Microsoft's New Linux-Based Wireless Network

MECC points to an article about Microsoft's new wireless network. From the article "The next time Bill Gates sends an e-mail through Microsoft's shiny new Wireless LAN it will be passed through a behind-the-scenes Linux-based network appliance." Microsoft has partnered with Aruba Networks for a large corporate wireless LAN deployment, involving 277 buildings and 5000 access points, 'all Linux based.'"

Comments

Outdated

[tekisama]

This is old news. When my organization was looking at managed wireless vendors a year ago we did an eval of Aruba and they were already bragging about getting the Microsoft account.

That said we didn't go with Aruba, mostly because their pricing was pretty Microsoft-esque. In other words, worse than a prison shower.

Re:wait

[IdleTime]

Didn't we hate IBM once, too?

Not you my son, you weren't born yet....

But yes, IBM was hated but for total different reasons than MS is. Take a look at the history of Amdahl to see how the HW area was and then look at IBM's pricing back in thiose days. The first laser printer I worked with was rented from IBM for approx $15000/month and we managed to burn 3 of them down to the ground. Oh and they were huge! IBM was a financial vaccum cleaner, people wanted alternatives, IBM didn't.

Re:Irony?

[Guanix]

Windows Embedded. Used for all kinds of devices, including cars, network attached storage, cash registers, phones and thin clients. And according to this page at MSDN, Windows Embedded OS's can act as an access point, though nobody seems to have built a product around this yet.

Re:Sheesh

[djrogers]

Is Microsoft supposed to have a "WINDOWS ONLY LOL ROXR" policy on any electronic device down the copy machines?

Actually, as someone who is currently working with MS as a potential customer, this *is* a big deal. MS does have a very strong bias and written policies about using Windows everywhere they can. I could point to several compromises thay've had to make to do this as well, but I like my job. If a project/product cannot be done with windows, it can be justified anyway, but it's an uphill battle. In most cases, the fact that an appliance runs Linux makes it an even harder battle - things like switches/routers etc that run RTOSs like VxWorks get by with no problems, but throw in a management or monitoring solution based on linux and your job is much much harder.

Re:wait

[ChetOS.net]

Yeah, because there are so many routers out there running Windows. I actually cannot think of any.

Re:wait

[DaHat]

Shame this is a dupe from many months ago and a non-issue.

When it comes to electronic devices such as dvd players, routers, WAP's/etc most people do not care what is under the hood, if it does it's job and does it well then that is all that maters as is the case here.

Re:Perhaps it's their real strategy...

[linvir]

The point is that this is an area that Microsoft does not produce any dog food to eat in. To distinguish this comment from the dozens of identical ones before it in this story: it's interesting that so many people have raised this point. A few years ago, when MS were more specialised, it wouldn't have crossed peoples' minds that Microsoft shouldn't run a "competitor's" OS on appliances. But they're extending their reach into so many areas these days that people just expect them to have their own embedded OS or whatever the story of the day might be.

Re:Perhaps it's their real strategy...

[ratboy666]

Of course Microsoft has dogfood in this area. They sell Microsoft branded networking gear. They sell an embedded OS that is suitable for appliances, including network devices.

And Microsoft has been doing this for years.

Ratboy.

Re:What choice do they have

[drinkypoo]

NT/embedded doesn't even require that you use the GUI. It's also used successfully within the Xbox (Based on win2k) and the Xbox's OS was ported to the Xbox 360, which as you likely know is a triple-PowerPC system. Obviously NT is still portable, even after it's been hacked to run on the Xbox :) NT/embedded is used all over the damned place. And, if they wanted, they could also go with WinCE, although I'm not sure why they would - but it's a complete, working multitasking OS.

Old News

[Anonymous Coward]

That article is over a year old! The Aruba/Microsoft network has been up and running for over 14 months now...

Re:Perhaps it's their real strategy...

[ratboy666]

Just the first link I found...

http://www.californiacomputer.com/Shop/product.asp ?catalog_name=CaliforniaComputer&category_name=&pr oduct_id=R84-00001&cookie_test=1

google for "Microsoft router"

"Microsoft 54G Wireless Base Station
Includes a 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch 802.11g technology, transfer data up to 54Mbps Smart Windows CE-powered expandable platform Interoperable with 2.4GHz wireless frequency (11 Mbps and 54 Mbps) Backwards compatible Built-in firewall protection 256-bit Wi-Fi protected access"

So, as you can see, not only is it a Microsoft branded wireless router; it is based on Windows/CE.

That covers both of my points.

Ratboy

Re:Irony?

[joecr]

I guess you never heard of the MN-100, the MN-500, or the MN-700. Of course if you lived outside of the USA & Canada you were not supposed to even have the hardware. I'm not 100% sure if the MN-740 was running Windows CE like the routers. More information can be found at the following links. (The first link shows a page with some of the links I'm going to list.)

Broadband Networking
Microsoft Help and Support - Broadband Networking
Microsoft's support LifeCycle for Broadband Networking products
Frequently asked questions regarding Microsoft's Support LifeCycle
Search the Microsoft Download Center for any available downloads
Update the firmware and software for your Microsoft Broadband networking devices

Microsoft BroadBand Networking Hardware - Newsgroup (This link should point your news reader to the newsgroup for this hardware.)
Discussions in microsoft.public.broadbandnet.hardware (This link is to the newsgroup that deals with this hardware.)

Now you are probable wondering why I know so much about this hardware. I'll tell you I supported it, back when I worked for Microsoft. I didn't know what OS till I had a defective one in a call where the error message indicated that the router runs Windows CE. I forget which version it was running, but it is still an embedded OS AFAIK.

Network Quality

[Scott Swezey]

All M$ stuff aside, my school ran a pilot network using Aruba Networks equipment last year (I was a senior at the time) that was utter trash. The stuff never ran, was constantly down, and their installation was one of their technicians duct taping 4 of their wireless repeaters in each room. The minimal research I did at the time made them look even worse, like a small start up company with a poorly made website, and almost no other mentions on the web.

Let's just hope they've learned some things from a high school with 300(ish) [student controlled, owned, and operated] laptops spread across a large sized high school in S. CA.

God we had a lot of fun pulling the cord ever so slightly loose so it wouldn't get power and they thought it was still plugged in.

Anyways, rants aside, best of luck to them and microsoft... I'd love to see it work, just to spite M$.