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Creating and Managing VLAN Pools

VLAN pooling is a feature that enables you to group multiple wireless controller VLANs to form a VLAN pool. Configure a VLAN pool to load-balance sessions evenly across multiple VLANs. Individual VLANs are then assigned dynamically from the pool, using a round robin algorithm, when a wireless client accesses the network.

Use the Manage VLAN Pools page to create new VLAN pools and manage existing VLAN pools.

This topic describes:

Managing VLAN Pools

From the Manage VLAN Pools page, you can:

Create a new wireless controller VLAN pool by clicking Add. For directions, see Creating a VLAN Pool.
Modify an existing VLAN pool by selecting it and clicking Edit.
View information about a wireless controller VLAN pool by either clicking the profile name or by selecting the profile and clicking Details.
Delete a VLAN pool by selecting pool name and clicking Delete.
Tip: You cannot delete pools that are in use. To see the current state of a pool, select the pool name and click Details.
Clone a VLAN pool by selecting a pool and clicking Clone.

Table 1 describes the information provided about VLAN pools. This page lists all VLAN pools defined for your network, regardless of the scope you selected in the network view.

Table 1: Managing VLAN Pools

Field	Description
Profile Name	Unique name, assigned during creation of the profile, that identifies the profile.
Description	Any details that were added when the pool was created
Selection Method	Method used to select a VLAN from a VLAN pool—either Client-MAC-hash or Load-balancing. None—The other selection methods are supported only by controller versions 9 and newer. Use None for controllers with older versions—for older controllers, only VLAN pools that are using the selection method None is supported. Client-MAC-hash—Assign sessions to a VLAN based on the hash computed from the MAC address. Using this method guarantees that a client gets the same VLAN every time it connects, if the VLAN configuration does not change. Load-balancing—Every controller keeps track of the number of sessions per VLAN in the Mobility Domain. When a session is assigned a VLAN pool, the session is assigned to the VLAN with the fewest sessions. Tip: With client-MAC-hash and load-balancing selection methods, a VLAN is selected only if it has not reached the configured cap of sessions per VLAN. The default value is 0 (unlimited sessions). No more sessions are assigned to a VLAN once it has reached capacity.
Members	List of VLANs in each VLAN pool.
Creation Time	Date and time when the profile was created.
Last Updated Time	Date and time when the profile was last modified.
User Name	The username of the person who created or modified the profile.

Tip: All columns might not be displayed. To show or hide fields listed in the table, click the down arrow on the field header, select Columns, and select or clear the check box adjacent to the field that you want to show or hide.

Creating a VLAN Pool

To create a VLAN pool, follow these directions:

Under Views, select one of these options: Logical View, Location View, Device View, or Custom Group View .
Tip: Do not select Dashboard View, Datacenter View, or Topology View.
Click in the Network Director banner.
In the Tasks pane, expand Wireless, expand Profiles, and then click VLAN Pool.
The Manage VLAN Pool page appears, displaying the list of currently configured VLAN pools.
Click Add.
The Create VLAN Pool for Wireless page opens.

Provide a VLAN Pool Name up to 32 characters with no spaces or special characters. Provide an optional Description, and then choose one of these VLAN selection methods:

None (default)—The other two selection methods are supported only by controller versions 9 and later. Use None for earlier-version controllers versions—these controllers support only VLAN pools that use the selection method None.
Client MAC Hash—Assign sessions to a VLAN based on the hash computed from the MAC address. Using this method guarantees that a client gets the same VLAN every time it connects, if the VLAN configuration does not change.
Load Balancing—Every controller keeps track of the number of sessions per VLAN in the Mobility Domain. When a session is assigned a VLAN pool, the session is assigned to the VLAN with the fewest sessions.

Tip: With Client MAC Hash and Load Balancing selection methods, a VLAN is selected only if it has not reached the configured cap of sessions per VLAN. The default value is 0 (unlimited sessions). No more sessions are assigned to a VLAN once it has reached capacity.

Add existing VLANs to the Members List of the VLAN pool by following these steps:
1. Click Select under VLAN Members.
  The Select VLAN Profile for VLAN Pool window opens with a list of existing VLAN Pools..
2. Select any VLANs from the list by adding a check mark, and then click OK.
  The selected VLANs are added to the pool and appear in the VLAN Members list.
Optionally, add VLANs that are not yet controlled by Network Director. Add them to the VLAN pool by following these steps:
1. Under Members, click Add New.
  The Add New Member window opens.
2. Type a name for a VLAN that does not yet belong to Network Director, type a Capacity, and then click Add.
  The VLAN name is added to the pool and appears in the VLAN Members list.
Click Done.
The VLAN pool is created and added to the list of VLAN pools on the Manage VLAN Pool page.

What To Do Next

VLAN pools are assigned to local users, user groups, MAC users and MAC user groups for a given controller by associating them with an Authorization profile—see Creating and Managing Wireless Authorization Profiles and Assigning Wireless Authorization Profiles to Controllers.