Cisco Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller Libro bianco
Cisco vs Aruba Wireless Controllers
6
DR150602D
Copyright © Miercom 2015
18 June 2015
3 - Test Setup
A diverse set of tests were applied to the Wireless Controllers. Subsequently, the test beds were
equally diverse and fairly complicated. Three discrete test beds were assembled for the three
areas of testing:
equally diverse and fairly complicated. Three discrete test beds were assembled for the three
areas of testing:
1. Data Plane Scale. This test bed was designed to ascertain and compare the aggregate
throughput supported by the vendors' Wireless Controller. As noted earlier, the 20-
Gbps-supporting Cisco 5520 was matched against the comparable 20-Gbps Aruba 7210,
and the 40-Gbps-supporting Cisco 8540 was pitted against the 40-Gbps Aruba 7240.
Gbps-supporting Cisco 5520 was matched against the comparable 20-Gbps Aruba 7210,
and the 40-Gbps-supporting Cisco 8540 was pitted against the 40-Gbps Aruba 7240.
2. Control Plane Scale. This test bed was designed to ascertain the maximum user-
authentication rate of the Wireless Controller. Because custom test equipment was
employed, in the absence of any off-the-shelf test tools, and due to authentication-
protocol differences, this test could not be performed with Aruba. Instead, the user-
authentication rate of Cisco's latest 5520 was measured, and compared with the user-
authentication rate measured for the predecessor Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller, which
was tested in exactly the same manner.
employed, in the absence of any off-the-shelf test tools, and due to authentication-
protocol differences, this test could not be performed with Aruba. Instead, the user-
authentication rate of Cisco's latest 5520 was measured, and compared with the user-
authentication rate measured for the predecessor Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller, which
was tested in exactly the same manner.
3. Radio Resource Management (RRM): This test bed compared the throughputs achieved
using the different channel widths – 20-MHz, 40-MHz and 80-MHz. In addition,
throughput was measured for Cisco's Dynamic Bandwidth Selection (DBS), which applies
additional criteria provided by the APs in selecting the optimum channel width for each
AP. The Aruba equipment tested did not offer such a best or auto channel-bandwidth
selection.
throughput was measured for Cisco's Dynamic Bandwidth Selection (DBS), which applies
additional criteria provided by the APs in selecting the optimum channel width for each
AP. The Aruba equipment tested did not offer such a best or auto channel-bandwidth
selection.
All APs and controllers were configured using similar configurations (same channels, SSID, Cat-6A
cable length) with the individual vendors' best practices applied. The latest publicly available
controller codes at the time of testing were deployed: Cisco 8.1.102.0, Aruba 6.4.3.1.
Miercom recognizes IxChariot by Ixia (www.ixiacom.com) and Spirent Test Center
(www.spirent.com) as a leading test tools for simulating real-world applications for predicting
device and system performance under practical load conditions. IxChariot and Spirent were used
to accurately access the performance characteristics of any application running on wired and
wireless networks. For all the RRM Test cases, IxChariot v7.30 server was used with TCP High-
Throughput Script for each pair. The most recent available client IxChariot endpoints were
installed on respective client devices.
Each test bed is discussed in more detail in the following sections.
cable length) with the individual vendors' best practices applied. The latest publicly available
controller codes at the time of testing were deployed: Cisco 8.1.102.0, Aruba 6.4.3.1.
Miercom recognizes IxChariot by Ixia (www.ixiacom.com) and Spirent Test Center
(www.spirent.com) as a leading test tools for simulating real-world applications for predicting
device and system performance under practical load conditions. IxChariot and Spirent were used
to accurately access the performance characteristics of any application running on wired and
wireless networks. For all the RRM Test cases, IxChariot v7.30 server was used with TCP High-
Throughput Script for each pair. The most recent available client IxChariot endpoints were
installed on respective client devices.
Each test bed is discussed in more detail in the following sections.