Case Study: Finger Lakes Community College achieves future-proof 10G performance and simplified network management with Extreme Networks

Future-Proofed Cutting Edge Solution Provides HighPerformance and Reliability with 10G Capacity

Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC), a multi-site campus serving about 6,500 students across five locations and 250 acres, needed a future-proof edge network with 10G capacity to support bandwidth‑hungry devices and large concurrent wireless usage. FLCC faced a “wild west” wired environment with limited control, concerns about switch noise in classrooms, outdoor temperature extremes at a field station, interoperability with a mixed-vendor core, and a small 2.5‑person networking team. They evaluated vendors and selected Extreme Networks (D-Series, B-Series and NetSight cited) to meet these requirements.

Extreme Networks deployed B-Series 10G edge switches, D-Series extended‑temperature switches for the field station and NetSight for centralized management (with NAC planned). The college has migrated ~80% of Brocade switches to Extreme Networks, increased closet bandwidth from 1G to 20G, and can manage 3–4 stacked switches from a single interface. These changes delivered higher reliability and performance, automated policy/QoS capabilities coming via NetSight, and eliminated student/faculty performance complaints while easing the workload for FLCC’s small IT staff.

Finger Lakes Community College

Bill Kramp

Network Manager