General information
SoftWLC is a software Wi-Fi controller that provides a complex solution for organizing guest and service networks. SoftWLC software package combines Wi-Fi access points, access switches and routers manufactured by Eltex into a single product. The package allows configuring and maintaining networks and user services in accordance with a client's requirements.
Key features of SoftWLC
- Automation of access point commissioning
- Providing functions for network elements monitoring: access points, access switches, routers
- Providing functions for network element individual control
- Providing functions for network element group control
- Providing functions for group policies, customer lists, individual/group shapers configuring and other service functions management
- Providing access points' firmware automatic update
- Providing guest portal authorization of Wi-Fi users with different identification methods: incoming SMS, outgoing SMS, voice call, vouchers, preconfigured accounts of mass events participants
- Possibility to create flexible portal scenarios with time or traffic limits for users. Paid scenarios are also available
- Possibility of identification portal to flexibly work on schedule
- Possibility to set up scheduled network operation including password rotation for primary connection to the portal identification network
- Providing Enterprise user authorization with traffic encryption. The identification can be performed with a login/password or with an integrated TLS certificate
- Possibility of “portal” user roaming between access points and user id keeping between sessions
- Providing a graphical provider console for system management and monitoring
- Possibility to deploy a supervisory-level system with some settings and monitoring functions possible to be transferred from a provider to a client in accordance with B2B
- Providing enterprise clients of the provider with B2B Admin Panel graphical interface that comprises basic elements for obtaining network operation statistics and tools for Wi-Fi users' accounts management
- Providing GUI for setting guest portals for enterprise clients (in accordance with B2B), that includes basic elements for design, identification options and other features
- Providing service interface (Northbound) for system settings automation and connection with the provider's or its B2B clients' OSS
- Controller redundancy in active/standby mode
Main SoftWLC modules and their functions
- EMS server
- management and monitoring of other modules of the system
- receiving and processing of SNMP traps sent by system components
- device initialization and configuration
- performing group operations with devices
- notification on failures occurred
- scheduled activation of monitors controlling the proper operation of the system
- providing Graphical User Interface (GUI)
- monitoring with saving data to a Round-Robin Database (RRD)
- WEB portal
- an application providing a set of WEB portals for user authorization in Hotspot networks
- Portal Constructor
- a tool that allows creating and configuring virtual portals for user authorization in Hotspot networks
- B2B Admin Panel
- providing interface for new Wi-Fi users' accounts creation and basic service management operations
- Database
- MySQL
- MongoDB
- RADIUS server
- AAA operations
- WPA-Enterprise authorization
- DHCP Server
- assigning primary (external) IP addresses to access points with option 43 (suboptions 11 and 12) that allows creating GRE tunnels to ESR
- assigning secondary (management, tunnel) IP addresses to access points with option 43 (suboptions 10 and 13) for management, detection and automatic initialization of access points
- assigning IP addresses to Wi-Fi users connected to access points
- classification of DHCP clients by 82, 60 options and giAddr Field
- APB service
- roaming of users authorized via WEB portal
- configuration and transmission of public IP address lists for portal authorization
- Notification Gateway
- centralized interchange between platform elements and external systems (SMS gateways, Call centers and E-mail servers) via SMTP, SMPP, HTTP, WebSocket
- PCRF
- authorization and authentication of users connected via BRAS (a server which allows providing user service based on third-party vendors' access points)
- accounting information collection for all authorization mechanisms and transferring it to a database
- controlling the number of Wi-Fi users' simultaneous sessions for all authorization mechanisms
- deauthentication of Wi-Fi users authorized via WPA-enterprise modes and BRAS
- Airtune
- management of access points radio resources
- NBI
connection between SoftWLC components via the SOAP protocol
service operation maintenance
- Customer Cab
- Portal Constructor
- PCRF
- Customer Cab
- generation of TLS authorization certificates
SoftWLC technologies:
- equipment management and monitoring
- SNMP
- ICMP
- user authorization
- portal authorization on Eltex access points
- EAP authorization (WPA2 enterprise) on the RADIUS server
- portal authorization on third- party access points (BRAS + PCRF)
- Roaming
- portal user roaming on Eltex access points
- Integration with external systems
- SMS gateways
- SMSC gateway
- GSM gateways (NetPing SMS)
- Active Directory
- Hot-WiFi
- SMS gateways
Compliance of used technologies (protocols) with standards and specifications:
- EAP (WPA2)
- IEEE 802.11i ( Wi-Fi Protected Access II, defines security mechanisms for wireless networks)
- AES (encryption standard)
- RFC 3748
- SNMP
- defined as a component of TCP/IP by the IETF
- RFC 1157
- ICMP
- an Internet standard (included in the STD 5 standard)
- RFC 792
- RADIUS
- RFC 2866 RADIUS Accounting
- RRM
- IEEE 802.11h – Dynamic Channel Selection and Transmission Power Control for wireless local area networks
- IEEE 802.11k – RRM for wireless local area networks
- SMTP
- RFC 5321
- HTTP
- RFC 2616
- WebSocket
- RFC 6455
- Roaming is carried out in accordance with IEEE 802.11r standard
System requirements for SoftWLC server
- Operation systems: Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS / Astra Linux Common Edition 2.12.44 / Debian 9 / Astra Linux Special Edition 1.7.1
When selecting a server, the following system requirements must be taken into account (requirements are provided for the VM without taking into account system redundancy):
Number of devices | VM name | CPU core, Xeon | RAM, GB | HDD, GB |
10 – 200 APs | SoftWLC | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 200 |
200 – 500 APs | SoftWLC | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 |
500 – 1000 APs | SoftWLC | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 200 |
DataBase | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 | |
1000 – 2000 APs | EMS | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 14 | 200 |
RADIUS | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 6 | 100 | |
WEB Portal | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 40 | |
MySQL | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 500 | |
MongoDB | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 200 |
System requirements for SoftWLC server (multihost installation)
- Operation systems: Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS / Astra Linux Common Edition 2.12.44 / Debian 9 / Astra Linux Special Edition 1.7.1
When selecting a server, the following system requirements must be taken into account (requirements are provided for the VM taking into account system redundancy):
Number of devices | VM name | CPU core, Xeon | RAM, GB | HDD, GB | Packages |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 – 200 APs | EMS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw |
EMS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw | |
MongoDB (arbitier) | 1, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 2 | 20 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
200 – 500 APs | EMS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw |
EMS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw | |
MongoDB (arbitier) | 1, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 2 | 20 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
500 – 1000 APs | EMS-1 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw mongodb (arbiter) |
EMS-2 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-radius eltex-pcrf eltex-apb eltex-portal isc-dhcp-server eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor eltex-ngw mongodb (arbiter) | |
DataBase-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 | mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-rradius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb | |
DataBase-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 200 | mysql eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb | |
1000 – 2000 APs | EMS-1 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 14 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor |
EMS-2 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 14 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 6 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf isc-dhcp-server | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 6 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf isc-dhcp-server | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal eltex-apb | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db mongodb (arbiter) | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
2000 – 3000 APs | EMS-1 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 18 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems |
EMS-2 | 6, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 18 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems | |
NBI-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf isc-dhcp-server | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf isc-dhcp-server | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal eltex-apb | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 56 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 56 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 20 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 20 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 20 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
WiFi-Cab-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
WiFi-Cab-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
3000 – 4000 APs | EMS-1 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 20 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems |
EMS-2 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 20 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems | |
NBI-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
APB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
APB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 10 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
DHCP-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
DHCP-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
WiFi-Cab-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
WiFi-Cab-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
4000 – 5000 APs | EMS-1 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 200 | tomcat jdk tex-ems |
EMS-2 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 24 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems | |
NBI-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-3 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-4 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
APB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
APB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 12 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
DHCP-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
DHCP-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
WiFi-Cab-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 14 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
WiFi-Cab-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 14 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
> 5000 APs | EMS-1 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | tomcat jdk tex-ems |
EMS-2 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems | |
NBI-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-3 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-4 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
APB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
APB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >64 | 500 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-radius-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
DHCP-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
DHCP-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
WiFi-Cab-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
WiFi-Cab-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
10,000 APs | EMS-1 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 200 | tomcat jdk tex-ems |
EMS-2 | 8, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 64 | 200 | tomcat jdk eltex-ems | |
NBI-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-3 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
NBI-4 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 4 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-axis eltex-radius-nbi | |
RADIUS-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
RADIUS-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 100 | jdk eltex-radius eltex-pcrf | |
APB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
APB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | jdk eltex-apb | |
WEB-Portal-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
WEB-Portal-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-portal | |
MySQL-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >16 | 200 Гб 10k RAID10 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >16 | 200 Гб 10k RAID10 | mysql jdk eltex-ems-db eltex-auth-service-db eltex-portal-db | |
MySQL-3 (RADIUS) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >120 | 1 Tб 10k RAID10 | mysql eltex-radius-db | |
MySQL-4 (RADIUS) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | >120 | 1 Tб 10k RAID10 | mysql eltex-radius-db | |
MongoDB-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb | |
MongoDB-3 (arbitier) | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 32 | 200 | mongodb (arbiter) | |
DHCP-1 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
DHCP-2 | 2, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 8 | 40 | isc-dhcp-server | |
WiFi-Cab-1 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor | |
WiFi-Cab-2 | 4, 64-bit x86 CPUs | 16 | 40 | tomcat jdk eltex-wifi-cab eltex-portal-constructor |
Minimum requirements for the system operator's workstation
Dual core processor with 2.5 GHz or more frequency
RAM 4 GB or more
Monitor resolution 1920x1080 or more
Stable server connection, recommended speed 10Mbit/s or more, keyboard, mouse
java jre 1.8 (with relevant updates)
Chrome or Firefox browser (with relevant updates)