In a VSF ring topology, each switch has two VSF links, creating two distinct paths for control plane traffic between any two members. This provides inherent redundancy and high resilience for the VSF control protocol, making it the recommended topology for critical environments where control plane stability is paramount. A chain topology has a single point of failure, a full-mesh is not a standard VSF topology and is impractical with more than a few switches, and a star topology centralizes failure risk on the commander.

Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) is the Aruba feature responsible for automatic channel and power assignment, as well as client load balancing. Part of its function is to steer clients away from congested channels and access points to optimize overall network performance, which directly addresses the described interference scenario. Client Match focuses on associating clients to the best AP initially, AirMatch automates channel planning, and Band Steering pushes capable clients to the 5 GHz band.

In ClearPass Policy Manager, the Enforcement Policy determines the final set of actions applied after a successful authentication/authorization. For captive portal redirection to occur, the enforcement policy for the guest role must explicitly include a ‘Redirect’ action pointing to the correct URL. Missing this action is a common reason for the portal not appearing, even if authentication and role assignment succeed.

This scenario describes dynamic VLAN assignment based on RADIUS attributes. The controller needs a RADIUS server profile to communicate with the authentication server (e.g., ClearPass or Microsoft NPS). Upon successful authentication, the server sends a VLAN ID attribute (like Tunnel-Private-Group-ID) to the controller. The controller must be configured with a user role that uses a ‘role-derived VLAN’ to accept and apply this dynamically received VLAN information.

VLANs are the fundamental Layer 2 technology for creating separate broadcast domains on a single physical switch. By assigning POS ports to one VLAN and staff ports to another, traffic is isolated at Layer 2, which is a core requirement for PCI-DSS segmentation. ACLs filter traffic but don’t create separate broadcast domains, MSTP manages loop prevention per-VLAN, and VRF is a Layer 3 isolation technology.

Aruba’s Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) continuously monitors the RF environment. In a high-density deployment, a key function of ARM is to automatically reduce transmit power on nearby APs to minimize co-channel interference and optimize cell sizes. This is expected and desired behavior. While other options are possible, ARM’s dynamic power adjustment is the most common and intentional reason for this observed power difference in a managed network.

Firewall policies on Aruba devices are typically processed from top to bottom, with the first matching rule applied. If a rule higher in the list (e.g., an ‘allow all web traffic’ rule) matches the social media traffic first, the subsequent ‘block social media’ rule will never be evaluated. The most common cause for a block rule not working is that it is placed after a more general allow rule.

A Context Server in ClearPass is used to import data from external sources via APIs or other methods. It can periodically poll an HR system’s API, import the employee list, and detect status changes. When a change like ‘terminated’ is detected, the Context Server can trigger actions within ClearPass, such as adding the user to a blacklist or disabling their account, enabling automated identity lifecycle management.

WPA3-Enterprise mandates the use of either GCMP-256 (Galois/Counter Mode Protocol) or AES-CCMP with 256-bit key strength. Among these, GCMP-256 is generally considered the stronger and more efficient modern option, providing 256-bit encryption and integrity protection. AES-CCMP (128-bit) is used in WPA2, TKIP is deprecated and insecure, and WPA2-PSK is a pre-shared key mode, not an enterprise cryptographic suite.

In a VSF ring topology, each switch has two VSF links, creating two distinct paths for control plane traffic between any two members. This provides inherent redundancy and high resilience for the VSF control protocol, making it the recommended topology for critical environments where control plane stability is paramount. A chain topology has a single point of failure, a full-mesh is not a standard VSF topology and is impractical with more than a few switches, and a star topology centralizes failure risk on the commander.0