Intelligent CIO North America Issue 12 | Page 58

CASE STUDY
Loop project seeking to outfit Las Vegas with highspeed transportation tunnels .
“ With our Aruba network , we can provide Wi-Fi to our guests and to transportation providers in Garage Mahal , as well as deploy the latest in security solutions and connected elevators to help keep everyone safe in transit ,” Palma said .
According to Ballard , another considerable benefit of partnering with Aruba is superior technical support .
“ The challenges of opening a new property during a pandemic can ’ t be understated ,” he said .
Access Points ( APs ), outdoor APs , hospitality APs and mobility controllers . For wired networking , Circa implemented Aruba ’ s aggregation switches at the Edge and CX Series switches in the data center .
“ No matter what time of day or night , Aruba provided us the right level of support resources for resolving issues quickly , which helped us stay on track to meet our opening day timeline .”
Beyond enabling on-site multicasting , Circa is providing modern in-room experiences such as connected lighting and IP TVs .
Moving forward , Circa will continue evaluating Aruba solutions that include AIOps , data-driven analytics and other innovations .
“ Deploying Aruba ’ s wireless to guest rooms not only addresses user expectations , it also saved us nearly US $ 500,000 versus installing a Gigabyte Passive Optical Network ( GPON ),” said Ballard . “ Aruba ’ s licensing model was also significantly more attractive .”
“ Overall , our Aruba partnership gives us the flexibility to quickly take advantage of new business opportunities ,” said Ballard . “ This helps us distinguish ourselves from others in Las Vegas , which is a significant competitive advantage .”
To unify and streamline wired and wireless administration , Circa adopted AirWave for network management along with ClearPass for Network Access Control ( NAC ) and policy management .
The company also implemented User Experience Insight ( UXI ) for Wi-Fi incident detection using AIOps to pinpoint issues that require immediate attention .
“ In addition to supporting unparalleled guest experiences , digital employee solutions , and IoTenabled building maintenance systems , we supply network connectivity to thousands of third-party vendors ,” said John Palma , Manager of Information Technology Network Engineering at Circa .
“ Whether it ’ s mobile POS in our dining areas or digital gaming systems in our casino spaces , Aruba ensures we have the ability to apply consistent policies and granular security to visualize , automate and control who accesses our network .”
Circa ’ s new network also supports digital experiences in the resort ’ s Garage Mahal transportation hub . The facility includes purpose-built solutions for hosting ride-sharing providers and will eventually serve as the downtown terminal for the Boring Company ’ s Vegas
We asked Paul Ballard , CIO at Circa , further questions about the project .
How has Aruba allowed you to exceed customer expectations ?
Our Aruba-based network is the backbone for all of our customer experiences , from the gaming floor itself to our multi-million pixel displays at Stadium Swim and Circa Sports . We also use our network for audio throughout the casino as well as programmable exterior lighting displays . Everything runs on the Aruba backbone .
What has impressed you most about the capabilities of AirWave and ClearPass ?
The ability to manage access via user and device profiles made deployment during the construction of Circa significantly less error-prone and tedious . We also used Terminal Access Controller Access- Control System ( TACACS ) to secure access to our network devices and provide audit features that were incredibly important during the construction phases when we had multiple vendors all working on the network at the same time .
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