HEPiX Fall 2017 CERN project Follow-up Vincent DUCRET vincent.ducret@cern.ch

Agenda Reminder about the project Technical setup Current status and feedback Next steps Questions HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Reminder about the Project = Wi-Fi Service Enhancement Project launched in 2015 and presented during HEPiX Fall 2016 Goals of the project: Provide a high quality Wi-Fi coverage in all office buildings and public areas across the campus (~200 buildings) Ensure seamless roaming within the Wi-Fi coverage area Support 802.11ac (Wave2) Provide additional services such as Wi-Fi for visitors (”internet only” Wi-Fi) HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Reminder about the Project Wi-Fi Planning and Validation RF Simulation + Site survey to validate the AP positions Cabling of the Buildings March 2015 August 2015 October 2015 February 2016 March 2016 June 2016 Sept. 2016 Dec. 2016 2017 2018 Market Survey Technical Evaluation Pilot implementation 3 buildings, including a restaurant New Wi-Fi infrastructure deployed Guest Wi-Fi pilot Global deployment New AP installation Post deployment Site surveys Tender Process HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Technical setup Solution provided by Controller-based solution Traffic centralisation for seamless roaming Configuration centralisation Scalability and redundancy RF settings automation New version of the solution New design (Mobility Master + Managed Device) More scalable Configuration automation via API HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Controller-based solution: overview HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

CERN controller setup Mobility Master (MM) Managed Device (MD) Virtual Machine Two nodes for redundancy (Active/Backup) Centralize the configuration Manage RF setup Managed Device (MD) Fully configured by the MM Several nodes for redundancy and capacity (Active/Active) Manage users Traffic HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

CERN controller setup Redundancy and traffic load balancing Controller Cluster HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

CERN controller setup PRODUCTION IT-PILOT Dedicated controllers (MM and MD) for 3 different zones PRODUCTION LAB IT-PILOT HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

CERN controller setup Production Pilot Servers Dedicated Brocade MLX HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Configuration automation LANDB Based on the API available on the Mobility Master Simplifies deployment process More details in the presentation given by Quentin Barrand: “Configuration automation for CERN's new Wi-Fi infrastructure” CFMGR NETMGR MM HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Technical setup Main advantages of this solution (Aruba OS 8.x): Scalability (up to 16 controllers per cluster, each controller able to handle 2.000 APs and 40 Gbps of traffic) Global RF optimisation Configuration automation via API Live upgrade (since 8.1.x) Main drawback: First customer to deploy version 8.0.0.0 with real users…. HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Interaction with the manufacturer First customer to use Aruba OS 8.x in a production environment During the initial setup and Pilot deployment, direct contact with the manufacturer development team: Design validation Feature request (cluster scalability, client and AP load balancing, etc.) 50+ bugs raised and fix provided  time consuming Regular follow up since production deployment HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Software version evolution Final (not pushed to customer) Custom Fix1 Custom Fix2 8.0.0.0 8.0.1.0 8.0.1.1 8.1.0.0 8.1.0.1 8.1.0.2 Beta Official Official Official Official Official manual upgrades “live” upgrades Sept. 2016 Nov. 4th 2016 Nov. 18th 2016 Feb. 2017 Mar. 1st 2017 Mar. 29th 2017 April 2017 June 2017 August 2017 TESTS PILOT PILOT + PROD HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Main issues encountered Bugs on the routers in charge of all centralized traffic (June / September) 1 major bug hit on the controllers in July (specific configuration issue - bug fixed 4 weeks after with AOS 8.1.0.2) No major issues for the end-users Still some pending “non-blocking” bugs waiting for next release to be fixed HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Current status 25+ buildings deployed 1.200+ Access-Points active Peaks of 3.000+ devices connected simultaneously Wi-Fi for visitors available in some public zones since July 2017 HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Number of Access-Points HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Number of connected devices Pilot + Production Restaurant 1 activation Summer Holidays Bldg 40 activation “Jeûne Genevois” (Day off in Geneva area) Pilot only Christmas break HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Feedback: example in building 40 Performance observed (September 6th): In the cafeteria with around 10 devices on the neighbouring tables: In a “metallic wall” office: HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Next steps Continue the deployment (target = end of 2018) Extend coverage to some outdoor areas Move half of the controllers to our second network hub Find a stable version and follow a more usual upgrade rhythm Have a better “Eduroam” vs “CERN” users ratio Chase private Access-Points Convince people to migrate to Wi-Fi And prevent unexpected adaptation of the material…. HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Which Wi-Fi system are you using in your institute? Any plan to fully cover the office areas ? How do you chase private/rogue access-points ? How do you handle Eduroam (same/separate network) ? If you don’t know, please forward this presentation (or at least this slide) to your “network” colleagues. They can contact me via vincent.ducret@cern.ch HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET

Any questions HEPIX Fall 2017 - WiSE Project follow up – Vincent DUCRET