AccessPoint Details Test

The Ruckus ZoneDirector controls multiple access points that are registered with it. In a wireless local area network (WLAN), an access point is a station that transmits and receives data (sometimes referred to as a transceiver). The access point connects users to other users within the network and also can serve as the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a fixed wire network. Each access point can serve multiple users within a defined network area. If multiple access points are not available for the users to connect, then the users may not be able to connect to the WLAN. This would cause severe hardship to the users and therefore, it becomes necessary to monitor the access points round the clock. The AccessPoint Details test helps administrators in this regards!

This test auto discovers the access points controlled by the ZoneDirector and reveals the total number of radios and authorized devices that are associated with each access point. In the process, this test reports current status, CPU utilization and memory utilization of each access point. This test also sheds light on the amount of data transmitted and received over the LAN and the number of unicast packets and multicast packets that are transmitted and received over the LAN.

Target of the test : A Ruckus ZoneDirector

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every access point controlled by the target Ruckus ZoneDirector being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.

SNMPVersion

By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

Username

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter. 

Context

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box.  By default, this parameter is set to none.

Authpass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.

Confirm password

Confirm the Authpass by retyping it here.

Authtype

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

Encryptflag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option. 

Encrypttype

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

Encryptpassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

Data Over TCP

By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

Engine ID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Total radios

Indicates the total number of radios in this access point.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know about MAC address of each radio available in the access points.

Total authorized devices

Indicates the total number of authorized client devices associated with this access point.

Number

 

Accesspoint status

Indicates the current operational status of this access point.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Disconnected 0
Connected 100
Approval Pending 2
Provisioning 4

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current status of this access point. The graph of this measure however, represents the current status of this access point using the numeric equivalents only.

CPU utilization

Indicates the percentage of CPU utilized by this access point.

Percent

 

Memory utilization

Indicates the percentage of memory utilized by this access point.

Percent

 

Data Transmitted

Indicates the rate at which the data was transmitted from this access point.

MB/sec

Compare the value of these measures to figure out the access point that is transmitting/receiving a large amount of data.

 

Data received

Indicates the rate at which the data was received by this access point.

MB/sec

Transmitted data on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the data was transmitted from this access point over LAN.

MB/sec

 

Received data on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the data was received by this access point over LAN.

MB/sec

 

Transmitted packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the packets were transmitted from this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec

 

Received packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the packets were received by this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec

 

Transmitted unicast packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the unicast packets were transmitted from this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec

 

Received unicast packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the unicast packets were received by this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec

 

Transmitted mutlicast packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the multicast packets were transmitted from this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec

Compare the value of these measures to figure out the access point that is transmitting/receiving the maximum amount of multicast packets per second.

 

 

Received multicast packets on LAN

Indicates the rate at which the multicast packets were received by this access point over LAN.

Packets/sec