Survivability

Survivability in Aruba AirGroup is a crucial aspect that ensures uninterrupted service discovery even when APs lose their connection to Aruba Central, the centralized management platform. This feature is vital for maintaining the functionality and accessibility of AirGroup services in scenarios where network connectivity to the central management platform is disrupted. Here’s an overview of how survivability is managed in Aruba AirGroup:

• Local Central Cache: APs in an Aruba AirGroup deployment maintain a local Central cache of service discovery information. This cache includes essential data about AirGroup services, servers, and associated policies. In the event of a network interruption to Aruba Central, this local Central cache allows APs to continue serving AirGroup services based on the last synchronized information.

• Service Continuity: The local Central cache enables APs to continue responding to service discovery requests from clients, even when they are unable to communicate with Aruba Central. This ensures that AirGroup services remain accessible to users within the AP’s coverage area, minimizing disruptions.

• Cache Synchronization: When the network connection to Aruba Central is restored, APs sends Discover cache updates and synchronize their Central cache with the latest information from AirGroup service in Central. This process helps maintain consistency across the network and updates any changes or policies made during the network outage.

• Delta Updates: Aruba AirGroup employs delta update mechanisms to transmit only the changes or updates to the local Central cache, rather than sending the entire cache. This efficient data transfer minimizes bandwidth usage during cache synchronization.

• Network Resilience: To further enhance survivability, organizations may implement network redundancy and failover mechanisms to reduce the risk of network outages affecting AirGroup operations.

In summary, Aruba AirGroup’s survivability mechanisms ensure that service discovery operations continue seamlessly even in the absence of a connection to Aruba Central. By maintaining a local Central cache and employing efficient synchronization methods, AirGroup enables uninterrupted access to essential services for users, enhancing the reliability and resilience of the network. These features are critical for organizations that prioritize service availability and seamless user experiences.