Case Study: University of New England achieves 99%+ uptime and anywhere, any-device online learning with Extreme Networks

Extreme Networks Plays Key Role in UNE's 'Freedom Learning'

The University of New England (UNE) needed to modernize an aging, low‑bandwidth ICT estate to deliver flexible, device‑agnostic online learning for 3,000 staff and 22,000 students (18,000 off‑campus). UNE chose Microsoft Lync as its core teaching platform and selected Extreme Networks for the network infrastructure—integrated with a Palo Alto firewall—to upgrade capacity, security and support high‑quality video conferencing across campuses and access centres.

Extreme Networks implemented an SDN‑based core (eight S‑Series S4 chassis, 500+ C‑Series switches, Netsight and Network Access Control), upgrading UNE’s backbone from 10GbE to aggregated 40GbE trunks and enabling a 40Gbps AARNet link. The deployment delivered measurable results—network availability consistently above 99% (peaking at 99.98%), identity‑based access control, anywhere/any‑device Lync video learning (initial rollout to ~200 users with full rollout planned), and the scalability to expand online education and services.

University of New England (UNE)

Robert Irving

Director of Information Technology