Meru Networks Announces Immensely Scalable WLAN Traffic Distribution System to Cost-Effectively Support Increased Bandwidth Needs of Upgrading to 802.11n

Gives Network Administrators Maximum Flexibility Independent of Network Topology
 

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 30, 2007

Meru Networks, the leader in standards-based workplace mobility infrastructure for wireless voice (VoIP), data and video, today announced an overlay traffic distribution system that enables enterprises to effectively support the significant increase in network loading associated with 802.11n adoption. Meru’s new 3-Tier Traffic Distribution System (3TDS) dramatically reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) for 802.11n by enabling enterprises to exploit the full capacity of 802.11n without having to make expensive upgrades to their existing wired Ethernet switching backbone.

An 802.11n access point (AP) provides upward of six times higher throughput than an 802.11a/b/g AP, placing significant demands on centralized wireless controllers as well as the wired switching infrastructure between these controllers and the APs.

3TDS, a flexible and immensely scalable system that is independent of underlying network backbone topology, will be available later this year as a software option to the Meru System Director operating system. 3TDS separates the control traffic from the data traffic between the controller and the APs, providing a single point of management and control, with scalable points for data distribution.

Approaches recommended by other industry vendors for dealing with the increase in over-the-air throughput are very costly and create tradeoffs that weaken the case for migration to 802.11n. For example, centralizing all traffic in a single large controller requires costly upgrades to the underlying switch network and controller platform. Similarly, bridging traffic between APs, while eliminating the need to upgrade the controller, requires creating VLANs for each AP and brings with it the operational challenges associated with the older generation of stand-alone APs.

The Meru 3TDS is an overlay architecture that does not require any change to the existing wired backbone, and has three components: controllers, distribution points (DPs) and APs. Controllers continue to centrally manage APs in addition to DPs, but DPs now perform the data-forwarding functions of aggregating traffic from APs. As more data throughput is needed, enterprise can add DPs at any appropriate aggregation point in the overall switched network with minimal cost and effort. Each DP, which is capable of handling many gigabits of throughput, may be stacked in a single chassis, or distributed across the network – to best fit with the wired network architecture of the enterprise. Additionally, DPs are centrally managed by controllers to further eliminate the cost of managing DPs individually.

All Meru controllers, including the new MC5000 (see “Meru Networks Unveils New 802.11n Offerings” press release issued today), may act as combined controllers and DPs, or they may operate exclusively as DPs when the system is configured to separate the data traffic and control traffic for higher scale.

“The Meru 3TDS represents the industry’s most flexible and cost-effective approach for addressing the 802.11n capacity dilemma,” said Vaduvur Bharghavan, CTO and founder of Meru Networks. “As wireless increasingly becomes the primary network, our 3-tier distribution system provides enterprises with a very flexible and scalable approach for handling the growth in number of wireless clients and the increasing need for bandwidth.

About Meru Networks
Meru Networks is the global leader in wireless infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise. Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, wireless service fidelity for business-critical applications to major Fortune 500 enterprises, universities, healthcare organizations and local, state and federal government agencies. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the wireless LAN environment, and its WLAN System is the only solution on the market that delivers predictable bandwidth and over-the-air Quality of Service with the reliability, scalability, and security necessary to deliver converged voice and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure. Founded in 2002, Meru is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Meru Networks and its products, visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300.