Users Guide

627 | Secure Enterprise Mesh Dell Networking W-Series ArubaOS 6.4.x| User Guide
allows you, rather than the link metric algorithm, to explicitly segment the network by defining multiple cluster
profiles.
Since the mesh cluster profile provides the framework of the mesh network, you must define and configure
the mesh cluster profile before configuring an AP to operate as a mesh node. You can use either the default
cluster profile or create your own. If you find it necessary to define more than one mesh cluster profile, you
must assign priorities to each profile to allow the Mesh AP group to identify the primary and backup mesh
cluster profile(s). The primary mesh cluster profile and each backup mesh cluster profile must be configured to
use the same RF channel. The APs may not provision correctly if they are assigned to a backup mesh cluster
profile with a different RF channel than the primary mesh cluster profile.
If the mesh cluster profile is unavailable, the mesh node can revert to the recovery profile to bring-up the mesh
network until the cluster profile is available. You can also exclude one or more mesh cluster profiles from an
individual access point, this prevents a mesh cluster profile defined at the AP group level from being applied to
a specific AP.
Do not delete or modify mesh cluster profiles once you use them to provision mesh nodes. You can recover
the mesh point if the original cluster profile is still available. It is recommended to create a new mesh cluster
profile if needed. If you modify any mesh cluster setting, you must reprovision your AP for the changes to take
effect (this also causes the AP to automatically reboot). See “Provisioning Mesh Nodes” for more information.
If you configure multiple cluster profiles with different cluster priorities, you manually override the link metric
algorithm because the priority takes precedence over the path cost. In this scenario, the mesh portal uses the
profile with the highest priority to bring-up the mesh network. The mesh portal stores and advertises that one
profile to neighboring mesh nodes to build the mesh network. This profile is known as the “primary” cluster
profile. Mesh points, in contrast, go through the list of configured mesh cluster profiles in order of priority to
find the profile being advertised by the mesh portal. Once the primary profile has been identified, the other
profiles are considered “backup” cluster profiles. Use this deployment if you want to enforce a particular mesh
topology rather than allowing the link metric algorithm to determine the topology.
For this scenario, do the following:
l Configure multiple mesh cluster profiles with different priorities. The primary cluster profile has a lower
priority number, which gives it a higher priority.
l Configure the mesh radio profile.
l Create an AP group for 802.11a radios and 802.11g radios
l Configure the 802.11a or 802.11g RF management profiles for each AP group.
l If your deployment includes high-throughput APs, configure the mesh high-throughput SSID profile. The
mesh radio profile uses the default high-throughput SSID profile unless you specifically configure the mesh
radio profile to use a different high-throughput SSID profile
l Create an AP group for each 802.11a channel.
If a mesh link breaks or the primary cluster profile is unavailable, mesh nodes use the highest priority backup
cluster profile to re-establish the uplink or check for parents in the backup profiles. If these profiles are
unavailable, the mesh node can revert to the recovery profile to bring up the mesh network until a cluster
profile is available. For information about the procedure to configure a mesh cluster profile, see Configuring
Mesh Cluster Profiles on page 636
Mesh Radio Profiles
The mesh radio profile allows you to specify the set of rates used to transmit data on the mesh link. This profile
also allows you to define a reselection-mode setting to optimize the operation of the link metric algorithm.
The reselection mode specifies the method a mesh node uses to find a better uplink to create a path to the
mesh portal. Only neighbors on the same channel in the same mesh cluster are considered.
The mesh radio profile includes the following reselection mode options: