AIR-CT5520-K9 Licensing and HA configuration

[saurabh.sharma@orange.com]

Hello Experts,

We have ordered two AIR-CT5520-K9 to be deployed in a campus ( same geographical location). We have 464 APs (model1852) which need to be supported. Additionally we have ordered the below 2 licenses:

LIC-CT5520-UPG - Quantity 1

LIC-CT5520-1A -- These are 464 adder licenses.

I need to understand the below details:

1. Will I be able to use the AP SSO redundancy model or I am restricted to N+1 redundancy model? I am guessing AP SSO should work. If AP SSO will work, can someone send me the procedure on how to configure it as I

2. Both the WLCs will be connected to the core switch with single 10G uplinks. If I can use AP SSO, do I need to physically connect the RPs on both the WLCs directly or can they be connected via the core switch?

3. We are using Nexus 5624Q as core switch, with all 10G ports. Will the RP be able to connect to 10G ports? If not can you please suggest how I can connect the RPs from both WLCs in such a scenario? Will I have to connect the WLCs through distribution switches( model WS-C3850-24XS-S)

4. I am guessing the 464 one AP adder licenses need to be added to the standby WLC. Could I get the procedure on how to install these 464 licenses on the WLC?

[Francesco Molino]

Hi

Let me answer all your questions.

1. Yes HA SSO will work. Here a procedure how to configure HA SSO: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/7-5/High_Availability_DG.pdf

2. To configure HA SSO, you'll need to connect the 2 WLC RP ports directly or passing through 1 dedicated vlan (It means that you can connect them through another switch). These RP ports are 1G.

3. If I remember good, your Nexus is 40G and allows 10G ports but not 1G. To connect RP, you can connect them through Nexus 2K 1G port if you have or through another 1G port device (distribution switch as you wish). The most important is that this vlan should be spanned on all switches you will use to connect the 2 WLCs RP ports.

4. Licences are RTU (Right To Use). You don't need anymore to import the lic file. Then you need to add the exact number of licenses you bought on both controller. How to add these licenses: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-1/KVM/b_CUWN8-1-vWLC-Deployment-Guide-using-LinuxKVM/rtu_licensing.html

Hope this answered your questions.

Thanks.

PS: Please don't forget to rate and mark as correct answer if this answered your questions.

[saurabh.sharma@orange.com]

Thanks for your valuable inputs. I have a few more queries:

1. Can I connect the WLC uplinks( 10G SFP) to the core switch ( Nexus 5600) and the RPs through another switch with 1G ports? Or is it required to connect all WLC ports to the same switch? Reason is it will help me save 10G ports on the distribution switches which are in short supply. We have 3850 switches as distribution and not NX 2K unfortunately.

2. I have worked on WLCs running on 7.1 version. Is the initial out of the box configuration through the CLI different now in the 8.x version compared to 7.1 version?

3. I read in the deployment guide that the RPs in Standalone/ WLC Wism are self assigned an IP address in the 169.254.x.x  range. Do I need to assign IP address in similar range on the RPs or can I use any other class C address?

[Francesco Molino · Accepted solution]

Hi

for your first question, the answer is yes. 

For the second answer is yes also but on WLC 5520, you need to configure also the cimc interface for the ucs server. 

Take a look on the installation guide from wlc 5520 and it indicates the 2 commands to enter in order to get cimc up and running. This interface should also be connected on a 1G port like your RP interfaces. 

Thanks. 

PS: Please don't forget to rate and mark as correct answer if this solved your issue