Overview, Chapter 1 – Brocade Mobility Access Point System Reference Guide (Supporting software release 5.5.0.0 and later) User Manual
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Brocade Mobility Access Point System Reference Guide
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Chapter
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Overview
Brocade’ family of Mobility 5.5 supported access points enable high performance with secure and
resilient wireless voice and data services to remote locations with the scalability required to meet
the needs of large distributed enterprises.
Brocade Mobility 6511 Access Point, Brocade Mobility 1220 Access Point, Brocade Mobility 7131
Access Point, and Brocade Mobility 1240 Access Points can now use Mobility software as its
onboard operating system. The unique Mobility software enables the access point to function as a
Standalone “thick” access point, or a Virtual Controller AP capable of adopting and managing up to
24 access points of the same model.
When deploying an access point as a pure Virtual Controller AP, with no RFS Series controllers
available anywhere on the network, the access point itself is a controller supporting other access
points of the same model. The Virtual Controller AP can:
•
Provide firmware upgrades for connected access point
•
Aggregate statistics for the group of access points the Virtual Controller is managing
•
Be the single point of configuration for that deployment location
NOTE
The recommended way to administer a network populated by numerous access points is to
configure them directly from the Virtual Controller AP. If a single access point configuration requires
an update from the Virtual Controller AP’s assigned profile configuration, the administrator should
apply a Device Override to change just that access point’s configuration. For more information on
applying an override to an access point’s Virtual Controller AP assigned configuration and profile,
see Device Overrides on page 5-244.
The Mobility architecture is a solution designed for 802.11n networking. It leverages the best
aspects of independent and dependent architectures to create a smart network that meets the
connectivity, quality and security needs of each user and their applications, based on the
availability of network resources including wired networks. By distributing intelligence and control
amongst access points, a Mobility network can route directly via the best path, as determined by
factors including the user, location, the application and available wireless and wired resources.
Mobility extends the differentiation Brocade s offer to the next level, by making available services
and security at every point in the network. managed traffic flow is optimized to prevent wired
congestion and wireless congestion. Traffic flows dynamically, based on user and application, and
finds alternate routes to work around network choke points.
NOTE