WLAN Management
Cisco supports two WLAN models.
■ Autonomous APs:
— Users connect to APs.
— APs are aggregated by Wireless Domain Services (WDS).
— WDS is controlled by a Wireless Solution Engine (WLSE),
which centralizes control similar to an LW Controller.
■ Lightweight APs connected to a controller:
— Users attach to LWAPs.
— LWAPs are controlled by controllers.
— Controllers are managed by Wireless Control System (WCS).
The benefit of LWAPs is centralized control. The problem is that loss of the
controller brings the whole campus down, so redundancy is recommended.
The lightweight model provides displays of RF coverage, dynamic management
of the radio environment, detection of rogue APs, and easier roaming.
WLSE brings many of the benefits of a controller to an existing autonomous
deployment. WLSE is offered in two versions, both of which also handle
AAA:
■ Ciscoworks WLSE for large deployments
■ Ciscoworks WLSE Express for fewer than 100 APs
WCS allows management of the entire network as a unit. It runs as a service
on Linux or Windows. Three feature sets are supported:
■ Base, which detects rogue APs and tracks a device to the closest AP.
■ WCS with Location, which adds support for RF fingerprinting and
tracks a device to within 10 meters.
■ WCS with Location+, which adds the ability to track 1500 clients at
the same time and collects historical information.
Location is important to support VoIP calls to 911.