Aruba ClearPass Part 1

By Jeff Joyner

Network Access Control or NAC has been around for over a decade, but there are many organizations where this technology has yet to be embraced.  This may be changing thanks to the trend of BYOD (bring your own device).  Companies who want to have more control with the devices allowed on their network are turning to NAC to provide this type of security solution.  The HPE/Aruba ClearPass platform is a best-of-breed product that will provide granular control of wireless and wired access and be able to grow as your company grows.

Say you want to allow employees the ability to connect their personal tablets or laptops to the corporate network where you control which resources can be accessed.  And you want to make sure these devices have appropriate security software installed and updated.  You also have contractors on site that require wired and/or wireless connectivity to the network and need to have access to specific resources during business hours only.  ClearPass can do all of this and much more.

Guest wireless is often offered with either an open (no password) network or with a password that rarely gets changed.  ClearPass can automate individual password generation per user with limitations on bandwidth and time-of-day access if preferred.  You can also force guests to request access with approval from an internal user (manager, receptionist, etc).

ClearPass is flexible in that it works with many vendors, so you don’t have to rip out your current switching environment to make this solution work.  It also supports multiple operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android.

For more information about what the Aruba ClearPass solution can do for your network, contact CTG Sales at sales@ctgva.com or 804-353-5307.



Jeff Joyner is a network engineer at Convergent Technologies Group.