The new internal wireless apps will require one feature the free wireless access service doesn't: authentication. Travelers are limited to Internet access via DHCP, HTTP or HTTP-S protocols. An airport firefighter, however, will be able to enter a user name and password to gain wireless access to the airport's backbone LAN, which will authenticate the user's credentials and privileges through data stored on an Active Directory server. TSA employees will also authenticate to the WLAN, but likely with specific group and individual privileges.
It's all about policy. Like any conventional enterprise, Pittsburgh International uses its existing LAN infrastructure as well as security tools to dole out user privileges--Wi-Fi users can't go anywhere but the Internet, and internal users will be allowed access only to specific internal applications from the WLAN. The airport runs Enterasys' NetSight Atlas Policy Manager tool, which sets these user privileges.
Gialloreto and his team manage the airport's WLAN from a central site. With NetSight Atlas, they can write policies--such as a directive to block a particular port when a new virus hits--that are sent to the switches automatically.
Enterasys, meanwhile, is building back-end reporting tools for Pittsburgh International that will let the airport pinpoint by IP address anyone who tries to "ping" its LAN or break a policy on the WLAN.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
