Overview - Brocade Communications Systems RFS6000 System Reference Manual

Overview

In this chapter
A Brocade RF Controller is a centralized management solution for wireless networking. It connects
to non-legacy Access Points through Layer 2 or Layer 3 (Layer 2 is preferable, if the situation allows
it).
Access Points function as radio antennas for data traffic management and routing. System
configuration and intelligence for the wireless network resides with the controller. The controller
uses Access Points to bridge data to and from wireless devices. The wireless controller applies
appropriate policies to data packets before forwarding them to their destination.
All data packets to and from wireless devices are processed by the controller, where appropriate
policies are applied before they are decapsulated and sent to their destination.
Access Point configuration is managed by the controller through a Web UI Graphical User Interface
(GUI), SNMP or the controller Command Line Interface (CLI).
NOTE
The discussion of the controller Web UI within this guide is presented generically, making it equally
relevant to both the Mobility RFS6000 Controller and Mobility RFS7000 Controller platforms.
However, some subtle differences do exist between these baselines. These differences are noted
within the specific GUI elements impacted. When these differences are noted, the options available
to each controller baseline are described in detail.
Hardware overview
The Mobility RFS6000 Controller and Mobility RFS7000 Controller are rack-mountable devices that
manage all inbound and outbound traffic on the wireless network. They provide security, network
service and system management applications.
Unlike traditional wireless infrastructure devices that reside at the edge of a network, the controller
uses centralized, policy-based management to apply sets of rules or actions to all devices on the
wireless network. The controller collects management "intelligence" from individual Access
Points/Points and moves the collected information to the centralized controller.
Access Points (APs) are 48V Power-over-Ethernet devices connected to the controller by an
Ethernet cable. An Access Point receives 802.11x data from Clients and forwards the data to the
controller which applies the appropriate policies and routes the packets to their destinations.
Brocade Mobility RFS6000 and RFS7000 System Reference Guide
53-1001858-01
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Hardware overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
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Software overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
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IEEE standards support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
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Standards support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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