Листовка для Cisco Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Firewall Services Module

Customer Case Study

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“Our residence hall network has had zero virus or worm attacks since
we deployed the Cisco NAC solution. Honestly, I don’t know how we
would survive without it.”

— LaMarr Parker, Associate Director of Network Systems at John Carroll University

Solution

After exploring the options, John Carroll University leaders found the ideal solution: Cisco

Network Admission

Control (NAC). Cisco NAC examines every device attempting to log onto the campus network to verify that it

complies with campus security policies, in particular, that it has up-to-date OS and antivirus software. For devices

that don’t, the Cisco NAC system provides access to all of the steps needed to bring the device up to date, and

helps ensure that those steps are taken before granting access.

Unlike some “in-band” NAC solutions that require a separate appliance for all entry points into the network, the Cisco

NAC solution works directly with the Cisco routers and switches deployed on campus, allowing a single Cisco NAC

appliance to enforce policy compliance for all users and devices across the entire environment.

In addition to Cisco NAC, John Carroll University also uses Cisco firewall technology to protect the campus network

from external threats. The university had previously used standalone firewall appliances, but when the campus

switching infrastructure was upgraded, IT leaders chose to deploy a Cisco Catalyst

6500 switch with integrated

Cisco Firewall Services Module (FWSM) in the core network. The solution provides robust perimeter defense

delivering 5 Gbps of throughput and supporting up to 100,000 connections per second and 1 million concurrent

connections.

“The ability to implement firewall services that are integrated with our core network switch was a real benefit to us,”

says Parker. “The firewall module uses the backplane of the switch very effectively and gives us faster throughput.

Having everything centralized in one device also helps us with control and management.”

In addition to the FWSM, John Carroll University also deployed the Cisco Catalyst 6500 core switch with integrated

Wireless Services Module (WiSM) to provide the security and management nerve center for the campuswide

wireless network, and the Network Analysis Module (NAM) to provide enhanced network monitoring and visibility.

John Carroll University also uses a Cisco VPN solution to provide secure remote connectivity, allowing off-site users

to access the internal network just as securely as if they were on campus.

The partnership with Cisco for all aspects of the university’s IT needs—security, wireless, routing and switching—is

no accident. Over the years, the university’s leaders have developed a great deal of confidence in Cisco solutions,

and in the support and commitment, they receive from Cisco.

“The level of support that we receive from Cisco is crucial to our ability to support this campus,” says Parker. “If we

have an equipment malfunction, I can have a response within four hours. With other solutions, particularly with our

previous firewall solution, there was no such thing as a four-hour response. If our firewall were to go down on a

Saturday, we could be down until Tuesday. That would be completely unacceptable.”