What Is WebMaster?

WebMaster is an integrated network management platform that provides a local network management solution. You can log in to a device (usually a core switch or gateway) on a campus network to implement unified visualization, management, and control of the entire campus network.

Contents

Background of WebMaster

As digital transformation advances, campus networks face the following new challenges:

Inefficient deployment
In the future, terminals on campus networks will proliferate exponentially, driving the continuous campus network expansion. But according to a survey of campus customers conducted by Huawei's Joint Product Definition Community (JDC), the conventional command line interface (CLI) is still used for manual deployment on 63% of today's campus networks. With a large number of devices configured through the CLI, service commissioning takes more than 40% of the total time, 20 to 30 minutes for each device on average. As such, there is an urgent need for cutting off repeated service commissioning.
Difficult O&M
Service development drives the improvement of O&M capabilities for campus networks. According to the survey by Huawei's JDC, 46% of campus network devices use their factory default versions and are not upgraded periodically. This is because the upgrade of devices one by one is time-consuming and no quick recovery method is available for an upgrade exception. When a fault occurs, users need to check devices one by one and view information such as logs, alarms, and device configurations, which is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. Instead, they would prefer for troubleshooting to be automated. In addition, 85% of faulty devices need to be replaced manually onsite, and nearly 60% of survey respondents hope that the replacement can be completed within 1 hour.
Complex management
A campus network consists of wired, wireless, security, and terminal products, and network nodes are scattered, complicating management. Due to cost considerations, most campus networks do not have an independent network management system (NMS). In addition, for data security reasons, some small and midsize enterprises are reluctant to deploy cloud-based network management. That's why there is a strong demand for a lightweight local unified management platform.

To address the preceding challenges facing campus networks in digital transformation, Huawei developed the WebMaster Solution.

Network Architecture of WebMaster

The WebMaster Solution provides a local network management solution. You can log in to a device (usually a core switch or gateway) on a campus network to implement unified visualization, management, and control of the entire campus network.

The following figure shows the network architecture of the WebMaster Solution. In the WebMaster Solution, network elements (NEs) are classified into the following roles:

Master device: provides automated management of the entire network. Typically, a gateway or core switch on the campus network functions as the master device.
Member device: a device managed by the master device, for example, a switch or access point (AP).

In the WebMaster Solution, the net assistant function needs to be configured on the master device for deploying the WebMaster.

Network architecture of the WebMaster Solution

WebMaster Functions

The WebMaster Solution provides visualization, one-click operations, and automation functions for small/midsize campuses and branches, facilitating digital transformation of these campus networks.

Visualization

The WebMaster Solution provides visualization functions, including topology visualization and health visualization.

Topology visualization
WebMaster presents the network topology in a visualized manner, as shown in the following figure. With this function, the topology in the management Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), namely, VLAN 1, can be automatically discovered, including the network topology, device model, device status, and interface status.

Topology visualization function of WebMaster

Health visualization
The health visualization function of WebMaster helps measure the running status of the entire network and present the CPU usage, memory usage, chassis temperature, and fan status. In addition, it can visualize key alarms on the entire network.

One-Click Operations

The WebMaster Solution provides the following one-click operations functions:

One-click provisioning: WebMaster allows you to create VLANs based on the wizard, including wired network parameters (such as VLANs and DHCP), wireless network parameters (such as SSIDs), and username and password for entire-network management.

One-click upgrade/patching: WebMaster provides one-click batch upgrade capabilities for the entire network, including: one-click upgrade of all devices, one-click upgrade of devices of a specific model, and one-click patch installation for all devices.
One-click faulty device replacement: WebMaster allows for one-click replacement of a faulty device by one of the same model, without any configuration made.

Automation

The WebMaster Solution offers a wide range of automation capabilities, including automatic deployment and diagnosis.

Automatic deployment: WebMaster can automatically discover NEs and the physical topology. The master device is automatically elected. In addition, NEs can be automatically authenticated and managed.
Automatic diagnosis: WebMaster can automatically detect loops caused by incorrect connections, eliminate the loops, and display loop elimination results in the topology view.

Automatic deployment function of WebMaster

Key Technologies of WebMaster

To implement unified visualization, management, and control of the entire campus network, WebMaster uses the Ubiquitous Autonomous Link (UAL) protocol. Based on the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), UAL implements automatic network configuration, connection, and diagnosis using key technologies such as master role election, automatic NE discovery, network topology collection, and accurate loop topology blocking. For details about UAL, see UAL Configuration.

Application Scenarios of WebMaster

WebMaster is an ideal choice for small/midsize campus or branch networks to implement unified O&M management of campus network devices. A small/midsize campus or branch network consists of several to hundreds of devices, including switches and APs. The entire network can be broken down into the core layer and access layer. Currently, manual deployment, configuration, and O&M are used in most cases. This leads to inconvenient use and a low efficiency.

As shown in the following figure, WebMaster can be deployed on the core switch, eliminating the need for a dedicated NMS server. WebMaster uses the UAL to automatically discover and manage devices on the entire network, implementing network-wide management, batch configuration, and visualized O&M.