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Dell Networking W-Instant in W-AirWave 7.7

Deployment Guide

About this Document

This document describes the Dell Networking W-Instant access point and Virtual Controller system as well as the

procedure to integrate this system with W-AirWave. This document contains the following points:

l "Overview of Dell Networking W-Instant" on page 1

l "Using Dell Networking W-Instant with AirWave" on page 1

l "Setting up Dell Networking W-Instant" on page 2

l "Remaining Manual Admin Tasks in AirWave" on page 5

l "Adding Additional Instant APs to AirWave" on page 7

l "Changing the Mode to Monitor Only for New Instant Devices" on page 8

l "AirWave Pages with Instant-Specific Features" on page 8

l "Other Available Features" on page 9

l "Optional Tasks" on page 15

l "Best Practices" on page 17

l "Known Issues with the Dell Networking W-Instant Integration with AirWave" on page 18

Overview of Dell Networking W-Instant

Dell Networking W-Instant (Instant) is a system of access points per Layer 2 subnet. Dell Networking W-Instant IAPs are

controlled by a single IAP that serves a dual role as a primary Virtual Controller, eliminating the need for dedicated

controller hardware. This system can be deployed through a simplified setup process appropriate for smaller

organizations, or for multiple geographically dispersed locations without an on-site administrator.

Only the first IAP/Virtual Controller you add to the network must be configured; the subsequent IAPs will all inherit the

necessary configuration information from the Virtual Controller. Dell Networking W-Instant continually monitors the

network to determine the IAP that should function as the Virtual Controller at any time, and the Virtual Controller will

move from IAP to IAP as necessary without impacting network performance.

The Virtual Controller technology in Dell Networking W-Instant is capable of IAP auto discovery, 802.1X

authentication, role- and device-based policy enforcement, rogue detection, and Adaptive Radio Management (ARM).

Using Dell Networking W-Instant with AirWave

AirWave can be used to provision and manage a multi-site deployment of Instant networks. For example, if you have

100 retail offices that require Instant to provide WLAN connectivity at each office, AirWave can be used to provision all

the 100 offices from a central site and also give the administrator the ability to monitor these geographically dispersed

Instant networks using an AirWave server (depending on the scalability recommendations for AirWave).

With a distributed deployment where multiple locations each have aDell Networking W-Instant Virtual Controller and

IAPs, AirWave serves as a centralized management console. AirWave provides all functionality for normal WLAN

deployments including long-term trend reporting, PCI compliance, configuration auditing, role-based administration,

location services, RF visualization, and many other features.

Integrating Instant systems into AirWave is unique from the setup of any other device class due to the following

considerations:

0511236-02 | July 2013 Dell Networking W-Instant in W-AirWave 7.7 | Deployment Guide

Summary of content (19 pages)

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Dell Networking W-Instant in W-AirWave 7.7 Deployment Guide About this Document This document describes the Dell Networking W-Instant access point and Virtual Controller system as well as the procedure to integrate this system with W-AirWave.
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l Discovery: AirWave does not discover Instant devices via scanning (SNMP or HTTP) the network. Each Instant deployment will automatically check-in to the AirWave configured within the IAP’s user interface. The first Virtual Controller for an organization will automatically appear as a new device in AirWave. Subsequent IAPs are discovered via the Virtual Controller, just like standard controller/thin AP deployments.
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Setting up Dell Networking W-Instant Manually When setting up Dell Networking W-Instant manually, you will be requested to provide an Organization string, the AirWave IP address, and a Shared Key. The steps to create this information are described in the following sections. Creating your Organization String The Organization String is a set of colon-separated strings created by the AirWave administrator to accurately represent the deployment of each Dell Networking W-Instant system.
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3. Locate the Dell Networking W-AirWave section on the Admin tab. Figure 1 Dell Networking W-Instant > Settings page. 4. Enter the Organization string, the AirWave IP address, and the Shared key. 5. Click OK when you are finished. Setting up Dell Networking W-Instant Automatically Instant can be configured automatically using DHCP options 60 and 43. The Dell Networking W-Instant Virtual Controller initiates a DHCP request with the DHCP option 60 string 'Dell Networking W-Instant.
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authoritative In the example configuration shown above, the following group and folder structure is created on AirWave: l A group called Acme is created. l A top-level folder called Acme is created. l Two sub-folders called Store1 and Store2 are created which will contain the IAPs. Remaining Manual Admin Tasks in AirWave Once the setup is complete, what remains is to verify the shared secret and add the device.
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Figure 3 A new Instant device in AirWave 1. Click Add to add the device. A Group and Folder do not have to be selected. The Instant device will automatically get added to the new group that was created. 2. Select Apply Changes Now to add the Instant device to the group. Resolving Mismatches The new device will appear in AirWave as two devices: the first is the Virtual Controller for that Instant network, and the second is the access point itself.
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Figure 4 APs/Devices > Audit page Perform the following steps to resolve the mismatch. 1. Navigate to the AP/Devices->Manage page for that Instant device. 2. Change the Management Mode option to Manage Read/Write. 3. Click on Save and Apply at the bottom on the page. 4. When the Confirm changes page opens, click on Apply Changes Now for the changes take effect. Upon completion, the configuration will be synced to the Instant network.
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When the second Instant contacts AirWave using the DHCP server options as described previously, and that second Instant device has the same Shared key, it shows up on AirWave. Because the devices are in Manage Read/Write mode, there is no need for manual intervention to provision these new Instant networks. The new networks will automatically be placed into the same group (if this is the desired configuration), but a new folder will be created to contain these devices.
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l APs/Devices > Monitor > Radio Statistics: The Radio Statistics page for Dell Networking W-Instant devices displays CPU Utilization, Channel Utilization, Bandwidth, Power, and MAC/Phy Error statistics. l RAPIDS: Because Dell Networking W-Instant does not support mitigation or high-level rogue reporting, it does not synchronize classification. All rogue devices are reported and stored in AirWave for evaluation based on high-level rule sets.
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Figure 7 Select the VCs to update 2. Click the Update button next to the Dell Networking W-Instant Virtual Controller Variables field. The opens the Variable Edit page.
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Figure 8 Change the Individual VC Names Bulk Editing on Multiple Virtual Controllers The upper section of the Variable Edit page includes a drop down menu of variables that can be used to apply bulk changes to all VCs that you select in the lower section. Perform the following steps to apply bulk edits. 1. In the edit screen, select the check box beside the virtual controller(s) that will be edited. (See Figure 9.) 2. Select the variable that you want to change from the drop down list in the upper section.
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Using Custom Variables The Variable Edit page includes additional generic fields, labeled as custom_variable_1 through custom_variable_10. The custom_variable_1 field can be used to add multiple lines of text rather than a single entry (as indicated by the larger note field on the UI.) This is useful, for example, if you want to add a new WLAN configuration to a VC. Other variables can be used to enter additional, single support commands.
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Figure 11 Confirm Changes page Selecting Cancel returns you to the Variable Edit page, where your latest edits will still be visible. Click Cancel again to return to the APs/Devices > List page with no changes saved or applied. Monitoring Features Use the APs/Devices > Monitor page to monitor your Instant devices. AirWave provides you with detailed information for your virtual controller, APs, and radios. This information includes spectrum interferers, rogue clients, and channel utilization.
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Figure 12 Monitoring Radios Running Commands If you are running a minimum of IAP 3.2, then AirWave provides a set of commands that you can run from the virtual controller and from the AP. On the virtual controller, you also have option to run commands for all APs as well as for the current virtual controller. When you first run a command, the results can take up to a minute to appear. For subsequent commands, the results will appear after one or two seconds. 14 Dell Networking W-Instant in W-AirWave 7.
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Figure 13 Running Commands Firmware Image Management AirWave pushes firmware to the Dell Networking W-Instant Virtual Controller, and the Virtual Controller pushes the firmware to the rest of its IAPs. When using AirWave to manage IAPs, you can upgrade the firmware by loading the firmware onto AirWave, and then scheduling an upgrade from AirWave. If you have a mixed deployment with multiple Instant products, AirWave allows you to upload firmware for each of the device types.
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Figure 14 Enable Admin User Roles in AMP Setup > Roles 2. In Groups > Template for the newly created group, verify the first Virtual Controller's auto-created template. The auto-created template is most useful if the first Virtual Controller for the top-level Organization String is fully configured on-site before it is pointed at AirWave in the Virtual Controller’s UI. 3.
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Figure 15 The Instant template editor If you want to add additional variables to the template, the Allowed Variables section just to the right of the Instant template editor shows you the set of variables that can be added. Figure 16 Allowed variables Refer to the Dell Networking W-AirWave 7.7 User Guide or detailed information about templates and variables.
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you can import settings and update the template from a single page. Import the settings and then wait approximately a minute. If you find that you need to also update the template, the APs/Devices > Manage page for the VC provides a link to quickly access the Template.
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Copyright © 2013 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks trademarks include , Aruba Networks®, Aruba Wireless ® Networks , the registered Aruba the Mobile Edge Company logo, and Aruba Mobility Management System®. Dell™, the DELL™ logo, and PowerConnect™ are trademarks of Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications in this manual are subject to change without notice. Originated in the USA. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.