Up To The Wi-Fi Task

Jon Garcia (pictured), senior account executive at Consiliant, told ITBestofBreed.com that his company has a long-term partnership with the City of Irvine, Calif. Consiliant had recently helped the city move its entire network from Cisco to Brocade gear, a connection that helped Consiliant land the networking contract for the Solar Decathlon, Garcia said.

Networking for the decathlon was a complex project, Garcia said. Requirements included providing isolated wireless technology for each team so that an array of sensors in each home could provide metrics to judge their sustainability. Each team also required wireless connectivity for its members. And Wi-Fi was also provided free to visitors.

Consiliant relied heavily on networking gear from its vendor partners, including switches and routers from Brocade, based in San Jose, Calif. and wireless equipment from Aerohive Networks, of Sunnyvale, Calif.