Defence Housing Australia plans network upgrade

Defence Housing Australia is planning to upgrade of its wide area network (WAN) using hardware and software made by Aruba Networks.

In a tender, Defence Housing Australia (DHA) explained that its current WAN is nearing end-of-life. 

iTnews has contacted a spokesperson for the agency for information on the current WAN architecture.

The agency said in the tender that it had assessed the software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) market and settled on new EdgeConnect Enterprise SD-WAN hardware and software from Aruba Networks.

“Further to this, a high-level design for the SD-WAN refresh has been completed," it wrote.

Detailed design is to be undertaken by the winning bidder.

The tender is national in scope, with office in all states and territories except Tasmania. The agency wants 22 units with interfaces at 100Mbps, 200Mbps, 500Mbps, and 1Gbps.

Most sites are dual-homed, with an Internet connection and a carrier MPLS service, so they will be fitted with two Aruba EC-XS units.

Wagga Wagga and Wodonga have only one connection and will use Aruba EC-US boxes, and the head office network will have two gigabit units, the EC-S-P.

The tender seeks options for one year, three year, four year, and five year licenses.

The tender stipulates that hardware delivery should be complete by the end of April 2023, however, DHA tells tenderers they should advise it of any supply chain issues.