Viewpoint: Uniform Network Management of WLAN Access Technology

Currently, the WLAN Access technology is developing very rapidly. So I have studied the uniform network management problem of the WLAN Access Technology. Here I will share with you, hoping to help you. With the gradual maturity of WLAN access technology, major domestic and foreign operators have increased their investment in WLAN Access Technology, setting off a boom in hotspot, hot zone and even wireless city construction, use WLAN as a supplement to 3G data services. The traditional WLAN Access Technology network management method can no longer meet the requirements of large-scale network construction and operation, which makes it urgent to plan and develop a uniform WLAN Access Technology network management.

The initial WLAN network deployment is very simple. You only need to connect an AP to a wired network. All functions are implemented in a single AP. Such an AP is called an intelligent AP ). To manage a WLAN network, that is, to manage a single fat AP, you only need to log on to the Web management interface of the AP to configure parameters. Later, the enterprise-level WLAN Access technology was developed. a wlan network requires dozens or hundreds of APS to achieve wireless coverage in the office area. The network structure of the fat AP is also obvious: the AP must be managed one by one, and it is impossible to view the possible attacks and interference on the network throughout the system, this affects the load balancing capability. The AP cannot distinguish between real-time applications such as wireless voice and different requirements of data transmission applications. If an access point suffers theft or damage, security will not be guaranteed.

A centralized management architecture with WLAN Access Technology switch (AC) as the core + simple access point (thin AP) is created. The WLAN Access Technology Network Management Platform developed based on this architecture can manage tens to hundreds of APs, and some manufacturers' network management platforms can even manage thousands of APS. This platform is usually developed by the AP manufacturer and can manage the AP produced by the manufacturer. To be compatible with the traditional network structure based on fat AP, the network management platform can manage both fat AP and AC + thin AP.

At present, major domestic and foreign operators have begun to build a large-scale WLAN Network. The number of APS has reached tens of thousands, and there will be equipment from multiple manufacturers in the network. In this case, if you use the network management platform developed by each manufacturer, you may not be able to support such a large number of devices. Secondly, this platform can only manage the devices of the manufacturer, unable to manage the devices of other manufacturers in the network. To manage all the devices in the network, each manufacturer needs to establish a network management platform, and the use methods of each manufacturer platform are very different, this undoubtedly increases the cost of building a WLAN Network Management System for the operator and increases the complexity of maintaining the WLAN Network for the operator. Therefore, carriers need to establish a uniform network management platform that supports WLAN devices from different manufacturers. Therefore, the platform cannot be developed by the equipment manufacturers themselves and must be provided by third-party software vendors. To establish such a uniform network management platform, you also need to solve many problems:

First, the platform needs to design a reasonable distributed software structure to support the actual situation where the network is widely distributed and the number of devices is large. This requires the network management software to support hierarchical and distributed deployment. For example, data collection machines can be deployed in different cities and each city can maintain equipment in the local area, the provincial network management center can obtain some key indicators from different cities, and query and set some key parameters of devices.

Secondly, the specific interface data of the network management of devices from different manufacturers may vary widely. Currently, WLAN Access technology uses the SNMP protocol to transmit network management data. The network management parameters of the manufacturer's devices are stored in the Mib library of the devices. The Mib library is A tree structure, and the Mib library structure definitions of each manufacturer are different. For a parameter with the same meaning, the factory defines node a in the Mib library, the Node B of the B manufacturer in the Mib database is defined. If the uniform network management platform needs to query or set the value of this parameter, there are two ways: first, let the manufacturer modify its own Mib library to make the Mib libraries of all manufacturers consistent, in this way, the network management platform can be treated in a unified manner when querying or setting parameters. However, in this way, the workload of the manufacturers is huge, and some manufacturers may not necessarily modify their own products according to the uniform Mib database structure, therefore, this method is basically not feasible. Second, the Mib library of the manufacturer maintains the original structure. When the network administrator needs to query or set A parameter, A ing is made for different manufacturers, it is mapped to node a. If it is a Vendor B, it is mapped to Node B, so as to achieve the goal of unified network management with minimal workload, which is the most feasible solution. Therefore, the second method should be used to establish a unified network management system, that is, to standardize the network management interface data of the manufacturer's devices and specify the interface data that the devices need to provide, there is no requirement on the structure of the Mib library of the manufacturers. The differences in the structure of the Mib library of different manufacturers are eliminated by providing parameter ing on the network management platform.

WLAN Access Technology has evolved from a small-and medium-sized Wireless LAN used by individuals or enterprises to a large-scale wireless access network built by operators. Its network structure and network management are also changing. WLAN networks must meet the operational requirements, including network management and many other aspects that need to be improved. However, it is believed that WLAN networks will become more and more in line with the requirements of large-scale operation.