Wireless Network Infrastructure Upgrade Recommendation

Transcription

1 Wireless Network Infrastructure Upgrade Recommendation Mr. Wadlund has spent several months vetting the various wireless internet hardware and software vendors. He has found that Meraki provides the district with the best possible solution. The price points being considered were all very comparable, and not worth saving a few thousand dollars to go with an inferior product and performance. The district has a total of $38,523 remaining in our Rural Education Assistance Program Grant for the school year, $21,000 left in our computer equipment budget, and $9,000 remaining in our equipment addition budget. I recommend we pay for the upgrades using the REAP grant for the entire $23,900. I did look into whether or not we could count some of it as a fund 27 to assist with us meeting Maintenance of Effort (MOE) expenditure, unfortunately we cannot. Recommended motion: Motion to approve the purchase of the proposed Meraki wireless network solution, including all necessary hardware, wiring, and personal services not to exceed $26,000 (Price + 10% contingency).

2 WCS WIRELESS PROPOSAL Providing access for educational opportunities

3 WHY DO WE NEED IT? More devices on our wireless network than ever before Increase in number of wireless devices going forward More devices in a smaller area than our current system can handle Instructional practice now requires access to more internet bandwidth Need for constant connection while moving around the building

4 Decrease connection time WHY DO WE NEED IT? Increase instructional time Improve consistency of internet access Coverage in all areas of the building Separate network traffic More customizable filtering for students Distribute bandwidth more effectively Provide filtered guest internet access

5 OPTIONS List of companies and products that were reviewed to determine what best meets our needs: Aruba Dell Inc BlueSocket Adtran ProCurve Hewlett Packard Meraki Cisco Meru Meru Networks

6 PERFORMANCE Connect Time (Sec) Total connected devices

7 $18,000 $16,000 $14,000 $12,000 $10,000 $8,000 $6,000 $4,000 $2,000 $0 Initial Investment COST $4,500 $4,000 $3,500 $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $500 $0 Annual Fees

8 Cabling 5,000 ADDITIONAL COSTS 1,000 Cat6 UTP Plenum-Rated - $300 ea PoE Switches 2 HP ProCurve 2910AL - $1,900 ea Installation (cable and AP installation) In-house staff No cost Two contractors 60hrs $20/hr ea = $2400

9 RECOMMENDATION Purchase Meraki hardware and necessary components to complete installation including upgraded wiring Total cost - $23,900 Meraki Cisco Meets and exceeds all of our needs Industry leading company Fast connection times Twice as fast as closest competitor Simple, robust management Stable solution providing consistent access Highly recommended by current customers, including Trevor-Wilmot / WUHS

10 THANK YOU!

11 Vendors Aruba Aruba Networks (Dell) Company info 2 year high $35.92 low $12.93 current $25.50 Founded 2002 Dell added Aruba to their PowerConnect W series portfolio in 2010 Performance All devices connected within 45 seconds. Three were disconnected and needed to reauthenticate. All devices able to stream video successfully. Reached throughput limit at ~35% then buffered indefinitely. Pricing Hardware: $20,290 Licensing / Support: $4,412 / yr BlueSocket Adtran (DTG) Company info 2 year high $42.24 low $15.65 current $19.95 Founded in 1986 Primarily telecom company, but moved into wireless via BlueSocket. Performance All devices connected within 30 seconds. Two were disconnected and needed to reauthenticate. All devices able to stream video successfully. Reached throughput limit at ~25% then buffered indefinitely. Pricing Hardware: $15,095 Licensing / Support: $3,210 initial + $1,680 / yr Procurve Hewlett Packard (ESG) Company info 2 year high $42.68 low $12.44 current $22.91 Founded 1998 HP s flagship networking division. Performance All devices connected within 60 seconds. All devices able to stream video successfully. As with BlueSocket, reached throughput limit at ~25% then buffered indefinitely. Pricing Hardware: $13, Licensing / Support: $609 / yr

12 Meraki Cisco (Macker Tek) Company info 2 year high $21.16 low $14.93 current $21.70 Purchased by Cisco in Nov 2012 Founded by MIT students, this is a cloud based controller architecture. Performance All devices connected within 15 seconds. All devices able to stream video successfully. Reached throughput limit at ~50% but after short buffering devices continued streaming. Pricing Hardware: $19,575 Licensing / Support: $1,595 / yr (5 yr term) Meru Meru Networks (JSO) Company info 2 year high $22.23 low $1.47 current $6.36 Founded 2002 Consistent decrease in value, concerns over company s financial future. Performance Four devices never connected. Stopped connection test at 5 minutes. Devices that did connect could not load streaming video. Pricing Hardware: $15,465 Licensing / Support: $1,095 initial + $219 / yr Additional Costs PoE Switches 2 HP ProCurve 2910AL $1,900 ea Cabling Cat6 UTP Plenum Rated $300 ea Installation TBD Two contractors $20/hr ea