Can anyone tell what exactly does the 3650 MA or MC does

Question

Hi
Datasheet is not very helpfull..
I want to now if there is any benefit if i have a local 5508 HA pair at my central site and a 3650 MC Controller in my branch?
Is there any config sync between WLC or Prime with this 3650 in Mobility Agent or Mobility Controller mode?
regards
Chris

Answer 1

Hi Chris,
MC-Mobility Controller & MA-Mobility Agent are two different roles assign to a wireless controller. In legacy systems (5508,WiSM2,2504) both roles reside on the same physical unit.
Typically MA is responsisble for terminate CAPWAP tunnels from AP, maintain client database where as MC is responsible for Roaming, RRM, wIPS, etc.Another important aspect is MC hold the license for AP registration. In legacy system you do not want to worry about both are doing by the same controller/device.
With this new Converged Access deployment model you have the option of seperate these data plane (MA) & control plane (MC) funtionality into two sepearte device. In a large scale deployments, you should have central controller acting as MC (it can be 5508,5760) & all your access layer 3850/3560 will act as MA & terminate all directly connected AP CAPWAP tunnels.
In small/branch deployment, you can use a 3850/3560 to do the MC funtionality as well. In that case it will act as a full WLC (with MC& MA functionality).
In your case, yes you can use 3650 to do the MA/MC at your branch (think of you got a WLC at your branch). If you require guest tunneling/etc, then your 5508 need to be run specific code (7.3.112.0 ,7.5.102.0 or 7.6.100.0) in order to inter-communicate with branch 3650.
As Scott mentioned, it is different architecture, so better you familiar prior to deploy it. Here is another good presentation you should watch.
https://www.ciscolive.com/online/connect/sessionDetail.ww?SESSION_ID=74990&backBtn=true
HTH
Rasika
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