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UWC Series
| Wireless LAN Controller for Enterprises
Key Features
Simplified Plug and Play
The Allied Telesis Unified Wireless Controller (UWC)
detects, authenticates, and automatically configures
the access points as they are installed. The discovery
mechanism works at Layer 2 and Layer 3 and
dramatically simplifies the task of deployment.
RF Management and Control
One of the biggest challenges with wireless solutions
is the dynamic nature of the environment and the
highly mobile nature of client devices. The UWC
continuously monitors the RF coverage from access
points and dynamically reconfigures the radios to
minimize interference and improve performance. Load
balancing is performed automatically to distribute
clients among the available access points, which
further improves the user experience. In addition, the
automated management enables the UWC to alter the
configuration of surrounding radios should an access
point fail—ensuring no loss of coverage for client
devices.
Flexible Data Forwarding
The UWC can be configured for either centralized
or distributed data forwarding, enabling the solution
to be tailored to meet the requirements of specific
applications or environments. For environments with
highly mobile clients, data traffic is encapsulated in
tunnels to maintain the client's permanent IP address
when the client is roaming through different subnets.
When deployed for centralized data forwarding, the
UWC is responsible for the forwarding of all traffic.
This allows the application of strong security policies
as all traffic must traverse the UWC, where it can be
forwarded or filtered as required.
In the distributed scenario, the access points are fully
responsible for determining how and where to forward
data — including the application of Quality of Service
(QoS) or security policies.
The choice of data forwarding scheme may be applied
dynamically, based on WLAN/SSID:
» Employee access should use centralized data
forwarding to ensure that an organization's corporate
security policies are being adhered to.
» Guest access may be provided, using distributed
data forwarding as the guest data traffic is isolated
from the corporate network and it is not necessary to
enforce any specific security policy.
alliedtelesis.com
Wireless IPS
An integrated Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
is included as part of the comprehensive security
features of UWC. The wireless IPS monitors the
airspace and protects the network from rogue or
unauthorized access points and other rogue devices.
Countermeasures are taken automatically to mitigate
any intrusion attempts.
Enterprise-class Security
A secure wireless network guarantees data
confidentiality, integrity, mutual authentication and
availability. In order to deliver the highest level of
confidentiality and integrity, the UWC and controlled
access points employs WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i). WPA2
is an advanced set of security features that satisfies
the policy requirements for both large scale and
residential networks. WPA2-Enterprise provides a
centralized security model through the use of RADIUS
for managing authentication and inter-operates with
the IEEE 802.1x framework, supporting multiple EAP
modes.
Guest Access
Guests and contractors can connect directly to the
Internet without compromising network security,
because they are segregated within dedicated VLANs
that have no access to corporate resources. Guest
access is controlled through the use of a captive portal,
which provides Web-authentication for unauthorized
users. The captive portal can be customized per SSID,
enabling different Web portal pages to be provided for
each SSID.
End-to-end Quality of Service
With the growing number of devices utilizing wireless
connectivity, and the increasing prevalence of multi-
media services, guaranteeing an end user's experience
while using wireless is crucial. The UWC manages
the QoS across the entire wireless LAN and optimizes
resource use on an application by application basis.
The UWC is able to prioritize each application based on
its requirements for bandwidth, latency, and jitter.
Seamless Mobility
One of the benefits of a wireless solution is the mobility
and freedom it delivers. As clients become increasingly
mobile, maintaining connectivity while roaming
from one part of the network to another becomes
challenging. Seamless roaming enables a client to
move an established wireless network association
from one access point to another, maintaining the
wireless connection and delivering constant network
connectivity. Fast roaming minimizes the time required
to transition between the access points, so that time-
sensitive applications like Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN),
or highly mobile applications like handheld data
scanners don't lose information or connectivity. The
UWC delivers fast roaming and seamless mobility at
Layer 2 and Layer 3, so regardless of network topology,
the UWC will deliver the best mobility experience
possible.
Resilience
The UWC can be configured in a highly redundant
topology to ensure that no single failure will result
in an interruption to network coverage. If the UWC
is unavailable for any reason, the associated access
points will first try to connect to a redundant controller.
If they are unable to locate a redundant controller, they
will switch to stand-alone mode—maintaining services
on a best-effort basis.
Wireless Controller Grouping
Multiple wireless controllers can be configured as a
"peer group" or cluster. The resulting cluster becomes
the single point for provisioning, firmware upgrade,
maintenance, RF, and mobility operations.
Graphic Network Visualization
In addition to the benefits around provisioning
and maintenance, the UWC provides a single user
interface to monitor the performance of the wireless
network. The dashboard provides an intuitive view
of RF coverage, the position of wireless devices and
their performance metrics—even when deployed in a
multi-floor environment. The location tracking facility
populates the map, giving immediate visibility of the
wireless network and thereby simplifying the survey of
unauthorized entities along with simplifying the task of
troubleshooting.
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