WLC

#defs_ccna

WLC

Wireless LAN Controller; Used in combination with the CAPWAP (Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points) to manage Lightweight Access Points in large quantities by the network administrator or network operations center.

WLC Deployment Models

  1. Four deployment models
    1. Unified WLC deployment
      1. The default, WLC is a hardware appliance on the network
      2. Each WLC can support about 6000 WLCs
        1. Scale up with more WLCs
    2. Cloud-based WLC deployment
      1. (NOT the same as Cloud-based APs)
      2. WLC is a VM, usually in a private cloud or data center
      3. Each WLC VM can support 3000 APs
        1. Scale up with more WLC VMs
    3. Embedded WLC
      1. WLC is integrated with a switch
      2. Each embedded WLC can support up to 200 APs
        1. Scalable
    4. Mobility Express WLC
      1. WLC is integrated with an AP
      2. Can support up to 100 APs

WLC-Ports-Interfaces-1.png
Source: Firewall.cx

WLC Ports

  1. Service Port
    1. Used for Out-of-Band (OOB) Management and only supports one LAN
      1. Must be connected to an access port on the switch
    2. The Service Port Interface is bound to the Service Port if it's used
  2. Distribution Port
    1. Standard network ports that connect to the Distribution System (DS)
      1. Used for Data Traffic
    2. Usually connect to switch Trunk ports
    3. If there's more than one, they all form a LAG by default
  3. Console Port
    1. For direct management; either RJ45 or USB
  4. Redundancy Port
    1. Used to physically connect another WLC in an HA Pair

WLC Interfaces

  1. Management Interface
    1. Used for management traffic, such as SSH, RADIUS, Syslog, HTTPS, etc.
    2. CAPWAP tunnels are also formed with this interface
  2. Redundancy Management Interface
    1. Used to manage the "standby" WLC in an HA Pair
  3. Virtual Interface
    1. Two key roles:
      1. DHCP Relay (to relay DHCP requests from wireless clients to the DHCP server)
      2. Redirect address for web authentication (e.g., login page)
  4. Service Port Interface
    1. Bound to the service port and used for Out-of-Band management
  5. Dynamic Interfaces
    1. Map WLANs to VLANs
      1. e.g., traffic from the "Sales" WLAN is sent to the wired network from the WLC's "Sales" dynamic interface, that's mapped to "VLAN 10 - Sales"
  6. AP Manager Interface
    1. Used for all Layer 3 communications between the WLC and Lightweight APs after they have joined the controller

WLC Management

GUI Orientation

  1. Monitor Tab
    1. Overview of information
    2. Active ports, list of clients and their details, etc.
  2. Controller Tab
    1. Create and control interfaces
      1. Assign netmask, gateway, DHCP server, ACLs, etc.
    2. When creating Interfaces, you first Name the interface, then assign a VLAN ID
  3. WLAN Tab
    1. Map WLANs to VLANs and configure configure policies for WLANs
      1. When creating a WLAN, you are asked for the Type, Profile Name, SSID, and ID, in that order
    2. WLAN Editor Subtab
      1. General Subtab
        1. WLANs are created disabled by default; Enable here
      2. Security Subtab
        1. Allows you to configure Layer 2 security settings
          1. Remember: PSK = Personal, 802.1X = Enterprise
          2. PSK can be either ASCII or Hexadecimal
      3. QoS Subtab
        1. Choose the default QoS for that VLAN
          1. Platinum = Voice
          2. Gold = Video
          3. Silver = Best Effort, default
          4. Bronze = Background
      4. Advanced Subtab
        1. FlexConnect, maximum number of clients, etc.
  4. Wireless Tab
    1. See and manage all APs connected to the WLC
    2. Also set AP operational mode
      1. local
      2. FlexConnect
      3. Monitor
      4. Rogue Detector
      5. Sniffer
      6. Bridge
      7. SE-Connect
  5. Management Tab
    1. Change management connection settings like SSH, SNMP, HTTPS, etc.
    2. Can also enable wireless clients to manage WLC
  6. Security Tab
    1. Create and manage ACLs, EAP, RADIUS/TACACS+ config, etc.
    2. CPU ACLs are used to limit access to the Central Processing Unit of the WLC

Metadata

OSI or TCP/IP Layer

CCNA Exam Topic

#extop-1-1 #extop-2-7

Contributors

Sources

Cisco WLC Interfaces, Ports & Their Functionality. Understand How WLCs Work, Connect to the Network Infrastructure & Wi-Fi SSID/VLAN mappings