Cisco Catalyst 9800, Next-Generation Wireless (WIFI7), & Catalyst Center Management

Part 1: Foundations Evolution, Wi-Fi 7, and Catalyst 9800 Core Architecture Focus: Review the Wireless Landscape from Standards perspective, explore Ciscos Contribution, gain a technical understanding of the Wi-Fi 7 standard. Establish a foundational understanding of the Catalyst 9800 platform, its architecture, and the tagbased configuration model. Module Learning Goals: Understand Wi-Fi evolution and nomenclature. Identify Ciscos wireless technology milestones. Deep-dive into Wi-Fi 7 features and their implications. Articulate Catalyst 9800 architecture and configuration models. Module 1: Wi-Fi Standards Timeline o The Indispensable Utility of Wi-Fi o The Duality of Naming: IEEE 802.11 vs. Wi-Fi Generations o Comparative Summary of Major Wi-Fi Generations Module 2: Cisco Wireless Evolution o Pioneering RF Intelligence: Cisco's Proprietary Enhancements -Cisco CleanAir -Cisco ClientLink o Innovations for High-Density and Advanced Services -Flexible Radio Assignment (FRA) -Hyperlocation -Adaptive Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (aWIPS) Module 3: Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) Technology Deep Dive o The "Extremely High Throughput" (EHT) Standard. Pillar 1: 320 MHz Channels for increased bandwidth. Pillar 2: 4096-QAM for denser data transmission. Pillar 3: Multi-Link Operation (MLO) - The true game-changer for throughput, latency, and reliability. o Other Key Enhancements: Preamble Puncturing and Multi-RU. o WPA3 Security Deep Dive. Module 4: The Catalyst 9800 Architecture: A Paradigm Shift o Platform Overview: Transitioning from AireOS to the modern IOS-XE. o Core Design Tenets: "Always On," "Secure," and "Deployed Anywhere." o Hardware Deep Dive: Physical (9800-L, 9800-40/80) and Virtual (9800-CL) appliances. o IOS-XE Software Architecture: Modularity, programmability, and the Wireless Network Controller Daemon (WNCd). Module 5: The New Configuration Model: Profiles and Tags o From Monolithic to Modular: Replacing AP Groups with a flexible, objectoriented model. o The Three Core Tags: Understanding Policy, Site, and RF Tags. o Profile Deep Dive: WLAN Profile: Defines SSID and Layer 2 security (WPA3/EAP). Policy Profile: Defines client policies like VLAN, QoS, and timeouts. AP Join & Flex Profiles: Manages AP-specific and FlexConnect settings. RF Profiles: Governs Radio Resource Management (RRM). o Concept Mapping: Translating key AireOS concepts to the C9800 model. Part 2: Advanced Configuration Deployment, Security, and High Availability Focus: Understanding of the more advanced capabilities in Catalyst 9800 platform. Module Learning Goals: Understand Wi-Fi evolution and nomenclature. Identify Ciscos wireless technology milestones. Deep-dive into Wi-Fi 7 features and their implications. Articulate Catalyst 9800 architecture and configuration models. Module 6: Deployment Modes o Centralized Deployment. o Distributed Deployment. FlexConnect Configuration. Configuring FlexConnect Local Switching. VLAN Mapping for Locally Switched WLANs. Module 7: Advanced Security Configuration o Secure Corporate Access with 802.1X and Cisco ISE o Configuring a WPA3-Enterprise Corporate WLAN o Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (wIPS) Module 8: Guest Wireless o Guest Access Architectures: Local Web Authentication (LWA) vs. Central Web Authentication (CWA). o Configuring CWA with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): A step-by-step look at the authentication flow. Module 9: Ensuring Uptime: High Availability (HA) o HA Architectures: N+1 Redundancy vs. Stateful Switchover (SSO). o SSO Deep Dive: Configuration, Redundancy Port (RP), and Redundancy Management Interface (RMI). o In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU) for zero-downtime maintenance. Part 3: Operations, Management, Optimization C9800 and Catalyst Center Focus: Develop the skills to operate, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot a production Catalyst 9800 network. Introduction to Catalyst Center for Configuring a non-Fabric WLC and monitoring Energy Management Functionalities. Learning Goals: Optimize wireless QoS and monitor wireless environments. Use Catalyst Center for provisioning, assurance, and automation. Implement template-based configuration and energy management. Module 10: Quality of Service (QoS) for Modern Applications o C9800 QoS Architecture: Using the Modular QoS CLI (MQC) framework. o AutoQoS Profiles: Simplified best-practice policies (Fastlane, Voice, Guest). o Custom QoS Policies with Application Visibility and Control (AVC) and NBAR2. Module 11: Operations, Monitoring, and Management o On-Box Monitoring using the controller's web interface. o Centralized Management with Cisco Catalyst Center for provisioning and assurance. o Cloud-Managed Hybrid Mode with the Cisco Meraki dashboard. o Essential CLI Troubleshooting Command Reference. Module 12: Managing C9800 with Catalyst Center Provisioning, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting o Overview of Catalyst Center. Key features. Architecture for wireless management. o Wireless Device Discovery and Onboarding. o Provisioning Wireless Networks using workflows. o Real-time health monitoring, client and AP analytics, and proactive issue detection. o Wireless Client and network path analysis, event correlation, and suggested remediation. o Auditing, versioning, and configuration rollback. Module 13: Catalyst Center Configuration Templates and Energy Management for C9800 o Structure and benefits of Templates Hub for C9800 configuration management. o Automating initial deployment and ongoing changes for C9800 controllers and APs with Day-0 and Day_N Templates. o Dynamic Variables and Syntax: Using Velocity/Jinja2 for scalable, repeatable configurations. o Wireless Use Cases for C9800 via Templates. Bulk WLAN creation. Tag assignment. Policy updates. o Energy Management Features for Wireless Infrastructure. Monitoring PoE usage AP power policies. Sustainability dashboards for wireless infrastructure. Lab Outline 1. Cisco C9800 WLC Walkthrough 2. Create VLAN for Client Access 3. Create a Wireless Location 4. Create Mpsk SSID 5. WLC and ISE Integration 6. Create and Test iPSK SSID 7. Implement FlexConnect WLAN Deployment on 9800 WLC 8. FlexConnect Group 9. Mobility Tunnel Setup 10. Guest Anchor Mobility 11. QOS and AVC 12. Perform 9800 WLC Maintenance 13. 9800 WLC Troubleshooting 14. High Availability SSO for Centralized Cisco 9800 WLC 15. Perform 9800 WLC Upgrade in HA Pair 16. C9800 Non-Fabric Provisioning using Catalyst Center 17. Catalyst Center Energy Management