Application Visibility and Control

(1)

Application Visibility and Control

Context-based Visibility, Prioritization, and Enforcement

Solution Brief

(2)

Enhancing Cooperative Control Infrastructure with Application Awareness

Modern IT administrators are constantly facing new and changing requirements as networks become increasingly distributed and consumer-grade devices become the norm rather than the exception. BYOD and the Consumerization of IT reflect a

dramatic shift in the way users expect to work today. In a recent study, Forrester discovered that over 66% of users use at least 2 devices during any given workday, and that over a quarter of employees use a desktop, laptop, and smartphone on a daily basis1_{. Given this proliferation of devices throughout the network, IT departments}

have to be able to build an intelligent infrastructure that not only scales to support this influx of devices, but provides reliable access and security in order to maintain business integrity.

Aerohive is a leader in the service-aware networking marketplace, and has pioneered the only context-aware cooperative control cloud-enabled architecture to help IT administrators scale to support the growing demands on the wireless network. Users expect to be able to connect any of their corporate-deployed or personal devices to the network wherever they are, truly making wireless truly the primary access layer. Aerohive has designed cloud-enabled wireless and infrastructure products that make networks service and context-aware, easily scalable and resilient, and, above all else, simple to deploy, manage, and maintain.

With all the challenges facing an IT administrator these days, carving out the time and resources to design a network ready for the BYOD explosion may not be plausible. Even redesigning an existing network to support the additional devices and varying applications permitted and prioritized based on who the users are and what devices they are using is a huge obstacle for an already overburdened IT staff. Aerohive is once again paving the way to “Simpli-Fi” by empowering IT administrators with the visibility and control necessary to manage and maintain a next-generation network. By using Aerohive HiveOS application visibility and control functionality, administrators can not only see exactly what is happening on the network, but also granularly control exactly what applications are permitted, prioritized, or de-prioritized for access by specific users based on identity, device type, location, and time – and this

functionality is not limited to Aerohive devices! This context-based application awareness and control brings networks to a new level, allowing an administrator to easily see how resources are being used from a single cloud-enabled central

interface, and use the robust quality of service functionality built into Aerohive access points to enable prioritization of specific applications based on identity. Once

applications are marked with a priority, Aerohive uses standards-based quality of service markings to allow the entire network infrastructure, even legacy devices, to continue prioritizing the application throughput the rest of the network. This

functionality enhances mobility for any mobile device, and ensures secure and optimized end user experiences for mission critical applications on the network.

(3)

Application Aware Networking

Productive and Secure Access to the Right Content

Aerohive is transforming the way IT administrators can visualize, monitor, and manage their edge network infrastructure. The unified wired/wireless dashboard in Aerohive HiveManager provides real-time visibility and deep insight into key dimensions of

network visibility and policy enforcement, including applications, users, and clients. The detailed perspectives provide information such as data usage over time, users by SSID, device information, and many other reports that can be further filtered based on identity/role, location, network, or custom-defined business-relevant tags. This provides a single pane of glass view into wired and wireless usage to define who, what, where, and how the network is being used.

In addition, Aerohive extended its already robust traffic shaping and policing capabilities in the HiveOS operating system, which drives the cooperative control intelligence that defines next-generation cloud-enabled networking. HiveOS Quality of Service (QoS) now supports prioritizing and rate limiting Layer 7 applications. This

enables an administrator to prioritize the delivery and user experience for mission critical applications and ensure that the myriad of devices and applications available do not compromise network performance or security. In addition, HiveOS QoS can also be used to mark packets leaving the Aerohive devices with standards-based DSCP or 802.1p markings, which means once the application has been identified and prioritized based on the available user context, the outbound markings ensure that it will continue to be prioritized as it traverses the rest of the legacy infrastructure. In effect, this ability means Aerohive has increased the overall intelligence and performance of the entire network infrastructure!

(4)

Aerohive access points also support the ability to block or permit access to Layer 7 applications by user profile via the integrated stateful firewall capability included in HiveOS. User Profiles are a powerful part of HiveOS, and allow an administrator to define the network parameters applied to users and devices based on context. Adding L7 integration to the stateful firewall applied within each user profile enables the ability to detect, prioritize, or block applications such as BitTorrent or Skype to ensure granular enforcement of security policy based on identity, device type, location, and time, allowing only authorized users to have access to these tools needed for business purposes. For example, an administrator may want to allow employees in the Marketing department to use Skype for certain marketing communications, but block Skype use from any mobile device or by employees outside the Marketing department. This is easily configured per user profile in the Aerohive HiveManager, and then complete visibility is offered through the enhanced dashboard.

(5)

Unified Visibility Across the Network

Single Pane of Glass

The Aerohive HiveManager dashboard provides a single pane of glass network management view into an entire deployment of Aerohive devices. Real-time monitoring views allow an administrator to visualize usage and capacity trends according to business context, such as by application, user, client, device, and classifier tag, and include an alarm panel to monitor critical events as they happen. Additional contextual drilldown workflows enable deeper analysis and troubleshooting of devices connected to the network.

Hierarchical Groups

The dashboard also includes customizable hierarchical folders to display reports and events by logical and business-relevant device groups such as geographic region, organizational department, campus, building, or floor. Administrators can also view network-wide data by pre-defined device groups based on network policy, device tags, and device model groups and then easily filter views by user group and SSID. Customizable time-range helps visualize network data in current and historical context, and all the information is rolled up automatically when the administrator navigates the hierarchy of device groups.

(6)

BYOD and Analytics

Detailed, customizable analytics enable an administrator to drill down to see

necessary details about the network. An administrator can see many different data sets and customize widgets to show exactly how the network is being used, including:

• Layer 7 application reports by usage, users, and clients • Top users and clients by data usage

• Application usage trends over time

• Usage and client trends by application, SSID, user group, and client OS • SLA compliance trends for client and Aerohive devices

• Distribution of users by client OS

• Which client OS groups are consuming the most data on the network

• Data usage trends by client device

Contextual Analysis

Dashboard widgets further enhance the customized information available to administrators by allowing the admin to select an application, username, client, or Aerohive device to get detailed information, usage trends, and statistics pertaining to client counts, SSID association, and device information. For example, an administrator may find that DropBox is the most used application on the network, and then use the Aerohive dashboard to drill down and look into the specific set of users and clients that are using DropBox. Not only can the administrator then define a policy to prioritize, block, or deny DropBox access, but he/she could then click on the

usernames displayed to see all other applications in use by that user as well as which specific devices the user is operating to access data on the network.

(7)

Summary

Aerohive has once again defined the future of next-generation Wi-Fi and networking in the enterprise. Extended visibility into applications based on context, such as user, device type, connected location, and time, ensures that IT administrators are

equipped to deal with the transition of wireless to the primary access layer as well as the myriad of devices that users may bring onto the network. Focusing on simplicity and user centricity, the Aerohive HiveOS application visibility and control functionality provides the necessary visibility, control, and cloud-enabled management to move the network from being a free-for-all to being a controlled, secure, and scalable next-generation access solution.

About Aerohive

Aerohive Networks reduces the cost and complexity of today’s networks with cloud-enabled, distributed Wi-Fi and routing solutions for enterprises and

medium sized companies including branch offices and teleworkers. Aerohive’s award-winning cooperative control Wi-Fi architecture, public or private cloud-enabled network management, routing and VPN solutions eliminate costly controllers and single points of failure. This gives its customers mission critical reliability with granular security and policy enforcement and the ability to start small and expand without limitations. Aerohive was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. The company’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northern Light Venture Capital and New Enterprise