Wireless Planning and Management Based on wired networks (1)

If we consider deployment as a process of network transplantation, deploying a wireless network on the original wired network is actually a kind of wireless grafting. From the biological point of view, to achieve a successful grafting, in addition to the affinity of the ear and the root stock, the more important thing is the grafting technology and management after grafting, this is also true for wireless grafting. The so-called: Wireless grafting is also a good way, integrating into the environment is the most important. Reliability and security must be ensured, and planning and management should be well done.

Grafting technology: development of wireless mobility based on wired networks

Nowadays, new businesses and new applications of enterprises are in urgent need of mobility brought about by wireless networks. However, how to better add wireless layers on the basis of the original network so that they can be fully integrated into the enterprise network without affecting the original network has become an important issue in front of the next-generation enterprise network. In biology, it is necessary to have the same or similar components in the internal structure, physiology, and genetics of the ear and root stocks, so that the survival rate of grafting is higher. Wireless grafting also provides similar guidance methods.

How to embody Enterprise Mobility

To solve the grafting problem of wireless networks, we must first understand the meaning of enterprise mobility. In this regard, Yang Hua, general manager of Aruba China, said: "In Aruba's view, the mobility of enterprise networks is reflected in the identification of user identities, the network usage scope, access permissions, policies, and security are all moved with the user. the user is not limited to the port and Access Point of the physical network, instead, the network can be securely used anywhere within the enterprise network." The customer-centric network strategy promoted by Aruba reflects the mobility of enterprises. Under such architecture, users at the edge of the access layer can freely move within the enterprise and access the network with the same identity and policy. The reason why users can achieve mobility at the edge of the network is the centralized control of wireless switches.

HP ProCurve is also a vendor that actively advocates network edge architecture. Chu bin, Technical Director of the company's network business department, believes that the traditional enterprise network for connection is changing.

When the industry and market are gradually transformed from technology-oriented to business-oriented, mobility will also be reflected in the modern enterprise network, and the network will be integrated into various production links and become part of the production environment of enterprises. In this regard, the enterprise network needs to be adjusted in the system architecture.

Content and principles of wireless Planning

Since the development of enterprise mobility is to allow users to move on the wireless layer, the wireless network planning at the early stage of "grafting" is crucial, enterprises must follow relevant methods and design principles when re-planning the overall network architecture.

Chu bin said that the wireless network plan is mainly to test the connectivity of wireless signals, and whether the signal coverage and strength can meet user requirements. This requires on-site investigation. using various tools, the edge signal strength should be no less than 60%. The planning of wireless performance is actually a three-in-one plan of coverage, performance, and security. It is mainly about Whether AP's concurrency capability can meet the functional characteristics required by enterprises, and whether the distribution of AP dynamic ACL can be equivalent to that of wired. In addition, it is more important to achieve unified security of wired and wireless networks in the enterprise network.

Zhang yaosheng, an aftersales support engineer of Trapeze, explained the specific planning work: "wireless planning is divided into three parts: AP deployment planning, switch deployment planning, and network management and control. The details mainly include the number of APs, installation location, spectrum planning, and the expansion, security, availability, and reliability of wireless networks ." Specifically, it is necessary to investigate the field environment, determine the number and location of APs, And then, based on the number of required APs, consider the switches that can meet these AP access requirements, finally, pay attention to the connection aggregation performance of the network core to avoid link bottlenecks.

So what principles do users need to follow during wireless planning? Wang Zhuo, Technical Director of Aruba China, said: "The original wired network design is not based on users. Therefore, we need to provide wireless mobile networks based on the original wired network to allow users to move on the wireless layer, pay attention to the three principles of wireless design: Keep the backbone network of the wired network intact; Ensure that the original applications do not move; do not bring security risks." In addition, Wang Zhuo also introduced several features of Aruba in terms of design ideas. The first is the hierarchical network design-Aruba's wireless network is independent from wired network, which is different from other vendors who regard the wireless network as a complementary access to wired network. The second is the mobile design, that is, applications can only be moved on wireless networks. The third is security design, which includes two aspects: wireless network security and user identity security. The last is multi-service design, so that multiple applications can run.

Pay attention to actual deployment

What should I pay attention to when I understand the content and principles of wireless planning in actual deployment? Fluke is a vendor specializing in network and communication testing equipment. The company's Beijing Office Technical Expert Wu Shijun said: Wireless planning includes initial deployment and planned expansion. Before planning, we must first clarify the objectives and coverage requirements for laying wireless networks. Then, the site survey should be started based on detailed and clear technical requirements. These technical parameters include the expected access rate, the AP coverage and the number of APs, and the number of users connected to wireless networks now and in the future, signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirements allow RF interference intensity ). Special attention should be paid to the identification through wireless spectrum analysis that there will be no serious RF interference problems in the future wireless networks. Note that you must be proactive when considering the technical requirements of wireless planning. For example, if the number of users increases in the future and the deployment of high-bandwidth applications needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Lin Tao, a pre-sales engineer at Trapeze, introduced the experience of the Beijing Normal University Project: "The actual planning process requires us to check the density and coverage of key locations, and users' audio and video applications." Speaking of the role of Trapeze's smart wireless network architecture in Beijing Normal University, he said that the thin AP architecture proposed by Trapeze involves several issues: first, unified management, it mainly includes devices, wireless resources, and users. Secondly, it is security, mainly illegal AP problems, and WIDS or WIPS functions. Third, it is value-added, support for wireless roaming and positioning. Finally, in terms of network management, the RingMaster software is used to achieve single-point wireless management of MX controllers and AP. Trapeze's Smart Mobile architecture is ready for upgrading to the 802.11n network.

Zhang yaosheng talked about how to avoid Wireless Interference. If he detects that the interference source is an unauthorized malicious AP in the LAN or a Rogue AP, he must attack the AP to stop working, at least the user cannot be connected. If it is a non-malicious interference AP, it is usually to adjust the frequency band of the adjacent AP in the enterprise network to avoid interference as much as possible.

Wireless Planning

In the actual deployment process, wireless planning and performance analysis tools are also used. Wu Shijun said that network engineers often use three Fluke tools: Fluke InterpretAir Wireless LAN analysis software, the software can check coverage and optimize network performance before and after the wireless LAN deployment. The second is AnalyzeAir Wi-Fi smart spectrum analyzer, by detecting, identifying, and locating RF interference in the 802.11 WLAN, you can plan, deploy, verify, and expand your wireless LAN to ensure seamless coverage of Wireless LAN signals. The next step is EtherScope network access, this device can be used for hand-held network troubleshooting of 10 MB, MB, and MB copper wires, optical fibers, and WLAN. In addition, the site survey software package is also needed to show how WLAN configurations change performance and coverage. More importantly, the AP settings are corrected through surveys, improve WLAN performance and coverage by adding AP or other methods.

In fact, various wireless network device manufacturers have their own network testing and analysis software. For example, the RingMaster software of Trapeze is used to input parameters such as building floor, room CAD drawings, wall loss parameters, and bandwidth to be provided by each AP, you can determine the number, location, spectrum planning, estimated AP power, and other output parameters of the AP. You can also get an image coverage chart and a wireless network layout sequence planning table.