36

Navigating to Access Points Management

To view or edit information on access points in a cluster, click the

Cluster > Access Points

tab.

Understanding Clustering

What is a Cluster?

A cluster is a group of access points which are coordinated as a single group via D-Link

DWL-2210AP administration. You cannot create multiple clusters on a single wireless

network (

SSID

). Only one cluster per wireless network is supported.

How Many APs Can a Cluster Support?

Up to eight access points are supported in a cluster at any one time. If a new AP is

added to a network with a cluster that is already at full capacity, the new AP is added in

standalone mode

. Note that when the cluster is full, extra APs are added in standalone

mode regardless of the configuration policy in effect for new access points.

For related information, see “Cluster Mode”, “Standalone Mode”, and “Set Configuration

Policy for New Access Points” in this manual.

Managing Access Points and Clusters

37

Which Settings are Shared as Part of the Cluster Configuration and

Which Are Not?

Most configuration settings defined via the D-Link DWL-2210AP Administration Web

•

Of the same radio and band configuration (all one-radio, single-band APs;

the D-Link DWL-2210AP is a one-radio, single-band AP)

•

On the same

LAN

•

Access points of the same model will form a cluster.

•

Access points of other brands will not join the cluster. These APs should be

administered with their own associated Administration tools.

The cluster configuration includes:

• Network name (SSID)

• Administrator password

• Configuration policy

• User accounts and authentication

• Wireless interface settings

• Guest Welcome screen settings

• Network Time Protocol (NTP) settings

• Radio settings

• Security settings

•

QoS

queue parameters

• MAC address filtering

Having a mix of APs on the network does not adversely affect D-Link DWL-2210AP

clustering in any way. However, it is helpful to understand the clustering behavior for

administration purposes:

Settings Shared in the Cluster Configuration

A single D-Link DWL-2210AP can form a cluster with itself (a “cluster of one”) and

with other D-Link DWL-2210APs. In order to be members of the same cluster, access

points must be:

What Kinds of APs Can Cluster Together?

Managing Access Points and Clusters

38

•

Location descriptions

•

WDS bridges

•

Ethernet (Wired) Settings, including enabling or disabling Guest access

•

Guest interface configuration

Settings that are not shared must be configured individually on the Administration pages

for each access point. To get to the Administration pages for an access point that is

a member of the current cluster, click on its IP Address link on the Cluster > Access

Points page of the current AP.

Cluster Mode

When an access point is a cluster member, it is considered to be in cluster mode. You

define whether you want new access points to join the cluster or not via the configuration

policy you set in the Basic Settings. (See “Set Configuration Policy for New Access

Points” in this manual.) You can reset an access point in cluster mode to standalone

mode. (See “Removing an Access Point from the Cluster” in this manual.)

Standalone Mode

The D-Link DWL-2210AP can be configured in

standalone

mode. In standalone mode, an

access point is not a member of the cluster and does not share the cluster configuration,

but rather requires manual configuration that is not shared with other access points.

(See “Set Configuration Policy for New Access Points” and “Removing an Access Point

from the Cluster” in this manual.)

Standalone access points are not listed on the Cluster > Access Points tab in the

Administration UIs of APs that are cluster members. You need to know the IP address for

standalone access points in order to configure and manage it directly. (See “Navigating

to an AP by Using its IP Address in a URL” in this manual.)

The Basic Settings tab for a standalone access point indicates only that the current mode

is standalone and provides a button for adding the access point to a cluster (group).

When the cluster is full (eight APs is the limit), extra APs are added in

standalone

mode

regardless of the configuration policy in effect for new access points. See “How

Many APs Can a Cluster Support?” in this manual.

Settings Not Shared by the Cluster

The few exceptions (settings

not

shared among clustered access points) are the

following most of which, by nature, must be unique:

• IP addresses

• MAC addresses

Managing Access Points and Clusters

39

If a cluster configuration policy is in place, when a new access point is deployed, it

attempts to rendezvous with an existing cluster.

If it is unable to locate a cluster, then it establishes a new cluster on its own.

If it locates a cluster but is rejected because the cluster is full, or the clustering policy is

to ignore new access points, then the access point will deploy in standalone mode.

Cluster Size and Membership

The upper limit of a cluster is eight access points. The “Cluster” Web administration

pages provides a real-time, visual indicator of the number of access points in the current

cluster and warn when the cluster has reached capacity. (See “Step 6. Configure “Basic

Settings” and start the wireless network” in this manual.)

If a cluster is present but is already full, new access points will deploy in standalone

mode.

Intra-Cluster Security

To ensure that the security of the cluster as a whole is equivalent to the security of a

single access point, communication of certain data between access points in a cluster

is done using Secure Sockets Layer (typically referred to as SSL) with private key

encryption.

Both the cluster configuration file and the user database are transmitted among access

points using SSL.

Auto-Synch of Cluster Configuration

If you are making changes to the AP configuration that require a relatively large amount

of processing (such as adding several new users), you may encounter a synchronization

progress bar after clicking “Update” on any of the Administration pages.

Cluster Formation

A cluster is formed when the first D-Link DWL-2210AP is configured. (See “Quick Steps

for Setup and Launch of Your Wireless Network” and “Configuring Basic Settings” in

this manual.)

You can re-enable cluster mode on a standalone access point. (See “Adding an Access

Point to a Cluster” in this manual.)

When the cluster is full (eight APs is the limit), extra APs are added in

standalone

mode

regardless of the configuration policy in effect for new access points. See “How

Many APs Can a Cluster Support?” in this manual.

If you click on any of the Cluster tabs on the Administration pages for an access point

in standalone mode, you will be redirected to the Basic Settings page because Cluster

settings do not apply to standalone APs.

Managing Access Points and Clusters

40

Location

Description of where the access point is physically located.

MAC Address

Media Access Control (

MAC

) address of the access point.

A MAC address is a permanent, unique hardware address for

any device that represents an interface to the network. The MAC

address is assigned by the manufacturer.

You cannot change the MAC address. It is provided here for

informational purposes as a unique identifier for the access

point.

The address shown here is the MAC address for the bridge

(br0). This is the address by which the AP is known externally to

other networks.

To see MAC addresses for Guest and Internal interfaces on the

AP, see the Status > Interfaces tab.

IP Address

Specifies the IP address for the access point. Each IP address

is a link to the Administration Web pages for that access point.

You can use the links to navigate to the Administration Web

pages for a specific access point. This is useful for viewing data

on a specific access point to make sure a cluster member is

picking up cluster configuration changes, to configure advanced

settings on a particular access point, or to switch a standalone

access point to cluster mode.

Field

Description

Understanding Access Point Settings

The access points tab provides information about all access points in the cluster.

From this tab, you can view location descriptions, IP addresses, enable (activate) or

disable (deactivate)

clustered

access points, and remove access points from the cluster.

You can also modify the location description for an access point.

The IP address links provide a way to navigate to configuration settings and data on

an access point.

Standalone access points (those which are not members of the cluster) are not shown

on this page.

Note that auto-synchronization always occurs during configuration updates that affect

the cluster, but the processing time is usually negligible. The auto-synch progress bar

is displayed only for longer-than-usual wait times.

The progress bar indicates that the system is busy performing an auto-synch of the

updated configuration to all APs in the cluster. The Administration Web pages are not

editable during the auto-synch.

Managing Access Points and Clusters