WESM zl Management and Configuration Guide WT.01.28 and greater

1-6
Introduction
ProCurve Wireless Edge Services zl Module
A wireless LAN (WLAN), as opposed to a wireless network, refers more precisely to
a set of wireless stations that connect to one or more RPs using the same SSID, or
network name. (For a more technical definition of a WLAN, as well as its relation to
an SSID, an extended service set (ESS), a basic service set (BSS), and a basic SSID
(BSSID), see “ESS” on page 1-55.)
For the purposes of configuring a WLAN on the Wireless Edge Services zl Module,
you can think of a WLAN as a set of parameters on which an RP and its associated
stations agree. These parameters include:
■ the SSID that identifies the WLAN
■ the type of authentication a station must complete before connecting to the
WLAN
■ the encryption algorithms and keys that secure wireless data
■ support for QoS protocols and, in the case of a protocol such as Wi-Fi Multimedia
(WMM), the settings for priority queues
The Wireless Edge Services zl Module defines these settings, and RPs broadcast them
to wireless stations in beacon and other 802.11 management frames.
For RPs, the module’s WLAN settings also control:
■ whether the RPs broadcast the WLAN’s SSID and respond to probe requests
about the SSID (operate in open system)
■ whether the RPs forward frames directly between wireless stations or force all
traffic to travel through the Wireless Edge Services zl Module (inter-station
blocking)
One of the Wireless Edge Services zl Module’s primary tasks is act as the interface
between the wireless and wired networks. That is, the module bridges traffic from a
WLAN to a VLAN. The WLAN is said to be mapped to that VLAN.
Note Although you configure the Wireless Edge Services zl Module to assign WLAN
traffic to a particular VLAN, a WLAN in the wireless network does not necessarily
have a one-to-one relationship with a VLAN in the Ethernet network.
The module can tag traffic received from several WLANs for the same VLAN.
Conversely, by implementing user-based VLANs, the module can tag traffic from
different stations in the same WLAN for different VLANs. For more information
about user-based, also called dynamic, VLANs, see “Controlling Traffic with User-
Based Policies” on page 1-33.