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Pra shant

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Aruba Controller and access point

One of our client has old Aruba Setup and they want to expand the wireless capacity.

===== Existing Setup
-1x Aruba 3400 Wireless controller with 16 Aps AP model=AP61
-1x Aruba 3400 Wireless controller with 10 Aps  AP model=AP105
-Fortinet 100D firewall for security
-They don’t have support contract for the existing solution , its more than 3-4 years old solution

===== New Requirements are as below
-12 new additional Sites , each site will have 4 APs
-Sites connected with MPLS line
-each site has different ip ranges for Aps
-They need centralized management/configuration/troubleshooting
-we are proposing AP-225 , Qty=50, will be distributed in 12 new sites

My questions are as below.
1) Upgrade Solution: Can we add the new APs and license in one of the old controller ? what are the requirements for that as they do not have support expired before few years.
2) New Solution : if above upgrade is not possible , which new controller we can propose to manage both old and new APs (total 76 APs) ? in this case can we transfer the licence from old controller to new controller ? and can the new contoller also manage the old APs ?
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Wirelessnerd
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Thumbs up for what WirelessNerd says. Short story.
AP61 cannot run above AOS6.3 (AOS=OS for Controllers)
AP225 (820.11ac Wave1) cannot run below AOS6.4
AP3XX series (802.11ac Wave2) cannot run below 6.5
Controller 3400 cannot run above 6.4

To buy up support on controllers, you need to pay all the way back to when support ended = too costly.

You need new setup. Depending on the complexitiy of you office network, in terms of needs for advanced wireless - I'd recommend the Instant AP solution - connected to Aruba Central

The instant AP doesn't need any controller, the first AP in the network has the config - the next ones inherit this config. If master goes down, another AP seizes the master role = redundancy
With Aruba Central you can manage all APs in all locations in the cloud. Different groups, ssids, AAA servers +++.

If controllers are needed, I'd prefer the 2x solution suggested by wirelessNerd. With AOS 8.1 from Aruba you can cluster controllers for LB and redundancy. You can also - soon - buy controllers that run on VmWare - if you have enough juice in your VMware setup.

Also - Instant APs can be reconfigured to connect to a controller if you change your mind later.

so; remove all older APs and Controllers - buy new.

In CLI in controllers


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gives you firmware
AP-255 does NOT require 6.4 but can actualy run on 6.3 Jakob.
Whoopsy ... you're right. and I guess you mean AP225.
AP205 however need AOS6.4. (and are quite a lot cheaper)
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Pra shant

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Hi,
The redundancy of controller is not a must requirement, but they need to have central config / troubleshooting.

(A) New solution
Somebody proposed to us below
1x controller - Aruba 7205 (RW) 2-port 10GBASE-X (SFP+) Controller(P/N:JW735A)
50x AP-225

.... i have questions for this.

-the controller , does it include 50 licenses already , or we need to add licenses separately as the guy did not put lic in his boq.
-the controller comes with 10g sfp modules , or we need to buy separately to connect to switch ?
-can the above controller old APs also ? and can we transfer old lic to new controller ?
-if they have one controller in the central site and APs are connected via WAN , if the controller goes down , the APs will still serve the client , or the connected clients will be dropped ?

(B)
if we go to add licenses to old controller for 50xNew APs , then will be an issue if they do not have support ? or they need to renew the support (from backdated) to add the licenses ?
-the controller , does it include 50 licenses already , or we need to add licenses separately as the guy did not put lic in his boq.
 you need 50xAP license and 50xPEFNG (firewall/roles) licenses

-the controller comes with 10g sfp modules , or we need to buy separately to connect to switch ?
Extra. Controller is equipped with Gigabit ports.

-can the above controller old APs also ?
The 7205 switch has minimum AOS version 6.4.3 so AP105 can be used, not the AP61 (But they need to go anyway (!))
- and can we transfer old lic to new controller ?
Technically - for RMA purposes - you can transfer licenses from old controller to new controller in the licensing website. However Aruba monitors this, and if there's a high volume of license transfers they might act upon thos

-if they have one controller in the central site and APs are connected via WAN , if the controller goes down , the APs will still serve the client , or the connected clients will be dropped ? It he APs in remote site are deployed as Remote AP - they can have a backup SSID that comes alive if controller is down.

if we go to add licenses to old controller for 50xNew APs , then will be an issue if they do not have support ? NO - not unless you experience any problems.

or they need to renew the support (from backdated) to add the licenses ?
Hello Jakob,

For your comment ,  

1) you need 50xAP license and 50xPEFNG (firewall/roles) licenses...

Is it compulsory to buy PEFNG license ? i mean if the customer needs only the normal wireless functionality and does not need firewall function , then can we run the normal wireless without this license ?
In short if cost is the concern and the customer is not looking for firewall function , can we do without these license ?

2) It he APs in remote site are deployed as Remote AP - they can have a backup SSID that comes alive if controller is down.
- No if they are normal AP not the Remote AP , in that case if the controller is down , will the connected clients will be dropped or they still continue to work ?
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thank you