Topology Overview

A topology can be thought of as a VLAN (Virtual LAN) with at least one egress port, and optionally, sets of services, exception filters and multicast filters.

ExtremeWireless makes use of a number of different topology modes:

• Admin - This is the topology to which the management plane's administration interface is assigned. It is the only topology that can be assigned to the administration interface. The interface must be present at layer 3 to receive management related traffic such as ssh, https and RADIUS. This interface supports IPv4 and IPv6.
• Physical - A physical mode topology is intended to be used for management purposes. A physical topology can also be used to carry station traffic for a "3rd party VNS", a VNS that uses non-Extreme Networks wireless APs. A physical topology can be assigned to any of the data plane ports on the controller.
• Routed - For this type of topology the controller acts as a router between the topology's VLAN and the rest of the network. The controller's data plane ports can be assigned to this type of topology.
• Bridged Traffic Locally at EWC - For this type of topology the controller bridges traffic for the station through its interfaces, rather than routing the traffic. For this type of topology the station's "point of presence" on the wired network is the data plane port assigned to the topology.
• Bridged Traffic Locally at AP - This type of topology is assigned to APs. For this type of topology the AP bridges traffic between its wired and wireless interfaces without involving the controller. The station's "point of presence" on the wired network for a bridged at AP topology is the AP's wired port.
  

  Note

  IPv6 is supported for Layer 2 bridging for both B@AC and B@AP topologies.

Define the following parameters on the Topologies configuration page:

• VLAN ID and associated L2 port
• L3 (IP) interface presence and the associated IP address and subnet range
• The rules for using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
• Enabling or disabling the use of the associated interface for management/control traffic
• Selection of an interface for AP registration
• Multicast filter definition
• Exception filter definition

The controller has two types of Layer 2 ports:

• Admin - which can only be used for management-related purposes. It is connected directly on the management plane of the controller.
• Physical - which can be used for a variety of purposes, including bridging and routing as well as management. The physical ports are directly connected to the controller's data plane, although traffic received at physical ports may be sent up the exception path to the management plane.

At most, one physical topology can be enabled for the multicast support for Routed VNS. This can be configured on the new physical port GUI. For more information, see Configuring the Admin Port.