The Cisco® 5500 Series Wireless Controller, shown in Figure 1, is a highly scalable and flexible platform that enables systemwide services for mission-critical wireless networking in medium-sized to large enterprises and campus environments. Designed for 802.11n performance and maximum scalability, the 5500 Series offers enhanced uptime with:

- RF visibility and protection
- The ability to simultaneously manage up to 500 access points
- Superior performance for reliable streaming video and toll- quality voice
- Sub-second stateful failover of all access points and clients from the primary to standby controller

Features

Optimized for high-performance wireless networking, the Cisco 5500 Series Controller offers improved mobility and prepares the business for the next wave of mobile devices and applications. The 5500 Series supports a higher density of clients and delivers more efficient roaming, with at least nine times the throughput of existing 802.11a/g networks.

The 5500 Series automates wireless configuration and management functions and allows network managers to have the visibility and control needed to cost-effectively manage, secure, and optimize the performance of their wireless networks. With integrated Cisco CleanAir® technology, the 5500 Series protects 802.11n performance by providing cross-network access to real-time and historic RF interference information for quick troubleshooting and resolution.

The Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller supports Cisco Application Visibility and Control(AVC), the technology that includes the Network-Based Application Recognition 2 (NBAR-2) engine, Cisco’s deep packet inspection (DPI) capability. The NBAR-2 engine can classify applications, applies quality of service (QoS) setting to either drop or mark the traffic, and prioritizes business-critical applications in the network. Cisco AVC uses NetFlow Version 9 to export the flows to Cisco Prime™ Infrastructure or a third-party NetFlow Collector. The 5508 also supports Bonjour Services Directory to enable Bonjour Services to be advertised and utilized in a separate Layer 3 network. Wireless Policy engine is a wireless profiler and policy featureon the Cisco 5500 Series Wireless Controllerthat enables profiling of wireless devices and enforcement of policies such as VLAN assignment, QoS, ACL and time-of-day-based access.

As a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, this controller provides real-time communications between Cisco Aironet® access points, the Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS), and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine to deliver centralized security policies, wireless intrusion prevention system (IPS) capabilities, award-winning RF management, and QoS.

Software Licensing Flexibility

Base access point licensing offers flexibility to add up to 500 additional access points as business needs grow. The licensing structure supports a variety of business mobility needs as part of the basic feature set, including the Cisco OfficeExtend solution for secure, mobile teleworking and Cisco Enterprise Wireless Mesh, which allows access points to dynamically establish wireless connections in locations where it may be difficult or impossible to physically connect to the wired network.