Aruba offers on-premise and cloud-based management solutions for switches, access points, and controllers.
AirWave is an award-winning on-premise Network Management Solution (NMS) that manages both Aruba and
third-party network devices. AirWave is ideal for Campus networks and for organizations which prefer to have
complete control over the hardware and software and have their NMS within premises (for example: either in the
head office or data center or one of the large campuses).
Aruba Central is a popular cloud-based management solution for Branch and Distributed Enterprises which prefer
simplicity, programmability, and integration with third-party cloud-based solutions for automation. Central offers
cloud portal subscriptions through which one can manage the entire network of Aruba devices, without having to
set up, upgrade, scale, or manage an NMS.
In this chapter, the focus is primarily on the Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) and connection to either AirWave or
Central using ZTP for check-in, configuration download, and management.
Zero Touch Provisioning
ZTP enables the auto-configuration of factory-default switches without requiring any manual setup process. It
helps the administrators to deploy their fleet of switches at multiple branches without requiring a technical expert
onsite. It is of use for distributed enterprises (for example: hotels, hospitals, retail stores, educational institutions,
and other enterprises) where an administrator is not available at every site.
Aruba offers ZTP solution which reduces the overall cost of ownership. Aruba ships infrastructure devices such as
switches, access points, and controllers directly to the site of usage. With ZTP, even a nontechnical user (for
example: store manager in a retail chain or a class teacher in a school) can deploy devices at site. When the
devices are connected to AirWave or Central, ZTP automatically sets up the required firmware and configurations,
and services without the need for technical expertise on site.
ZTP with AirWave
Aruba supports ZTP using:
• DHCP servers for on-premise management and
• Activate for cloud-based management. Activate is a cloud-based inventory management and provisioning
service.
You can choose any of the ZTP methods based on your requirement. For example: If all the campuses and
branches which an Enterprise manages are reachable within a private network, Aruba recommends using DHCP-
based ZTP. If an Enterprise network spans multiple campuses and branches using WAN to communicate, use
Activate-based ZTP.
DHCP-based ZTP with AirWave
Configuring DHCP-based ZTP with AirWave
ZTP auto-configures your switches as follows:
Procedure
1. The switch boots up with the factory default configuration.
Chapter 10
Zero Touch Provisioning with AirWave and Central
Chapter 10 Zero Touch Provisioning with AirWave and Central 221
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