Aerohive announced the availability of Virtual HiveManager, a new feature of the company’s HiveManager network management system (NMS) appliance. Virtual HiveManager provides network management virtualization and permits the flexible delegation of network management authority, including by company or business unit, geographic location, and user role. The capability benefits managed wireless LAN service providers and large, distributed enterprises seeking flexibility in the management of their wireless LANs. Virtual HiveManager is available as a free upgrade to all HiveManager appliance owners. 

More information about HiveManager and Aerohive’s HiveAPs is available at www.aerohive.com.

Virtual HiveManager enables the management of up to 50 virtual network domains from a single appliance, increasing network management flexibility and reducing the cost of deployment. Each virtual domain is completely isolated from the others, enabling the HiveManager to appear as a stand-alone management system to the appliance’s users. Each virtual domain has completely separate views, policies, and reporting. All data-objects, including SSID and security information, are separately maintained for each virtual domain. Automated email reporting and logs are available for each virtual domain. 

Powered by Cooperative Control
Aerohive’s cooperative control wireless LAN architecture, in which the management plane is completely separate from the control plane and the data plane, makes this virtualization possible.  In addition, because Aerohive wireless LANs do not use centralized network controllers, users are never faced with the challenge of splitting a controller between domains.

Benefits for Managed Wireless LAN Service Providers
The Virtual HiveManager capability is ideal for creating new managed wireless LAN service revenue streams. A single HiveManager can manage all customers’ wireless LANs, eliminating the need to locally deploy an NMS appliance at each location and amortizing the HiveManager’s cost across many customers. The HiveManager can also be flexibly configured to provide each customer, via the Web, with self-service network monitoring rights, network modification rights, or full network management rights. Automatic email reporting pushes reports to each customer.

“Aerohive continues to lead the wireless LAN market in technical innovation,” said Excalibur Integrated Systems, a wireless technology systems integrator. “HiveManager’s new virtualization and delegation capabilities enable wireless service providers to easily create feature-rich and competitively priced service offerings for their customers.”

Benefits for Large, Distributed Enterprises
The new HiveManager’s ability to flexibly segment a wireless LAN and to delegate network management authority also benefits large, distributed enterprises by allowing customized local wireless LAN management without the expense of additional NMS appliances. Wireless LANs can be segmented to provide a company’s business units, geographic locations, or buildings with separate domains. Domains can also be created by location type, such as distribution centers, warehouses, and retail stores. Finally, wireless LAN management functions may be delegated to departments or roles within a domain, such as networking, security, and help desk.

“The ability to provide virtualized wireless LAN management is yet another benefit of Aerohive’s award-winning cooperative control architecture,” said David Flynn, chief executive officer, Aerohive. “Virtual HiveManager uniquely delivers our resellers and partners opportunities to create new service revenues and provides enterprises with the industry’s most flexible network management solution.”

For more information on Aerohive contact Christian Danella, christian@prequent.com at Prequent.