Small/Mid-Scale Campus Usage Guide
This solution is targeted at small and medium-sized parks and adopts the advanced Spine-Leaf full three-layer network architecture. It realizes the automated deployment, centralized management and intelligent operation and maintenance of the network through a cloud-based park controller. The solution adopts key technologies such as distributed gateways and DHCP high availability, providing a high-performance and highly reliable network foundation for the access of small and medium-sized terminals.
Centrally Intelligent Management Core
The controller automatically translates business intents into device configurations through a graphical interface and deploys them accurately, completely eliminating the traditional tedious process of configuring devices one by one via command-line interface. It offers full lifecycle management, including device onboarding, monitoring, and diagnostics, enabling network automation and high reliability.
Elastic and Reliable Network Backbone
- Simple and flat, efficient forwarding: Adopting a Spine-Leaf two-layer architecture, the structure is simple and the path is optimized. All Leaf devices are fully interconnected with dual Spine, achieving efficient and low-latency data forwarding between any two points.
- Distributed gateway, traffic optimization: Business gateways are distributed and deployed on Leaf switches at each access layer. Cross-subnet communication traffic between terminals can be forwarded nearby at the access layer without detour to the core, effectively reducing transmission delay, enhancing service experience, and simultaneously alleviating the load pressure on the Spine layer.
Stable and reliable access and service
- Leaf Distributed Gateway: Serving wired and wireless terminals within the park. The gateway is lowered to the access Leaf, achieving isolation of the broadcast domain and convergence of the fault domain. While providing flexible subnet planning, it ensures the stability and forwarding efficiency of the access layer.
- High availability of key services: Deploy key network services such as DHCP Server on two Spine devices and automatically build DHCP Failover relationships. This design ensures the continuous availability of the address allocation service. Even if a single Spine device fails, seamless service switching can be achieved, guaranteeing the continuity of terminal business.
Scheme Design
Section titled “Scheme Design”
The small and medium-sized campus network adopts the Spine-Leaf networking architecture, based on the classic full three-layer routing network of the cloud-based campus. eBGP is automatically formed between Spine and Leaf through the controller, and distributed gateways are deployed on Leaf devices.
Access Zone:
Leaf1 and Leaf2 serve as distributed gateways. Leaf1 is responsible for connecting aps and wireless terminals, while Leaf2 is responsible for connecting wired terminals.
DHCP Deployment:
DHCP Servers are deployed on both Spine devices and are automatically configured as a DHCP Failover pair via the controller, ensuring high availability of address services.
Controller Deployment:
The controller is cloud-based and enables centralized policy deployment, configuration management, and status monitoring for all network devices through a graphical interface, significantly improving operational efficiency.
Foundation Link Data Planning
| Device | Interface | IP Address |
|---|---|---|
| Spine1 | Ethernet53 | 172.22.244.10/24 |
| Loopback0 | 172.22.252.51/32 | |
| Spine2 | Ethernet53 | 172.22.244.11/24 |
| Loopback0 | 172.22.252.52/32 | |
| Leaf1 | Loopback0 | 172.22.252.53/32 |
| Leaf2 | Loopback0 | 172.22.252.54/32 |
Service Network Data Planning
| Service Type | IP Segment | Gateway | Service VLAN | SSID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wireless Service | 180.10.0.0/24 | 180.10.0.1/24 | 1080 | New SSID |
| Wired Service | 180.10.1.0/24 | 180.10.1.1/24 | 1081 | |
| AP Management | 180.10.2.0/24 | 180.10.2.1/24 | 1082 |
Device Import
Section titled “Device Import”Administrators can create or import devices in bulk to specified sites/organizations. When an added inventory device connects to the controller and comes online, the controller will automatically assign it to the designated organization/site based on its MAC address.
Add Devices One by One.
Section titled “Add Devices One by One.”Click [Configuration] - [Inventory Information] - [+] to create an inventory device.
Fill in the relevant information as prompted on the page
Import via Excel
Section titled “Import via Excel”Click [Upload Devices]
Click [Download Template] and enter the information for the devices to be added to the inventory according to the template’s specifications.
MAC: The device’s MAC address. This information is typically found on the device’s label.
Device Type: The device model.
Name: The device hostname. By default, it is the device’s MAC address.
ConfigTag: After an AP connects to the controller, it will automatically pull the configuration file corresponding to this tag. By default, the tag value is default.
FirmwareTag: When performing firmware upgrades, devices requiring an upgrade can be filtered based on their firmware tag type. By default, the tag value is default.
Loopback: The device’s loopback address. For all devices operating at Layer 3, this address serves as the device’s in-band management address.
AclScaleProfile: Optional values are default or large-scale. By default, the value is default.
License: The AP’s license file. For bulk imports, you can either enter the JSON-formatted license file content directly in the Excel sheet, or add all devices to inventory first and then import the license files in bulk afterward.
Description: Descriptive information about the device.
Click [Choose File] to upload the completed template, then click [Test Upload Data]. The controller will automatically check if the uploaded data complies with the specifications and display the results in the test report.
Once completed, users can view the created devices in the [Inventory Information] view.
Service Configuration
Section titled “Service Configuration”Click [Design Topology] to enter the corresponding page, select the Large/Mild-Scale campus deployment, fill in the required device models and quantities according to device roles, and then click [Save] to finish the network topology pre-planning. The controller will generate the network topology based on the entered information.
Generated topology:
Users can click the [Edit] button on the device end and fill in the corresponding information in the slide-out panel on the right.
MAC: Uniquely select a device via its MAC address.
Loopback0 IP: Configure the IP address for the device’s Loopback0 interface, which will be used for in-band management of the device.
Hostname: Configure the hostname of the device.
Device role: Assign the device role as Spine or Leaf.
Inter Port:
Local Port: The interface on the current device.
Neighbor: Select the peer device connected to the local interface.
Neighbor Port: The interface on the peer device interconnected with the current device’s local interface.
Upon completing all configurations, click [Save] in the upper right corner of the page, then select [Confirm] in the pop-up window.
Basic Network
Section titled “Basic Network”Click the top right corner [Basic Network]
Egress Router
Section titled “Egress Router”Click [Create], select the interface ID of the Spine device’s uplink interface, and configure the IP address as per the service plan.
To ensure normal network operation, a default route typically needs to be configured, with the next hop IP set as the peer IP address of the Spine uplink interface.
Device
Section titled “Device”Configure device management related information:
- TimeZone: Configure the system time zone.
- NTP: Configure NTP Server.
- SNMP: Configure SNMP community.
- Syslog: Configure syslog server IP address.
- TACACS+: Configure TACACS server IP address.
- Device ACL: Configure ACL rules restricting SSH, SNMP, TELNET connections to device.
Switch Configuration
Section titled “Switch Configuration”Switch Configuration
Section titled “Switch Configuration”Click [Create] on the right to set up the switch configuration.
Name: User-defined
Device: Select the Access-1 device
DHCP Relay
Since the DHCP Server is deployed on the Spine and is not directly connected to the service devices on Leaf1, a DHCP relay needs to be configured.
Click [Create], enter the DHCP server IP in the pop-up page, and then click [Add] after completion.
Since DHCP Servers are deployed on both Spine devices with DHCP Failover configured, two DHCP server IP addresses need to be entered.
Services VLAN
Deploy wireless service configuration on Leaf1 and set up the service gateway.
1. Configure the AP management VLAN
2. Configure the Wireless Business VLAN
IP: Enter the service gateway address.
Access/Trunk: Select the mode based on whether the interfaces send and receive frames with VLAN tags.
Access: Receives untagged frames. Typically configured for the AP management VLAN and wired service VLANs.
Trunk: Receives tagged frames. Typically configured for wireless service VLANs.
Members: Click the dropdown arrow to select the member interfaces for the VLAN on the device.
POE
The access switch features PoE functionality, which can be directly enabled in the wired service configuration to supply power to PD devices.
Click [Create]
Select the interface where the PoE function is to be enabled and set the startup delay time.
POE Delay: This refers to a brief, intentional time delay introduced at a PoE switch port between when it begins to supply power and when it actually delivers power to the Powered Device (PD).
Once all configurations are completed, click [Save] in the top right corner to finish configuring Leaf1.
DHCP Relay
Same as Leaf1
Services VLAN
Deploy wired service configuration on Leaf2 and set up the service gateway.
Wired Clients Information Collection
Interfaces with this feature enabled will report information about the connected wired terminals to the controller.
The controller allows users to configure the DHCP Server function on Spine devices.
After entering the site, click [Configuration] - [Switch Configuration] - [DHCP] to access the DHCP Server configuration interface. Then, click the [+] button on the page to create a new configuration:
1. Create AP Management Address Pool.
Name: User defined.
Network: Specify the network segment where the IP address assigned by the DHCP server to the DHCP client is located.
Gateway Address: Specify the gateway address assigned by the DHCP server to the DHCP client.
DNS: Specify the DNS server address.
Address Pool: Specify the address range allocated by the DHCP server to DHCP clients.
Lease Time: Specify the IP address lease time.
Click on [DHCP Option] and fill in the relevant information.
Controller IP: DHCP options specifically designed for wireless AP discovery controllers, fill in the controller IP address.
The controller supports configuring MAC binding IP function, which users can fill in as needed.
Click [Save] after completing all configurations.
Follow the steps above to sequentially create the DHCP configurations for wireless terminals and wired terminals. Once all configurations are completed, the DHCP view will appear as shown below.
Wi-Fi Configuration
Section titled “Wi-Fi Configuration”Click [Wi-Fi Configuration] - [+] to configure the necessary basic information for the wireless AP, e.g. SSID settings, security policy. The controller can automatically generate the corresponding
The controller supports the configuration of different wireless service configurations, and after the AP goes online, it will determine which configuration should be issued to the AP based on the [Config Tag] attributes of the configuration.
When the AP is one that has an extended wired interface and is capable of accessing terminals by wired means, such as a panel AP, the user can configure the access method for wired terminals through the configuration in LANs.
UpstreamPorts: Specify the up-link interfaces for wired terminal to access the network through AP, usually it is the interface for AP to connect to the switch, and keep the same with [UpstreamPorts] in [SSID] – [Advanced] Settings, the default is: WAN*.
DownstreamPorts: Interfaces for wired terminal access.
Downstream VLAN Tag: Whether the wired terminal carries VLAN Tag.
VLAN ID: The AP receives messages from wired terminals that add this VLAN TAG to identify.
DHCP Snooping Trusted: DHCP Snooping Trusted interface, if the wired terminal needs to obtain IP address through DHCP service, this switch needs to be on.
Configuration Release
Section titled “Configuration Release”Switch
Section titled “Switch”Switches support both in-band and out-of-band management methods. Operation and maintenance personnel can flexibly choose based on current network conditions. For devices in the factory default state, whenever either the management port or service port is in an “Up” state, they will actively initiate a DHCP request to obtain a temporary management IP address and the IP address of the cloud-based controller from the DHCP server. They will then connect to the controller to retrieve configuration information.
Once all switches are successfully connected to the controller, click [Topology Consistency Verification] on the upper right side of the [Design Topology] view to confirm whether the generated topology matches the planned topology. After verification, the controller can deploy configurations to the switches.
Push Basic Network Configuration
Section titled “Push Basic Network Configuration”Click [Configuration] - [Design Topology] - [Basic Network] - [Push Configuration] to issue the basic configuration for all devices.
By default, the controller will select all switches. Click the [Next] - [Start] button to start issuing basic network configurations for the switches.
Push Switch Configuration
Section titled “Push Switch Configuration”Switch Configuration
On the [Configuration]-[Switch Configuration] view, select the configuration to be deployed and click the [Push Configuration] button.
In the pop-up window, click [Next]-[Start] to deploy the switch configuration to the switch.
DHCP
On the [Configuration] - [Switch Configuration] - [DHCP] interface, select the configuration to be deployed and click the [Push Configuration] button to deliver the configuration.
The AP does not need to manually issue the configuration. After the configuration of the device is issued and takes effect, the PoE power supply function of the switch is turned on, and the AP can power on and work. When the AP connects to the controller with the information obtained through the DHCP service, the controller will automatically send the configuration to the corresponding AP based on the comparison between the TAG identification stored in the AP inventory and the TAG identification in the planning configuration.