Bonjour Gateway for enterprise Wi-Fi networks – a suddenly popular topic

I read a pretty cool article this week by NetworkWorld’s John Cox on the topic of Apple Bonjour gateway for enterprise Wi-Fi networks.

I say “cool” because, as an Aerohive employee, the phrase “Bonjour Gateway” is near-and-dear to my heart. After all, we broke ground on this technology back in March when we announced the industry’s first Bonjour Gateway, which enables Apple AirPlay and Apple AirPrint to cross multi-subnet enterprise networks.

To give you an idea of how revolutionary our Bonjour Gateway idea is, this little demo video that Aerohive’s Matthew Gast made showing off our Bonjour Gateway has received 2,586 hits (more if you click the link ). And by the way, our Bonjour Gateway shipped this week.

Oh my, this little blog was supposed to be a thank you to NetworkWorld for shining a great, big spotlight on the topic of Bonjour Gateway, but it’s so much about Aerohive! But like I said, this topic is near-and-dear to my heart and Aerohive is the Bonjour Gateway pioneer.

Anyhoo ...

Continuing on the subject of Bonjour Gateway history, in June Aerohive shared the stage with the inventor of the Bonjour protocol, Stuart Cheshire, while at Apple’s WWDC. Now that was exciting! Rubbing elbows with the Father of Bonjour while wowing Apple fanatics. Let’s just say @Aerohive was on fire that day, folks.

Have I mentioned Aerohive’s Bonjour Gateway is free for Aerohive users? And the cost for non-Aerohive users is the cost of a single AP?

You don’t need to deploy an Aerohive WLAN to take advantage of our Bonjour Gateway, all you need is the software that comes with one product, such as an Aerohive access point which will only run you about $500. In comparison, the battleship-esque controller required to run a Bonjour Gateway from a controller-based vendor will run you in the $$$ thousands. Yikes.

I drone, I drone. But I’m not done, because there are still a few details and explanations I’d like to add to NetworkWorld’s Bonjour Gateway roundup. It’s such a fascinating subject, it’s worth fleshing out (see text box below).

And don’t just take our word for it, let us know if you would like to speak to any of our customers who have already deployed this cool feature that is making their lives so much easier.

Bonjour!

What is Bonjour Gateway and what does it mean to the BYOD trend?

The Bonjour Gateway is an out-of-band technology that runs on Aerohive Access Points, allowing the use of Apple services such as file sharing, AirPlay and AirPrint across the entire network.

Removes the inherent limitations of the Bonjour protocol in an enterprise network.

Filtering - Decide which services can be accessed across the VLANs

Multi-Vendor - Works in both Aerohive and Non-Aerohive networks.

Plug and Play - No requirement for VLAN and Multicast gymnastics.

Why is Aerohive’s Bonjour Gateway important? The BYOD explosion, that’s why!

VLANs, do you have or need them in your network? If you have lots of devices, departments or services then the answer should be "Yes," as we use VLANs for two purposes: network growth and security.

Do you have or plan to use Apple devices and services on your network? With the explosion of smart phones, tablets and ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) in the workplace, again the answer is probably "Yes."

Bonjour is a protocol that provides ‘Zero Configuration IT’, allowing new devices on the network to automatically discover and use services such as printers, Apple TVs, and file servers simply by listening for Bonjour announcements then connecting through the click of button.

Sounds great, but sadly Bonjour service announcements only work in a single VLAN. So if you have services spread across different VLANs due to, say, location or department, then you won’t be able to access them if your device is located on a different VLAN.

To overcome this problem, Aerohive’s Bonjour Gateway is attached to all VLANs where Apple services are located, and forwards the ‘local’ Bonjour announcements between VLANs so that they can be accessed anywhere, anytime by anyone that you allow.