{"id":14834,"date":"2024-05-08T11:55:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=14834"},"modified":"2024-05-14T11:29:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T18:29:55","slug":"modernizing-our-network-access-control-infrastructure-with-azure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/modernizing-our-network-access-control-infrastructure-with-azure\/","title":{"rendered":"Modernizing our Network Access Control Infrastructure with Azure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Microsoft\u201cHow do I get on the Wi-Fi?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often one of the first questions visitors ask when arriving at a new location, and here at Microsoft, it happens every day.<\/p>\n

Our guest Wi-Fi network is typically one of the first services used by visitors at Microsoft. We\u2019re continually evaluating and improving guest Wi-Fi services to increase service resiliency, simplify the registration process, and create seamless connectivity for various device types.<\/p>\n

Our network access control (NAC) solution authenticates devices that connect to the guest Wi-Fi service and ensures that these devices are placed in the appropriate network location. Every device\u2014corporate, guest, or Internet of Things (IoT)\u2014must use the NAC solution to gain access to the network.<\/p>\n

Like many organizations, our NAC solution has been hosted by on-premises components and infrastructure for years. However, with the end of support looming for our previous NAC solution, we\u2019ve recently migrated NAC for our guest Wi-Fi to the cloud on Microsoft Azure.<\/p>\n

Our previous solution presented several challenges to running a robust, resilient, and highly available guest Wi-Fi service that continuously met the requirements and demands of our guest users. Those challenges included:<\/p>\n