A true alliance Combined HP Networking/Aastra solutions are the product of a strong global alliance between both organizations. HP Networking recognizes Aastra s commitment to open, innovative, integrated communication solutions and has appointed Aastra as a solution partner in the HP Networking Alliance program. This program delivers comprehensive, beyond-the-box solutions to address customer needs. Through a best-of-breed, multi-vendor solution, customers can benefit from choice and flexibility that is not always available from restrictive single-vendor solutions. This partnership has a solid technical foundation that not only delivers choice and flexibility to the customer but also the reassurance that a joint HP Networking/Aastra convergence solution is fully supported by both companies. All existing and new products and solutions from HP Networking and Aastra undergo rigorous compliance testing by the other organization to ensure full interoperability, simple deployment and optimal performance. Furthermore, customers have the reassurance of the HP Networking lifetime warranty. This ground-roots knowledge and understanding of each others solutions also ensures that their respective sales forces and resale channels are cross-trained and highly competent. Aastra and HP Networking products and solutions can be seen interoperating seamlessly in the demonstration facilities of both organizations. At the HP Intel Solution Center, Aastra call controller and IP phones operate with HP Networking switches, and wireless Aastra phones together with HP Networking mobility solutions deliver Voice over WLAN. Here you can witness both organizations commitment to open-standards and view the full interoperability between the Aastra platform and other IP telephony vendors. Customer can also benefit from a free customized network design and configuration service from the HP Networking Design Centre. Commitment to open standards A commitment to open industry standards is at the heart of the converged communication solutions offered by HP Networking and Aastra. Innovative solutions based on open standards enable flexibility for future needs whilst helping to sustain legacy investments. This ensures that the migration to VoIP is simpler and more affordable for customers, thus encouraging the accelerated global adoption of VoIP. Aastra is firmly committed to open IP Telephony and invest heavily in R&D to support this aim. Aastra believes that IP transformation is not merely the implementation of new technology. Through deploying VoIP and Unified Communications, businesses have the possibility to benefit from a standardized, open communication network. These benefits include flexible architectures, reduced Total Cost of Ownership and greater investment protection through the deployment of scalable, evolving solutions. 4

5 Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) One such open standard supported by Aastra is SIP. Aastra has a large range of SIP terminals and its Call Servers and PBX range are SIP compatible. SIP protocol is natively included in Aastra s Aastra 5000 /MX-ONE solution. This signaling protocol was driven by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and has been widely adopted by the Voice over IP community. SIP is a simple protocol for initiating, terminating and modifying sessions in an IP network. It works alongside existing protocols and standards to provide the following basic functions: Establish user location: the nature of a VoIP user means that their IP address may be constantly changing. SIP maps the user s name to their current network address Feature negotiation: session participants can agree the features or media capabilities to be supported amongst them.sip allows for these features to be changed whilst a session is in progress Call management: SIP provides a mechanism for call management, for example, adding, dropping or transferring participants Sessions established using SIP are fully scalable ranging from a simple two-way telephone call to a full-blown multi-media conference call. SIP closely resembles other internet protocols enabling telephony to become another web application which integrates easily into other internet services. SIP is evolving and was designed by the IETF to be extensible, accommodating new, emerging protocols and mechanisms. By embracing this protocol Aastra ensure that their customers will continue to benefit from a seamless converged communications solution and true multi-vendor integration. HP Networking has been instrumental in driving many powerful technological developments that help address some of the challenges faced by businesses today. These critical, breakthrough technologies are based on true open industry standards and have been subsequently implemented by the majority of network industry players. 5

6 IEEE-802.1X This is a simple, standards-based mechanism that performs secure logon ensuring that only authenticated and verified users/devices can access network resources. The 802.1X mechanism allows you to transform your network from being completely open to one where the ports are closed by default, until opened by an authenticated user or device. It then uses the 802.1X logon of the device, or user, as a means of authentication prior to granting access to the network. Aastra has also embraced this technology and 802.1X is supported on many of their IP phones. This ensures that wherever users are connected to the network they can be identified, verified against a centralized(radius) database and then granted or denied network access, as appropriate. However, IP phones typically have a second IP networking port through which other devices, such as a notebook, may be connected to the network. This poses serious security concerns. HP Networking switches address these concerns by supporting multiple 802.1X sessions simultaneously on each port. So, for example, the first session can authenticate an IP phone and the second, a notebook connected via this phone. This effectively ensures that the same level of security can be extended to any device connected to the network via IP phones. Once the identity of both the device and the user has been established, the network can be adapted to deliver different services. These services are dependent upon profiles held on the Radius server which are, in turn, managed by HP Networking s IDM software. Figure 1: Per Port Multiple Sessions 802.1X Supplicant Authenticator Running 802.1X Authentication Radius Server Connection to port on switch Authentication request Aastra VoIP Phone HP Networking Switch RADIUS server Login: John Password: XXXX Connection to dual port on IP phone Profile Phones : VLAN 3, BW , QoS 7 IDM Agent OK. Phone1 authenticated Profile Finance : VLAN 40 OK. John authenticated 6

7 LLDP-MED Link Level Discovery Protocol - Media Endpoint Discovery (LLDP-MED) is an extension to the existing LLDP (IEEE 802.1ab) standard and addresses the unique demands of video and voice in a converged network. The workgroup for this new technology was initiated by HP Networking Labs in order to focus better on customer requirements for Voice and Video over IP. HP Networking played a pivotal role in driving this open industry standard and was one of the first to market with solutions based on LLDP-MED. The standard has subsequently been adopted at a rapid pace and has been implemented by the majority of network industry players including Aastra in their new generation of IP phones. LLDP-MED is a milestone for multi-vendor VoIP environments, it offers notable technological benefits and helps to significantly reduce operational costs: Device location discovery: With traditional PBX telephony systems it is possible to trace the physical origin of calls. The nature of VoIP, however, makes this very difficult. LLDP-MED enables the IP phone, or any other multi-media device, to obtain its physical location information automatically upon connection to the network. This is, for example, vital for reporting the location of a user making an emergency call. Plug-and-play provisioning: Eliminates the need to manually configure the phone or switch port when deploying new IP phones, or for any subsequent moves, additions and modifications. This not only reduces operator and configuration errors but it also makes initial deployments and subsequent changes significantly quicker, reducing the total cost of ownership of the whole IP communications infrastructure. Detailed inventory management: Allows network administrators to track their VoIP devices. The Ethernet switch collects model, manufacturer, software, firmware and asset information, thereby simplifying the management and maintenance of inventory. Advanced PoE functionality: The current PoE standard (IEEE 802.3af) provides a maximum of 15.4 watts per port and allows IP devices to receive power as well as data over existing LAN cabling. However it is likely that the standard wattage supplied by PoE will increase and that more power-demanding devices and appliances will need to be supported. With this in mind, LLDP-MED enables phones and other devices to manage power consumption more effectively, for example fine-grained power allocation and endpoint power priority settings. 7

8 Voice over Wi-Fi HP Networking and Aastra also have a very strong combined wireless telephony solution enabling organizations to leverage their wireless LAN infrastructure investment for both voice and data. Aastra offers SIP Wi-Fi phones supporting802.11e/wmm quality of service and uaspd Power-Save features. HP Networking provides a full range of wireless products including Access Points and wireless controllers supporting Voice over Wi-Fi industry open-standards. Furthermore, HP Networking s unified wired and wireless strategy enables the customer to seamlessly integrate both their wired and wireless networks with one unique platform to manage and secure this entire network. A combined HP Networking/Aastra solution ensures that Voice over Wi-Fi is a logical extension of the network delivering advanced functionality to the mobile user throughout the workplace. The network architecture comprising a series of redundancy mechanisms that reduce and resolve any system failure and offer total service transparency on a single numbering plan. Multi-company services, billed call forwarding and quality of service are consistently ensured at all points of the network. Spatial duplication of Aastra Call Servers in order to solve the problems of geographic redundancy and activity resumption (e.g. distribution over two data centres); the duplication of Aastra Call Servers offers automatic switchover to a backup Communication Server in a manner that is transparent for (advanced SIP, SIP, WiFi SIP, analogue, digital) users. 8

9 Sample topology The diagram below provides an example of a typical HP Networking/Aastra converged communication solution. It demonstrates how HP Networking intelligent switches and Aastra 5000/MX-ONE work in unison to provide the supporting infrastructure for wired, wireless and mixed network environments. Figure 2: Per Port Multiple Sessions 802.1X Gateway Core HP Networking A7203dl (J8451A) Aastra 5000 / MX-ONE HP Networking Switch E8212zl HP Networking Switch E8212zl Unified management PCM+,IDM,PMM HP Networking Switch E5400zl Power over Ethernet HP Networking Switch E5400zl HP Networking Switch E2610-PWR series IP telephony Secured Mobility Aastra wireless phones Aastra IP and SIP phones HP Networking Access Points 9

10 Summary Organizations are increasingly turning to IP telephony as a means to reduce their communication costs and innovate their businesses. However, in order to realize the full benefits of deploying a converged communication network it is crucial that companies select the right partner. HP Networking and Aastra have formed an alliance to deliver best-of-breed IP unified communication solutions. HP Networking provides a fully secure, reliable and adaptive openstandard foundation for Aastra s Voice over IP and Unified Communications (UC) products. Both organizations share a commitment to deliver and support open-standard based solutions which meet the needs of the customer today and in the future. By embracing industry standards such as SIP, 802.1X and LLDP-MED, combined solutions from HP Networking and Aastra deliver choice and flexibility. This, in turn, helps customers to realize higher returns on their investment and lower TCO. Customers can also enjoy peace-of-mind with the knowledge that Aastra and HP Networking solutions have been thoroughly tested and certified for interoperability. This seamless integration extends to customer and reseller support. Furthermore HP Networking offers the reassurance of an industry leading lifetime, next-business-day advance replacement warranty. In combining their respective strengths, HP Networking and Aastra can help organizations to select the solution that best meets their business needs both today, and in the future.

11 For more information To find out more about HP Networking products and solutions, visit our web site at Call to action HP Networking Alliance HP Networking convergence solutions HP Networking EMEA Network Design Center HP Enterprise Business. Outcomes that matter. Forward to a colleague Copyright 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Trademark acknowledgments, if needed. 4AA2-1036EEE, created 07/2008, updated 08/2010.