topic Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

corey_britton — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 19:17:57 GMT

Hello,

I am wanting to get around 8 access points and they need to be FIPS compliant. From what I've gathered I would need a SmartZone controller to run them in FIPS mode. Some of the controllers look like way more than what I need. I was just curious if there's a controller you guys would recommend for a small install?

Thanks

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

syamantakomer — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 21:01:52 GMT

Hi Corey,

Only Ruckus SmartZone and virtual SmartZone are capable of FIPS, hence these are the only available options to deploy FIPS APs.

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

corey_britton — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 21:08:35 GMT

@syamantak_omer thank you. I was just trying to see what the most affordable SmartZone controller would be.

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

syamantakomer — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 21:30:21 GMT

@darrel_rhodes need your help on this one.

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 09:47:37 GMT

Hi Corey,

FIPS is supported by both hardware and virtualised RUCKUS controller platforms.

By far the most cost effective controller is the virtualSmartZone Essentials (vSZ-E). The part number for this is: L09-VSCG-WW00

This is for the vSZ 'Right-to-Use (RTU)' license that includes a single AP license, for running on a VM Hypervisor such as VMWare, KVM or Hyper-V. You will also need additional AP and support licenses.

Once you have purchased the vSZ-E RTU you will need to download the FIPS version of the vSZ-E software from the Ruckus support site: https://support.ruckuswireless.com

It appears the lastest version of the FIPS compliant vSZ-E is: 5.1.2.3.1232 - this was released on the 26th of July 2021.

We have previously had FIPS-specific AP models but it appears this is no longer required for our latest Wi-Fi 6 APs as we do not have FIPS specific 802.11ax AP models on our price list.

I hope the above information helps. I would highly recommend you contact your local Ruckus partner for further assistance: https://extapps.commscope.com/howtobuy/RuckusChannelPartner

Best,
Darrel.

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

corey_britton — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 13:09:22 GMT

Thanks for the help @darrel_rhodes ! So what part number would I need for the additional AP licenses?

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 13:54:01 GMT

My pleasure @corey_britton !

Here's an example BoM for 8x R650 APs managed by vSZ-E:

1x L09-VSCG-WW00 = Virtual SmartZone RTU license
1x S01-VSCG-1L00 = End User WatchDog Support - VSZ-RTU, 1 YR
8x L09-0001-SG00 = AP management license for SZ
8x S01-0001-1LSG = End User WatchDog Support Per SZ/(v)SZ AP, 1 YR
8x 901-R650-WW00 = R650 dual-band 802.11abgn/ac/ax Wireless AP

Re: Descent Priced Smart Zone Controller

corey_britton — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 14:07:40 GMT

@darrel_rhodes thanks so much for the help. Contacting vendor now to get more details.