Wireless/Redundant Edge Services xl Module Management and Configuration Guide WS.01.03 or greater

1-44
Introduction
Radio Ports
Note The Wireless Edge Services xl Module associates the radio’s MAC address with
the override configuration, so it persists even if the RP is powered down.
Communications between an RP and the Wireless Edge
Services xl Module
The Wireless Edge Services xl Module must communicate with RPs in order
to control the wireless network. It must:
■ adopt RPs
■ deploy configurations to RPs, including radio settings, WLAN assign-
ments, and WLAN settings
■ forward traffic that is part of wireless users’ sessions to and from RPs
■ collect information from RPs
A module communicates with all of its adopted RPs. An RP is adopted when
the module identifies it and assumes responsibility for managing it.
When first powered up, an RP transmits three types of messages continuously
until it is adopted:
■ LLDP messages, which signal the RP’s presence to a Wireless Edge
Services xl Module
■ hello messages, which also signal the RP’s presence and desire to be
adopted; the hellos ensure that the Wireless Edge Services xl Module
detects the RP even if intervening switches do not support LLDP
■ 802.1X messages, which the RP uses to authenticate itself to the module
(see “802.1X Default Client” on page 1-46 for more information)
When a module receives such messages from an unadopted RP, it must decide
whether to adopt it.
You can configure the module to automatically adopt any identified, noncon-
figured RP. The simple plug-in installation makes this option ideal, as long as
your organization secures access to its network devices. In a less secure
environment, you should configure the module to adopt only those RPs for
which you manually specify the MAC address. (You can also use port authen-
tication to secure your network. See “802.1X Default Client” on page 1-46.)