Virtual Wireless LAN (vWLAN™) - The Best Solution for Secure Wireless Networking

The design and engineering behind Bluesocket’s next generation secure wireless solution, vWLAN™, offers customers our “3S” Competitive Advantage: Security, Scalability, and Sustainability.

vWLAN's architecture is the first of its kind to create a truly unified wireless and wired network which delivers maximum efficiency by separating the data plane from the wireless network management and control plane. This is achieved through the use of "smart" 802.11n Access Points which can support  traffic forwarding decisions at the edge of the network. Forwarding data traffic directly to the wired network frees enormous capacity within the wireless controller. More capacity means the vWLAN can deliver enhanced wireless management and control performance with far less dedicated hardware. In the future, Bluesocket’s fully virtualized, software-based solution will give customers the flexibility to run vWLAN on a variety of server, blade, and hypervisor platforms.

Smart 802.11n Access Points Support State-of-the-Art Security

Bluesocket’s well-known security was integrated into vWLAN providing comprehensive security including network access control (NAC), authentication server integration, enhanced guest access, and role-based policy enforcement. These security features were optimized in the next generation architecture for enhanced performance and scalability. vWLAN’s identity-based access control removes restrictions that were part of traditional WLAN solutions and provides more flexibility in managing wireless access. 

Role-based policy enforcement permits a granular level of control over what each user is allowed to do on the network. Guests are prevented from accessing sensitive information and internal resources, and role-based privileges can be based on time, bandwidth use, type of traffic and location. All client traffic and behavior is traceable for auditing.

Bluesocket is a market leader in leveraging the significantly enhanced capabilities of the newly ratified IEEE 802.11n standard. Our smart 802.11n Access Points perform critical security functions within the vWLAN by supporting security and data forward functions at the edge. Maximizing the capabilities of our 802.11n APs is one of the key, industry-leading features which support the highly secure and efficient vWLAN design.

Software-Centric Approach Delivers Massive Scalability

Bluesocket’s unique and innovative solution is architectured to scale to 1500 access points on Bluesocket's current hardware platform, an increase of up to 90% over existing technology. As the number of wireless devices steadily increases, Bluesocket’s vWLAN makes it easy and efficient for their customers to scale their wireless networks. Customers can simply add additional APs and licenses to expand the footprint of their network and/or the number of users/devices supported. Flexible, software-based architecture greatly simplifies expanding, reconfiguring, and managing the network, resulting in significant ongoing costs savings for customers.

Bluesocket’s vWLAN energy efficient configuration supports customers’ sustainability efforts by reducing carbon emissions in two ways. First, vWLAN reduces hardware requirements up to 80%, thereby eliminating the energy required to produce, ship, install, store, maintain and dispose of that hardware. Second, significantly less required hardware reduces the amount of electricity required to operate the vWLAN. Since electricity generation is one of the largest producers of CO₂, the vWLAN can be a strong contributor to a company’s sustainability initiatives and the reduction of a company’s CO₂ footprint.

Efficient Design Means Lower Total Cost of Ownership

As new industry innovations such as 802.11n technology have emerged, many organizations are in the process of evaluating their network needs. Traditional wired networks relied on the expansion of expensive hard-wired infrastructure to meet growing user requirements. The vast improvement in wireless technology in recent years allows enterprises to expand the availability of their networks far more cost effectively while dramatically increasing availability.

As an industry leader in leveraging existing wired infrastructure with emerging wireless technology, Bluesocket’s integrated, highly efficient, virtual approach results in significant savings for the customer. Bluesocket is focused on reducing costs while enhancing performance across the full solution, not only on up front deployment costs, but also on ongoing maintenance and energy costs. In general, Bluesocket's solutions are lower cost than those of its major competitors, depending on the scope of the projects. vWLAN will accelerate this pricing advantage in 2010, resulting in a significant reduction in Total Cost of Ownership for our customers now and in the future.