AirWave provides multi-vendor WLAN monitoring

虽然它通常需要具有完全均匀的WLAN部署，也可能是不现实的，这种状况可以维持一段较长的时间。

While it's usually desirable to have a completely homogeneouswireless LAN部署，也可能是不现实的，这种状况可以维持一段较长的时间。在基础的WLAN网络技术的发展往往决定走出去竞标企业的第二或第三WLAN系统，有没有保证，目前厂商将再次占上风。并购可以提出的网络运营团队用另一种WLAN系统设备。和一个参数可以提出，从一开始就建立一个独立于厂商的WLAN管理架构将最终降低成本，降低培训和其他管理费用，并提供一定程度的行政连续性。

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Archive of Network World tests

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但它也是公平的要求一个单一的网络管理平台是否能够解决与充分的功能和灵活性多厂商方案，以消除对特定供应商的管理应用的需求，今天陪所有企业级产品（见故事在WLAN管理预期).

To get a handle on this opportunity, we set up a small heterogeneous lab configuration and asked the only three vendor-independent WLAN management vendors –Adventnet,AirWave(recently purchased by Aruba Networks) andWaveLink– to participate. Only Aruba's AirWave division responded affirmatively, and submitted its AirWave Management Platform (AMP) release 6.0.9 software for testing. Adventnet did not respond to repeated requests, and Wavelink cited an upcoming software release that was outside of our timeframe for this project as its reason for not participating.

在耕作通过巨大的能力herent in the product (plus a couple of optional features), we found that AMP is both easy to install and very good at monitoring WLAN equipment in a multi-vendor environment on an ongoing basis. They can easily serve as the primary management console once basic configuration of all functional WLAN units is performed. The current release of AMP essentially requires that access point and controllers be configured and operational before AMP's important capabilities can be used.

Test configuration and objectives

Our test configuration, while compact, allowed us to examine how well Airwave supports a multi-vendor environment. We used gear from AirWave's supported-products list. That gear included two HP ProCurve 530 APs, two Proxim 4000 APs, and an Aruba Networks MMC-3600 controller with two Aruba AP120s. We connected all units to an Ethernet switch, and used a notebook PC running a browser for our console.

We tested the appliance version of AMP, which comes packaged as a CentOS-based (Linux) dual-Xeon 1U server. We almost always recommend using a management appliance if one is available so as to minimize the opportunity for setup and configuration problems. We needed to download the latest version of the software for the appliance and burn a CD, but installation overall was no more complex than with a pure软件product. Basic configuration of the management platform requires little more than setting an IP address and entering software license data; we were up and running in about 30 minutes from start of the installation.

The first step in configuring AMP is defining groups so that members of a given group can be managed together. For simplicity we used just one group called "Access Points". Groups have associated configuration templates, which allow for the bulk configuration of access points, and we left this at its default setting.

The next step was to get all of our devices entered into AMP, but we met with only limited success. AMP can auto-discover WLAN elements the company lists as supported. We had success in auto-discovering (but not auto-configuring) the standalone access points, but the Aruba controller required a little manual tweaking, the problem being traced to the need to enter an SNMP community string and authorization credentials into both the 3600 and AMP. In a production environment, the inventory of equipment can (and most likely would) be entered as a batch (via a .csv file), eliminating any variables that might creep into the auto-discovery process.

基本配置（设置静态IP地址，SSID的，授权和SNMP信息）Proxim公司和HP接入点和阿鲁巴控制器的最终必须由管理员连接这些元件到网络之前进行，因为我们发现了AirWave平台具有非常有限执行的接入点的基本配置的能力。基本配置后，应通过AMP发现，系统告诉我们，不匹配的配置参数，如每种情况下的设备配置没有模板匹配。纠正的所有不匹配再次一般需要对每个设备直接访问。这个问题也可以通过修改更正为模板，这样的假设是可以接受的，以地方管理规范和政策。注意“错配”是一个多错误的警告信息，因为我们的网络仍然会不分操作。

虽然的AirWave技术支持告诉我们，它正在努力提高产品的这个元素（这可能，例如，可以通过一些简单的通过命令行界面或Web接口的每个设备上自动登录处理），我们的结论是，AMP是更好的，适合监控和报告功能，而不是初始配置。

And AMP really shines in keeping a close eye on the WLAN once all managed devices have been configured and entered into the system. The main page of the GUI shows network status – across all access points and controllers, regardless of vendor - at a glance. There’s thus no need to fire up multiple incompatible tools from multiple vendors and attempt to monitor the installation is what otherwise might be chaos – the real benefit from using AMP.

We also explored monitoring down to the device level, using charts that showed number of users connected to and average bandwidth of each access point to evaluate overall network performance. The flexibility in monitoring and reporting on whatever might be of interest across vendor WLAN equipment is what gives AMP its true value.

Granted, we had a very small test network, but easy access to this information can be critical when the productivity of an entire organization is on the line. AMP also reported when access points went offline, in our case triggered by a simple unplugging them.

Diagnostic capabilities are quite broad - we were able to look at access point performance, for example, including signal quality, bandwidth, client count and radio parameters like retries and failures. Such could be useful in low-level troubleshooting, which is often required when physical changes are made to the environment - a metal cabinet being moved, for example.

AMP defines nine types of reports, including: Wireless Network Usage, Inventory, Uptime, Device Summary, Capacity, New Rogue Devices, Configuration Audit, New User and User Session reports. All of these can be scheduled and customized as desired. A detailed event log is also, as expected, part of the package. All reporting functionality worked as advertised.

AMP offers two optional features often delivered as applications external to WLAN management tools: RAPIDS, which detects rogue access points, and VisualRF, which provides location and mapping services. We found RAPIDS to be just as effective as other rogue detection systems we have used, allowing multiple filter levels and simple notification and reporting. We didn’t set up VisualRF because of the limited scope of our network, but such functionality is very valuable in identifying the location of failed devices and in evaluating RF coverage.

In terms of scalability, AMP also includes a Master Console and Failover Servers. The former provides top-level visibility for multiple AMP servers (as might be found in very large networks) while the latter offers a degree of fault tolerance. AirWave claims support for multi-architecture (Wi-Fi, mesh and WiMAX) configurations, which we didn’t test, and also has a valuable helpdesk function, which manages trouble tickets and which was quite useful in noting issues we needed to resolve during testing.

A comprehensive manual is included (as a .pdf), but the lack of a table of contents or an index makes it difficult to navigate. We created the opportunity, as we generally like to do in equipment tests, to converse with Airwave’s support personnel via both e-mail and on the phone. Staff there was highly responsive, professional and very helpful in dealing with our questions, mostly relating to initial configuration strategies and resolving the auto-discover issue noted above.

Still, we’d suggest that AirWave add a concepts-and-facilities guide to AMP to its catalog; we suspect such would reduce the need to contact Tech Support just to get running. We’d also like something along the line of wizards to help with basic configuration tasks; there’s a lot of switching between menus and pages that could be reduced with a little more automation or at least consolidation of command pages.

Analysis and conclusions

Apart from the limitations in configuration, which are unlikely to be critical in most shops, we were overall impressed with the Airwave Management Platform. It’s easy to install, easy to use, quite comprehensive in the services it offers, and applicable to a broad range of WLAN products.

Mathias is a principal with Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless networking and mobile computing. He’s been working in wireless for more than 17 years, and is an internationally recognized consultant, author, and technology analyst. He can be reach at craig@farpointgroup.com.

马蒂亚斯也是网络世界实验室联盟的成员之一，在网络行业带来每到熊市有个足球雷竞技app多年的每个审核实践经验的合作最大的审稿人。欲了解更多实验室联盟的信息，包括如何才能成为会员，请m.amiribrahem.com/alliance.