WLC 5508 - Redundancy

[madsdahlgren]

Hi all!

Today I have one 5508 WLC in my system.

I want to ad another 5508 to the system, for redundancy reasons.

As far as I understand, I need the HA version.

Is it possible to buy a normal 5508 with 12 AP licenses, and make that work?

Or do I need to get the HA version?
The one I have today has 50 AP licenses

Thx. in advance!

[balaji.bandi]

HA should be identical all time look at the guide lines :

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/8-0/configuration-guide/b_cg80/b_cg80_chapter_01000.html

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

There are two versions to this:
1. HA SSO means the controllers act as Active and another is Standby. AP failover is very fast with this.
2. Primary/Secondary is the old method. Takes about 20 seconds before the AP starts "looking" for the 2nd controller.
For option #2, it is recommended that the license for the Secondary WLC be the same as the Primary WLC. For #1, the Standby WLC must have a minimum of 50 AP license to support HA SSO.

[Rps-Cheers]

HI，

For WLC5508, you can do a Standby unit that is a HA SKU or a WLC with 50 licenses .

Refer to:
Licensing for HA Pair
A HA Pair can be established between two WLCs running in these combinations:

One WLC has a valid AP Count license and the other WLC has a HA SKU UDI
Both the WLCs have a valid AP Count license
One WLC has an Evaluation license and the other WLC has a HA SKU UDI or Permanent license
One WLC has a valid AP Count license and the other WLC has a HA SKU UDI
HA SKU is a new SKU with a Zero AP Count License.
The device with HA SKU becomes Standby the first time it pairs up.
AP-count license info will be pushed from Active to Standby.
On event of Active failure, HA SKU will let APs join with AP-count obtained and will start 90-day countdown. The granularity of this is in days.
After 90-days, it starts nagging messages. It will not disconnect connected APs.
With new WLC coming up, HA SKU at the time of paring will get the AP Count:
– If the new WLC has a higher AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is reset.

– If the new WLC has a lower AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is not reset.

– In order to lower AP count after switchover, the WLC offset timer will continue and nagging messages will be displayed after time expiry.

Elapsed time and AP-count will be remembered on reboot.
The factory default HA-SKU controller should not allow any APs to join.
Both the WLCs have a valid AP Count license
The CLI should be used to configure one WLC as the Standby WLC (as mentioned in the configuration section) provided it satisfies the requirement of minimum permanent license count. This condition is only valid for the 5500 WLC, where a minimum of 50 AP Permanent licenses are needed to be converted to Standby. There is no restriction for other WLCs such as the WiSM2, 7500, and 8500.
AP-count license information will be pushed from Active to Standby.
In the event of a switchover, the new Active WLC will operate with the license count of the previous Active WLC and will start the 90-day countdown.
The WLC configured as Secondary will not use its own installed license, and only the inherited license from the active will be utilized.
After 90-days, it starts nagging messages. It will not disconnect connected APs.
With the new WLC coming up, HA SKU at the time of paring will get the AP Count:
– If the new WLC has a higher AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is reset.

– If the new WLC has a lower AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is not reset.

– After switchover to a lower AP count, the WLC offset timer will continue and nagging messages will be displayed after time expiry.

One WLC has an Evaluation license and the other WLC has a HA SKU UDI or Permanent license
The device with HA SKU becomes the Standby WLC the first time it pairs up with an existing Active WLC running Evaluation License. Or, any WLC running a permanent license count can be configured as the Secondary unit using the CLI configuration provided if it satisfies the requirement of minimum permanent license count. This condition is only valid for the 5500 WLC, where a minimum of 50 AP Permanent licenses are needed to be converted to Standby. There is no restriction for other WLCs such as the WiSM2, 7500, and 8500.
AP-count license information will be pushed from Active to Standby.
In the event of a switchover, the new Active WLC will operate with the license count of the previous Active WLC and start the 90-day countdown.
After 90-days, it starts nagging messages. It will not disconnect connected APs.
With new the WLC coming up, HA SKU at the time of paring will get the AP Count:
– If the new WLC has a higher AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is reset.

– If the new WLC has a lower AP count than the previous, the 90-day counter is not reset.

– After switchover to a lower AP count, the WLC offset timer will continue and nagging messages will be displayed after time expiry.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/7-5/High_Availability_DG.html#pgfId-44074

Thx

[Scott Fella]

You can’t purchase a 5508 anymore unless you get it from a third party. You should look at replacing that with a 3504 which can support up to 150 AP’s. Then you can either do N+1 or SSO as there is no defined sku.