Controllerless Networks

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes. 
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller. 

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster. 

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

Here is the validated design guide for Instant APs
https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?BlogKey=1f47bc48-dafb-4b48-9ff1-2973bb3c2f87

------------------------------
If my post was useful accept solution and/or give kudos.
Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of HPE or Aruba.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:23 AM
From: Gorazd Kikelj
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller.

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster.

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

thanks for refrencing document. i will give it a more thorough reading. but i need to confirm if above behaviour is normal ?
my understanding form cisco is that the ap which was set manually to be master controller upone snatching its role from the so elected primary after it failyr doestn affects the users on the ex-primary .that ap seamlessly returns the role of the master controller and doesnt affects users connected to it neither does it restarts.
i am talking of cisco mobility express
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:43 AM
From: Ariya Parsamanesh
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Here is the validated design guide for Instant APs
https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?BlogKey=1f47bc48-dafb-4b48-9ff1-2973bb3c2f87

------------------------------
If my post was useful accept solution and/or give kudos.
Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of HPE or Aruba.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:23 AM
From: Gorazd Kikelj
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller.

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster.

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

Mobility Express and Aruba Instant are completely different solutions and brands.

You started with that you have Aruba Instant, and the answers are for Aruba Instant. Following the Validated Reference Device Guide, you should not make any of the APs 'preferred primary', but let the system handle it. That is regardless what other solutions may have as a best-practice, I would follow the Aruba best-practice if you have Aruba.

Also, if your APs go down regularly with power issues, I would investigate the reason for that and address/fix that.

------------------------------
Herman Robers
------------------------
If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 01:15 PM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

thanks for refrencing document. i will give it a more thorough reading. but i need to confirm if above behaviour is normal ?
my understanding form cisco is that the ap which was set manually to be master controller upone snatching its role from the so elected primary after it failyr doestn affects the users on the ex-primary .that ap seamlessly returns the role of the master controller and doesnt affects users connected to it neither does it restarts.
i am talking of cisco mobility express
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:43 AM
From: Ariya Parsamanesh
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Here is the validated design guide for Instant APs
https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?BlogKey=1f47bc48-dafb-4b48-9ff1-2973bb3c2f87

------------------------------
If my post was useful accept solution and/or give kudos.
Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of HPE or Aruba.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:23 AM
From: Gorazd Kikelj
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller.

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster.

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

thanks for your kind reply and time. 
the problem is not that the ap is going up/down frequently. we were just deploying them to evaluate them and noticed that problem.

i still am looking for a clear answer how the ap takeover affects the clients when an ap that was manually set as preferred and went down and came back online .. what will happen with the ap that had assumed the role of primary controller in absence of the manually set one. and the clients connected to it.
what i have noted is that the ap reboots or at least i get quite a few packet losses on its ip and the clients connected to it gets disconnected.

hope this makes it clear.
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 08, 2022 06:10 AM
From: Herman Robers
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Mobility Express and Aruba Instant are completely different solutions and brands.

You started with that you have Aruba Instant, and the answers are for Aruba Instant. Following the Validated Reference Device Guide, you should not make any of the APs 'preferred primary', but let the system handle it. That is regardless what other solutions may have as a best-practice, I would follow the Aruba best-practice if you have Aruba.

Also, if your APs go down regularly with power issues, I would investigate the reason for that and address/fix that.

------------------------------
Herman Robers
------------------------
If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 01:15 PM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

thanks for refrencing document. i will give it a more thorough reading. but i need to confirm if above behaviour is normal ?
my understanding form cisco is that the ap which was set manually to be master controller upone snatching its role from the so elected primary after it failyr doestn affects the users on the ex-primary .that ap seamlessly returns the role of the master controller and doesnt affects users connected to it neither does it restarts.
i am talking of cisco mobility express
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:43 AM
From: Ariya Parsamanesh
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Here is the validated design guide for Instant APs
https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?BlogKey=1f47bc48-dafb-4b48-9ff1-2973bb3c2f87

------------------------------
If my post was useful accept solution and/or give kudos.
Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of HPE or Aruba.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:23 AM
From: Gorazd Kikelj
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller.

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster.

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards

If the clients are bridged (network assigned IP, no VPN) there should not be a significant interruption of the client traffic. Traffic to other destinations than the VC should not be affected.
The VC IP address takeover may take a bit longer (10-20 seconds), but that affects only NAT (controller assigned IP) and some VPN, and pinging to the VC address.

------------------------------
Herman Robers
------------------------
If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 08, 2022 10:08 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

thanks for your kind reply and time.
the problem is not that the ap is going up/down frequently. we were just deploying them to evaluate them and noticed that problem.

i still am looking for a clear answer how the ap takeover affects the clients when an ap that was manually set as preferred and went down and came back online .. what will happen with the ap that had assumed the role of primary controller in absence of the manually set one. and the clients connected to it.
what i have noted is that the ap reboots or at least i get quite a few packet losses on its ip and the clients connected to it gets disconnected.

hope this makes it clear.
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 08, 2022 06:10 AM
From: Herman Robers
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Mobility Express and Aruba Instant are completely different solutions and brands.

You started with that you have Aruba Instant, and the answers are for Aruba Instant. Following the Validated Reference Device Guide, you should not make any of the APs 'preferred primary', but let the system handle it. That is regardless what other solutions may have as a best-practice, I would follow the Aruba best-practice if you have Aruba.

Also, if your APs go down regularly with power issues, I would investigate the reason for that and address/fix that.

------------------------------
Herman Robers
------------------------
If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 01:15 PM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

thanks for refrencing document. i will give it a more thorough reading. but i need to confirm if above behaviour is normal ?
my understanding form cisco is that the ap which was set manually to be master controller upone snatching its role from the so elected primary after it failyr doestn affects the users on the ex-primary .that ap seamlessly returns the role of the master controller and doesnt affects users connected to it neither does it restarts.
i am talking of cisco mobility express
Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:43 AM
From: Ariya Parsamanesh
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Here is the validated design guide for Instant APs
https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?BlogKey=1f47bc48-dafb-4b48-9ff1-2973bb3c2f87

------------------------------
If my post was useful accept solution and/or give kudos.
Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of HPE or Aruba.

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 07, 2022 03:23 AM
From: Gorazd Kikelj
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

The best advice is not to use preferred controller option and leave it  default. As you have all APs of the same type it is of no importance who is Virtual Controller.

If you have dedicated VC, then migration will start as soon as dedicated VC join the cluster.

You can have some benefits from dedicated VC when you have very small APs in the cluster and really don't won't any of them to assume VC role.

Best, Gorazd

------------------------------
Gorazd Kikelj

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2022 04:40 AM
From: Ahsan Ullah
Subject: Controller takeover kills SSIDS being broadcasted from ex-Controller

Hi,
I am having an issue with Aruba Instant AP 505 based deployement.

I have 7 505 APS. 3 on one floor and 5 on other. its new deployment and one AP on floor 1 of 4 is primary. on second day of its deployment all aps on the floor having primary controller went down due to power issue, then  one of the 3 remaining aps on other floor took the role of primary when the power was restored on the first floor and all 4 aps were powered up the ap which we manually had set as primary again snatched the primary role. during this snatching the ap that was priamary controller went down .(no ping ) and at that exact location the SSIDs broadcasted by it also went down and it came back after 3-4 minutes.
i simulated above scenario again and noted same thing.

Please someone advise why is this happening this is is affecting users and will cause a lot of trouble in our environment as we have live calls and meetings going on .

Regards