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HPE Aruba networks readied for mobile, IoT

HPE Aruba networks are getting the access switch and software needed to support mobile and IoT devices, such as surveillance cameras and medical gear.

Antone Gonsalves
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Published: 30 Nov 2016

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has introduced software for monitoring a wide variety of IP-enabled equipment on a wireless LAN, including mobile devices, surveillance cameras and medical gear. Also, HPE has unveiled an access switch for separating noncomputing equipment traffic from mobile devices accessing corporate data.

HPE launched the Aruba ClearPass Universal Profiler software and the Aruba 2540 edge switch at the vendor's Discover conference, held this week in London. The vendor is marketing the latest products as making it easier for businesses to operate HPE Aruba networks supporting a wide variety of devices.

"The policy-defining and segmentation capabilities of ClearPass Universal Profiler and the 2540 switch will help keep the IoT [internet of things] devices from inappropriately accessing the parts of the network where unrelated devices with sensitive data live," said Nolan Greene, an analyst at IDC.

The Universal Profiler is the latest addition to HPE's Aruba ClearPass Access Management System for wired and wireless devices connecting to a LAN. The new appliance-based product detects, audits and profiles devices. .

Fingerprinting devices on HPE Aruba networks

Universal Profiler looks for potential trouble by identifying all IP addressable devices and determining their configurations. The software does that through the use of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and Simple Network Management Protocol. Both are standard communication protocols for device management applications.

"We have a host of discovery, or what I call fingerprinting abilities, that use a variety of technologies within the platform to classify devices," said Jeff Edlund, CTO for HPE's communications and media business unit. Classifications are stored in a library so network operators will recognize similar devices in the future.

Universal Profiler also watches for port scans, a technique used by hackers to find weaknesses in computing systems, and it can perform Port mirroring to analyze data traffic for threats.

The monitoring software provides a way for companies to start small in deploying the ClearPass system, adding components for full-fledged security policy deployment and enforcement as the need arises, Edlund said.

The 2540 switch for HPE Aruba Networks

On the hardware side, the Aruba 2540 switch has tunneling capabilities that let network operators segment IoT devices. Users have the option of configuring the switch remotely through cloud-based Aruba software.

The Layer 2 access switch has 48 Power over Ethernet Plus ports for running wireless access points and IoT devices. It also has built-in 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. The Aruba 2540 has a starting price of $2,589.

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