Cutting the Wire:

A Partnership to Develop a Secure,

Completely Wireless Campus

Scott Lloyd – Tim GorisekSouthern Business Communications

Paul Goransson – Anthony Delli ColliMeetinghouse Data Communications

Ed Boyd – Charles Taylor – Chad McDonald – Jim WolfgangGeorgia College & State University

Cutting the Wire:

A Partnership to Develop a Secure,

Completely Wireless Campus

Copyright James Wolfgang,2003. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on

the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

The USS Carl Vinson

97,000 Tons of Diplomacy

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

University System of Georgia Proof of Concept

Avoid costly mistakes

Beyond the classroom and residence halls

Engineer the network

Protect the University and the University System

The GC&SU Wireless Project

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

University System of Georgia - Funding

Southern Business Communications - Engineering

Meetinghouse Data Communications - Security

Enterasys Networks - Equipment

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Overall Market Education Healthcare Government Maufacturing Other Sectors

Market Penetration of Wireless LANs by Sectors

International Data Corporation, an independent research company, projects total revenue for access points will top $1.7 Billion by 2004

Wireless LAN Marketplace

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Focus on the Network

Beyond the “Plug & Play”

Engineering a network that is efficient and affordable

100% Coverage

Scaling beyond the traditional in a challenging environment

Dependability

7 X 24 expectations in a new deployment model

Manageability

Configuration, upgrades, maintenance and trouble shooting

Physical Security of Equipment

Protecting investment with convenient administrative access

Documentation

“As Built” drawings of network infrastructure

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Southern Business Communications

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

The Coverage

Main campus

Residence halls

Satellite campus

1-2 block perimeter area

The “Brick” Restaurant

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

The Components

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Wireless Network ComponentsWireless Access Points

95 Enterasys RoamAbout R2

180 Omni-directional Antennas

Cables, Amplifiers, Splitters

Bridge Link to Perimeter Areas Mounted on Radio Tower

Wireless Network Interface Cards (NIC) (Demonstrated Compatibility)

SMC, Cisco, Enterasys, Compaq, D-Link, Dell, Orinoco

Radius Servers

Funk Steel Belted Version 3 - Solaris

Equipment Supported

Windows 2000, 98, NT, XP, ME, MAC OS X

PDA – iPAQ CE 3.0

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Laptops, PDA’s & Desktops

The Security BILL HUSTED 09-18-2002 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

“On a quick drive through Atlanta---from its residential streets

to the downtown business districts---even a klutz of a computer hacker has literallyhundreds of chances to view everything from

your credit card informationto confidential business”

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Focus on SecurityGC&SU announces WLAN

Includes future plans for enhanced security

Wireless security problems close to home?

Atlanta TV reports possible WLAN security breach at a key location

GC&SU temporarily curtails WLAN access

Expedites plans for security solution

Meetinghouse Solution

802.1X protocol required for all users of the WLAN

Multi-platform support

Interoperability

Enhanced security – Beta Program

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Meetinghouse Data Communications

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

The Challenges

Immaturity of testing equipment

Pioneering efforts … Traffic simulation

Historical buildings

Camouflaged installation and transmission

• Roof top antennas (white cabling blending into architecture)

• Penetration issues in older buildings and the great outdoors

Enforcing networking policies

Required 802.1X security software (manual configuration)

• Required 128 bit WEP NICs compatible with RoamAbout R2

• Mixed operating systems, NICs, and firmware versions

• Dealing with users denied network access

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Next Steps - Continued Success

Continue Partnership

• Collaborative development

Geographical Expansion

• Main Street, Milledgeville, GA

• New Campus Residence Apartments

• The Historic District

• Rural Georgia

Feature Expansion

• Enhanced wireless security

• PDAs - campus police & physical plant

• Innovation contest – “Best Practices”

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Lifespan of 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11? Upgradeability Compatibility Expanding availability of end user devices Competition Signal interference Regulatory restrictions Funding to stay current Differences between higher education and the corporate

environment The digital divide between the “have and have not”

institutions

The Future Network Issues

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Allow time for researching and evaluating emerging technologies

It will take longer than you thought it would!!! Real life in higher education is not the same as real life in the

corporate world Homogeneous hardware deployment streamlines the effort Be prepared to consider external factors The final product will be the result of continuous

reengineering Partnerships require an ongoing, open communication plan If you build it “They WILL come”

The Lessons Learned

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Mobility and seamless coverage Flexibility for educational locations Every classroom becomes an electronic classroom Reduces overload on lab facilities No “Is this a wireless area?” questions Addresses the “Total College Experience” Opportunities for innovative activities Opportunities for cooperative corporate interaction Network contingency/redundancy “Take the office to the students” Develop “Learning Communities” And....................................................

The Benefits

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

“It’s convenient. You don’t have to have a plug. You can eat lunch or be on the front campus conversing with friends and download your class notes or get the professor’s actual lesson.”

Bo Luttrell, Chemistry Major

The Real Story

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Georgia College & State UniversityGeorgia’s Public Liberal Arts University

Send Questions Electronically

cio@gcsu.edu

tgorisek@sbcg.com

paulg@mtghouse.com

SUBJECT: Wireless

Questions & Suggestions