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Difficulty: MediumCisco Wireless Architectures and AP Modes

An enterprise network administration team is evaluating wireless deployment options to connect several regional offices. They are comparing a traditional Cisco Centralized Wireless Architecture using Lightweight Access Points (APs) operating in default Local mode against a Cisco Cloud-Managed Wireless Architecture (such as Cisco Meraki). Which statement correctly describes the fundamental difference in data plane traffic processing between these two architectures?

  1. In the cloud-managed architecture, client data traffic is switched locally at the access point onto the LAN, whereas in the centralized architecture, client data traffic is encapsulated in CAPWAP data tunnels and forwarded to a central controller.Answer
  2. B
    In the cloud-managed architecture, client data traffic is tunneled to the cloud management portal for policy processing, whereas in the centralized architecture, client data traffic is switched locally by the access point.
  3. C
    In the centralized architecture, both the control plane and data plane are processed locally at the access point, whereas in the cloud-managed architecture, both planes are encapsulated within CAPWAP data tunnels.
  4. D
    In the cloud-managed architecture, control plane traffic is tunneled to an on-premises physical controller, whereas in the centralized architecture, control plane traffic is managed directly from a cloud dashboard.

Answer

In the cloud-managed architecture, client data traffic is switched locally at the access point onto the LAN, whereas in the centralized architecture, client data traffic is encapsulated in CAPWAP data tunnels and forwarded to a central controller.
In a Cisco Centralized deployment with APs in default Local mode, split-MAC functionality is used where all user data is encapsulated in CAPWAP tunnels and sent directly to the centralized Wireless LAN Controller (WLC). Conversely, in a Cloud-Managed architecture (such as Cisco Meraki), management is out-of-band via the cloud, but the data plane is locally switched directly by the AP onto the local switch interface.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the data plane behavior of Cisco Centralized Wireless Architecture in default Local mode.
Local mode APs use a split-MAC architecture where all user data frames are encapsulated into CAPWAP data tunnels (using UDP port 5247) and sent to the centralized WLC for switching and policy enforcement.
Centralized control and data processing require all traffic to terminate at the physical Wireless LAN Controller.
2
Analyze the data plane behavior of Cisco Cloud-Managed Wireless Architecture.
Cloud-managed APs use out-of-band cloud management. Management/control traffic goes to the cloud dashboard, while user data traffic is bridged locally directly onto the access switch network.
Cloud management platforms do not route or process user data frames to preserve performance and bandwidth.
3
Compare the two deployment models to select the correct statement.
The statement highlighting local switching at the AP for cloud-managed deployments versus central CAPWAP tunneling to a controller for centralized Local mode deployments is correct.
This captures the primary data plane traffic flow difference between the two deployment types.

Key Concept

Data Plane Traffic Handling in Centralized vs Cloud-Managed Wireless Architectures
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Topics

Cisco Wireless Architectures and AP Modes

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