Controllerless Networks

Hello,

Today I have a couple of offices with 20 IAP-115 each. We are about to build a new network at a new location using IAP-225. We are going entierly mobile with the new solution and therefore have great expectations on redundancy and availability.

One solution to provide should be to use each IAP-225 like this if possible:
The default behaviour of the IAP-225 is to use the ethernet interfaces in a active/passive mode if both are used. If the ethernet cables are connected to one switch each in different locations of the office then we have greatet redundancy if the switch that provides PoE looses power. The other switch then provides PoE when it detects that the IAP-225 shuts down. The two switches are of course connected to the same layer 2 domain. The trade-off is that we loose 1.3Gbps wired throughput since we wont use LACP and cabling to one single switch. Is this solution possible and do anyone have experience of this?

Meanwhile I have done some tests in a test environment. I have been trying to connect IAP-225 to existing IAP-115 environments with varied success. Most of the times it works, I have had some issues with creations of multiple VC. Worst case is when I connect the second ethernet of the IAP-225. Most of the times the IAP-225 itself lockes it self out, it stops responding to ICMP. And one effect that happens sometimes is that the master election process goes haywire and shutdowns every IAP except the one last standing who becomes master. This is not a scenario I want to recreate in a production environment because I decide to add a new IAP in the future. How are your experiences dealing with mixed Instant clusters and IAP-225 with passive/active interfaces?

Please see the thread here:  http://community.arubanetworks.com/t5/Unified-Wired-Wireless-Access/AP-225-dual-port-for-redundancy/m-p/237162#M49433

Thank you cjoseph for the link. This confirms that the solution I'm looking for should be possible.

The other concern I have is that the joining of new APs seems unstable in a mixed environment.

For example. I have a network running with 20 IAP-115 and connect one factory reseted IAP-225 with two ethernet cables to the network under the exact same configuration circumstances(it's a extreme networks environment) as the other IAP-115s. Resulting in a crashed network where every IAP-115 in sequence stopped answering to ICMP and in time loosing function all together. In the end there was only one IAP-115 master left. The only way to start up the APs again was to manually power of the PoE for each and every AP and start them up again. The IAP-225 had the same version as the others, it got the configuration from the cluster but it never started up properly.

Since this accident I am hesitant to very hesitant to mix different IAPs in the same network. 

Also I'm wary about the reliability of the Instant cluster. Is it reliable enough to deliver wireless to a office that is in its entirety mobile.

Oldehag,

Connecting both ports for redundancy with POE requires a reboot when the primary link fails.  It is not a solution for "hitless" redundancy.

With regards to joining new APs to a cluster, you are correct IAPs must be on the same version of code to join an existing cluster.  You should first upgrade them separately offline to match the code on the existing cluster.  If you are having problems, you should open a case with TAC, to ensure that you are on the best version of code for the mixed cluster that you are trying to run.

Thank you CJoseph for the answer,

Yes, I'm aware that the solution isnt hitless. The solution dosent require imediate hand-on to repair if failures occur which is a really good design for my environment.

Interesting situation with the joining of APs to a cluster since I fulfill the requirements that the same version should be used. I will contact the TAC to see what they propose to remediate the problem.

Thank you for all the help. I see this question as answered.

Hi, 

can you please anyone help me on the issue i am facing, Currently i have 3no 205 IAP devices, which is connected under default vlan network.

But unfortunately all this devices are working as seprate cluster, i am unable put it under VC.As more information we have created same SSID in all the devices, Hence the users are abele to latch without any issue, But how to bring all this devices under one cluster.,

could anyone please guide me on this issue, 

I would recommend starting a new thread rather than using an old one for a different issue, along with show tech from all 3 IAPs.