Master Console And Failover; Integrating Airwave Into The Network And Organizational Hierarchy - Dell PowerConnect W-AirWave 7.6 User Manual

Master Console and Failover

The Dell PowerConnect W-AirWave Master Console and Failover tools enable network-wide information in easy-to-
understand presentation, to entail operational information and high-availability for failover scenarios. The benefits of
these tools include the following:
Provides network-wide visibility, even when the WLAN grows to 50,000+ devices
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Executive Portal allows executives to view high-level usage and performance data
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Aggregated alerts
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Failover
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Many-to-one failover
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One-to-one failover
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The Master Console and Failover servers can be configured with a Device Down trigger that generates an alert if
communication is lost. In addition to generating an alert, the Master Console or Failover server can also send email
or NMS notifications about the event.

Integrating AirWave into the Network and Organizational Hierarchy

Dell PowerConnect W-AirWave generally resides in the NOC and communicates with various components of your
WLAN infrastructure. In basic deployments, AirWave communicates solely with indoor wireless access points (and
WLAN controllers over the wired network. In more complex deployments, AirWave seamlessly integrates and
communicates with authentication servers, accounting servers, TACACS+ servers, LDAP servers, routers, switches,
network management servers, wireless IDS solutions, helpdesk systems, indoor wireless access points, mesh devices.
AirWave has the flexibility to manage devices on local networks, remote networks, and networks using Network
Address Translation (NAT). AirWave communicates over-the-air or over-the-wire using a variety of protocols.
The power, performance, and usability of AirWave become more apparent when considering the diverse components
within a WLAN.
Table 1:
Components of a WLAN
Component
Autonomous AP
Thin AP
WLAN controller
NMS
RADIUS Authentication
RADIUS Accounting
Wireless Gateways
TACACS+ and LDAP
Routers/Switches
Help Desk Systems
Rogue APs
Dell PowerConnect W-AirWave 7.6 | User Guide
Table 1 itemizes some example network components.
Description
Standalone device which performs radio and authentication functions
Radio-only device coupled with WLAN controller to perform authentication
Used in conjunction with thin APs to coordinate authentication and roaming
Network Management Systems and Event Correlation (OpenView, Tivoli, and so forth)
RADIUS authentication servers (Funk, FreeRADIUS, ACS, or IAS)
AirWave itself serves as a RADIUS accounting client
Provide HTML redirect and/or wireless VPNs
Used to authenticate AirWave administrative users
Provide AirWave with data for user information and AP and Rogue discovery
Remedy EPICOR
Unauthorized APs not registered in the AirWave database of managed APs
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