Cloud Cisco Catalyst 9800-CL

Available as IaaS solution for Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Manufacturer

Cisco

SKU Number

C9800-CL-K9

Typical location

Distribution cabinet

Main functions

Centralised management of multiple Cisco Catalyst 9100 access points, Support for 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), capability of network analysis and assessment of performance increase for Wi-Fi 6 deployment, Unnoticeable and seamless updates with ISSU technology, controller operation won’t be interrupted, Wireless virtual network controller integrated into Catalyst 9000 Series switch

Availability: Available

Description
Model comparison
Licensing

Configuration and application

Designed from the ground up for intuitive networking and for Cisco DNA
Designed for various number of requirements for a specific organisation and size. There are three size profiles for given requirements:
- Small (low / high throughput): Up to 1,000 Access Points (APs) and 10,000 hosts
- Medium (low / high throughput): up to 3,000 APs and 32,000 hosts
- Large (low / high throughput): up to 6,000 APs and 64,000 hosts

New model of controller configuration is based on profiles and tags. Profiles contain a collection of functionalities and properties, while tags enable assignment of profiles to access points.

There are five types of profiles:

Access point connection profile and access point profile itself, includes general settings of an access point, CAPWAP settings, SSH/Telnet settings
WLAN profile, which determines the SSID name and security settings
Rules profile, includes authentication and AAA authorisation settings, ACL access lists, session and idle time settings
Flex profile, groups those settings that are to be assigned to the AP (VLAN assignment, ACL mapping)
RF profile, includes specification of a particular band

Types of tags:

Rule tag, combines a profile with a
Location tag, assigns AP profile settings to an access point, determines whether the site belongs to the local network; if so, it decides whether the AP will work in local mode that is compatible with Cisco FlexConnect®.
RF tag, assigns a particular band profile (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) to an AP

Key technical features

ESXi, KVM, Cisco NFVIS VMware support
Centralised method of Cisco FlexConnect® deployment, mesh and Fabric (SD-Access) support
Intuitive wizard available during virtual machine instance creation to enable launching the wireless controller with recommended parameters
Open and programmable API interfaces enabling networking automation
Cisco IOS XE supports the push model, which ensures near real-time network monitoring leading to quick fault detection and solving.
Up to 2.1 Gbps bandwidth in low throughput mode without SR-IOV, up to 5 Gbps for ESXi, KVM in high profile mode with SR-IOV
Implementation of the latest WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) security standard with obligatory Protected Management Frames (PMF). WPA3 also supports DPP (Device Provisioning Protocol), which makes it significantly easier to safely deploy IoT devices.
Patch installation without rebooting, short and non-disruptive upgrade process, detailed telemetry on demand

Catalyst 9800-40	Catalyst 9800-80	Catalyst 9800-CL
For small and medium-sized campuses	Large campuses and service provider networks	For private or public clouds (AWS service)
Up to 2,000 access points and 32,000 clients	Up to 6000 access points and 64,000 clients	Up to 6,000 access points and 64,000 clients
up to 40 Gb/s bandwidth	up to 80 Gb/s bandwidth	Depending on the company and campus needs
Up to 4,096 WLANs and VLANs	Up to 4,096 WLANs and VLANs	Up to 4,096 WLANs and VLANs

Connecting an AP to a controller requires Cisco DNA subscription. Each AP needs access to Cisco DNA. Cisco DNA software supports three levels: Cisco DNA Essentials, Cisco DNA Advantage and Cisco DNA Premier. Network Essentials and Network Advantage licenses are also included, which cover: 802.1X, QoS and PnP authentication, security inspections. The subscription can be purchased for a 3, 5, or 7-year period. After the period expires, Cisco DNA functions will cease to work; however, Network Essentials and Network Advantage will remain.