Aerohive’s SLA Compliance Solution Introduces New Levels of Visibility and Determinism for Wi-Fi

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 01, 2009 -
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Aerohive Networks, creators of the award-winning cooperative control wireless LAN (WLAN) architecture, today introduced an industry-first Wi-Fi service level agreement (SLA) compliance solution with two new features, Performance Sentinel and Airtime Boost.  The solution enables IT administrators – for the first time ever – to establish, monitor, and deliver throughput service levels for Wi-Fi clients.  Different performance SLAs may be established for each class of Wi-Fi client, and the system automatically responds if they are not being met.  Aerohive’s HiveManager NMS provides an SLA compliance dashboard that reports on the performance of the entire wireless LAN to provide a global view of network service delivery.  The solution also dramatically simplifies client performance analysis, isolating problems before users complain and providing rich statistical information on each client and access point.  More information about Aerohive products is available at www.aerohive.com.  

Unprecedented Visibility and Determinism
Effective wireless LAN solutions must optimize client performance with the goal of delivering predictable behavior.  It’s not enough, however, to simply set policy or tweak configuration parameters – it’s vital to know that the wireless network actually delivers the desired results.  Aerohive’s innovative new Performance Sentinel provides IT administrators with the visibility they need and Airtime Boost dynamically responds to provide unprecedented levels of wireless LAN determinism.  The Aerohive solution monitors the actual throughput of every client versus specified service levels and automatically moves under-served clients into compliance by allocating additional airtime to them.  These two features are each a first in the wireless LAN industry.

Aerohive’s SLA compliance solution can be used in any Wi-Fi environment.  As an example, a hospital could use Performance Sentinel to establish different throughput service levels for medical imaging equipment, computers on wheels, administration systems, and guest clients.  If a medical imaging device is not able to achieve its required network throughput due to congestion, then Airtime Boost automatically reacts by dynamically re-allocating airtime from other clients that are performing above their SLA to the imaging device to ensure that it receives the required throughput.

Airtime Boost works in concert with Aerohive’s Dynamic Airtime Scheduling technology, which measures Wi-Fi clients’ instantaneous data rates and airtime usage and schedules airtime based on IT-specified policies.  Dynamic Airtime Scheduling was introduced in February of this year and can improve fast Wi-Fi clients’ performance up to ten-fold.

“As wireless LANs achieve mission-critical status in an ever-increasing number of applications and deployments, the importance of service guarantees cannot be underestimated,” said Craig Mathias, principal, Farpoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm in Ashland, Mass.  “Aerohive has taken the very interesting approach of not only setting throughput policy objectives, but also monitoring and correcting system behavior automatically.  This capability is critical to success as the wireless LAN becomes the primary and even default access for users everywhere.”

“We chose Aerohive because of the company’s innovative wireless LAN architecture, and we have been extremely satisfied since our deployment,” said Norman Elton, network engineer, College of William & Mary.  “With large student and faculty populations using a variety of applications, our network is expected to perform well for everyone.  Performance Sentinel will allow us to better monitor the throughput levels across campus, and Airtime Boost will proactively guarantee a base level of performance before issues arise.”

Other New Features
Performance Sentinel and Airtime Boost are delivered in HiveOS 3.4, the latest version of Aerohive’s HiveAP operating system, and HiveManager NMS software.  HiveOS 3.4 is a substantial release, with many new features that are focused on security, scalability, manageability, and network integration.

Another significant new feature of the latest software is wireless VPN, which enables Aerohive access points to create VPN tunnels to provide secure wireless connectivity to branch offices and telecommuters.  Aerohive’s wireless VPN is a Layer 2 IPSec solution that is far easier to configure, deploy, and manage than competing IPSec-based alternatives.  The flexible solution maintains complete HiveAP functionality across the network.

“The new releases of our HiveOS and HiveManager software are part of Aerohive’s ongoing effort to deliver better-performing, more resilient, easier-to-deploy, and more cost-effective wireless LANs,” said Adam Conway, vice president, product management, Aerohive.  “With Performance Sentinel and Airtime Boost, we’re again leading the industry by providing compelling functionality at no incremental cost.”

Pricing and Availability
The HiveOS 3.4 and HiveManager 3.4 software, including Performance Sentinel, Airtime Boost, wireless VPN, and the other new features, will be available as a free upgrade for all Aerohive customers beginning in mid-October 2009.

About Aerohive Networks
Aerohive unleashes the potential of enterprise Wi-Fi, enabling customers to stop buying copper, to move applications to the air, and to maximize workforce productivity.  The company’s award-winning cooperative architecture eliminates costly controllers, saving money and providing unprecedented resiliency, up to 10X better application performance, and an opportunity to start small and expand without limitations.  Aerohive was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.  The company’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Northern Light Venture Capital.  For more information, please visit www.aerohive.com or call 408-988-9918.