About:

Mansfield District Council is a Nottinghamshire local authority responsible for delivering essential public services across Mansfield and the surrounding district. Its network infrastructure supports operations across eight sites, including the Civic Centre, Town Hall, Palace Theatre, Crematorium, depots, and community facilities.

Background:

Mansfield District Council needed to refresh its ageing core and edge switching infrastructure, which was based on large stack of Cisco core switches sharing single management and control plane and a Cisco edge switches across eight sites. The Council’s objective was to replace this legacy estate with a modern, smart and more resilient network platform that would improve performance where required, maintain reliability, provide better value, and introduce stronger security and segmentation capabilities.

Challenges and Solutions

Mansfield District Council needed to refresh its network infrastructure without disrupting live services, requiring a controlled migration path that allowed the existing and new environments to operate simultaneously during the transition. The Council also needed a solution that would improve performance and security while remaining scalable for future growth and manageable by its internal IT team.

To address these challenges, European Electronique implemented a phased deployment of a new HPE Aruba Networking platform, introducing the VSX Core infrastructure alongside the existing network. Routing, connectivity and VLAN services were migrated progressively, allowing services to be tested and validated before transition, reducing risk and minimising disruption. The new platform delivered higher-speed, resilient connectivity and enhanced scalability while maintaining compatibility with the existing estate throughout the migration. Aruba ClearPass was introduced to provide Network Access Control (NAC), endpoint visibility and granular access management, while Aruba Central delivered cloud-based management, improved monitoring and simplified administration.

Knowledge transfer, collaborative configuration and detailed documentation also enabled the Council’s IT team to take ownership of future edge deployments and continue the rollout independently, supporting its long-term goal of a secure, modern and zero-trust-aligned network environment.

Timeline of Events:

Results:

Quantitative Results:

The network refresh delivered measurable improvements, including:

  • Server bandwidth increased to over 300% of the previous connection without changing any server hardware
  • 50% reduction in physical links to servers and backup by utilising HPE SmartRate technology while still getting higher speed.
  • Delivery completed within the Council’s approved budget.
  • An estimated 30% reduction in continuous switching power – saving around 6,700 kWh and 1.3 tons of CO₂e per year, rising to roughly 10,000 kWh and 2 tons once reduced comms-room cooling is included – together with lower heat output in the Council’s comms rooms
  • 31 legacy switches consolidated to 28 in service (plus a hot spare that can be used for experiments).
  • Delivery completed within the Council’s approved budget.

Qualitative Results:

  • Improved Resilience: The new Aruba VSX Core provides enhanced network availability through dual management and control planes, reducing the risk of service disruption.
  • Greater Visibility and Control: Aruba Central delivers centralised cloud management, enabling easier administration, faster troubleshooting and improved insight into network performance and health.
  • Enhanced Security: Aruba ClearPass and CX switching provide the foundation for future segmentation, role-based access controls and a zero-trust-aligned security model.
  • Internal IT Enablement: Through knowledge transfer and collaborative deployment, MDC’s IT team gained the capability and confidence to manage future network rollouts independently.
  • Future-Proof Infrastructure: The modern HPE Aruba platform provides the scalability and flexibility required to support future growth, site changes and ongoing digital transformation initiatives.

Conclusion:

Mansfield District Council now has a modern, secure and scalable network platform that provides a stronger foundation for current operations and future digital services. The solution delivered the performance, resilience and manageability required by the Council, while supporting a controlled migration approach that reduced operational risk and enabled internal IT ownership.

By combining HPE Aruba Networking technology with European Electronique’s design, implementation and knowledge transfer services, the project provided MDC with improved visibility, simplified administration and a clear pathway towards more advanced segmentation and zero-trust-aligned access controls. The completed refresh gives the Council an infrastructure that can continue to evolve with its estate, support changing service needs, and provide reliable connectivity for staff, sites and public services across the district.