D-Link AirPremier DWL-2210AP Manual page 39

Managing Access Points and Clusters
If you click on any of the Cluster tabs on the Administration pages for an access point
in standalone mode, you will be redirected to the Basic Settings page because Cluster
settings do not apply to standalone APs.
When the cluster is full (eight APs is the limit), extra APs are added in standalone
mode regardless of the configuration policy in effect for new access points. See "How
Many APs Can a Cluster Support?" in this manual.
You can re-enable cluster mode on a standalone access point. (See "Adding an Access
Point to a Cluster" in this manual.)
Cluster Formation
A cluster is formed when the first D-Link DWL-2210AP is configured. (See "Quick Steps
for Setup and Launch of Your Wireless Network" and "Configuring Basic Settings" in
this manual.)
If a cluster configuration policy is in place, when a new access point is deployed, it
attempts to rendezvous with an existing cluster.
If it is unable to locate a cluster, then it establishes a new cluster on its own.
If it locates a cluster but is rejected because the cluster is full, or the clustering policy is
to ignore new access points, then the access point will deploy in standalone mode.
Cluster Size and Membership
The upper limit of a cluster is eight access points. The "Cluster" Web administration
pages provides a real-time, visual indicator of the number of access points in the current
cluster and warn when the cluster has reached capacity. (See "Step 6. Configure "Basic
Settings" and start the wireless network" in this manual.)
If a cluster is present but is already full, new access points will deploy in standalone
mode.
Intra-Cluster Security
To ensure that the security of the cluster as a whole is equivalent to the security of a
single access point, communication of certain data between access points in a cluster
is done using Secure Sockets Layer (typically referred to as SSL) with private key
encryption.
Both the cluster configuration file and the user database are transmitted among access
points using SSL.
Auto-Synch of Cluster Configuration
If you are making changes to the AP configuration that require a relatively large amount
of processing (such as adding several new users), you may encounter a synchronization
progress bar after clicking "Update" on any of the Administration pages.
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