Cisco AIR-CT5508-HA-K9 Full English Product Description
1. Short Official Part & License Label
AIR-CT5508-HA-K9: Cisco 5508 Series High Availability Wireless LAN Controller Chassis (Zero Built-In AP Base License, HA Pair Secondary Unit), 1U Rack-Mount CUWN WLC Hardware Chassis, 8×1G SFP Gigabit Uplink Slots, 8 Gbps Non-Blocking Switching Throughput, Optional Redundant AC Power Supply Support, Full Unified Wireless Threat Feature Set, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, Multi-Context Multi-Tenant Isolation, Native SSO Stateful Switchover HA Dedicated Redundancy Port, End-of-Sale Legacy Secondary HA Controller Chassis
2. Full Product Overview
The Cisco AIR-CT5508-HA-K9 is a blank hardware chassis variant of the discontinued Cisco 5508 Wireless LAN Controller platform, purpose-built exclusively to act as the secondary standby unit in an Active/Standby Stateful Switchover (SSO) high availability pairCisco. Unlike standard licensed 5508 models (12/25/50/100/250/500-K9) that ship with permanent pre-installed AP capacity licenses, this HA SKU containszero native AP licenses; all AP capacity entitlements reside on the primary active WLC, shared to the standby HA chassis via SSO synchronization.
As a core component of Cisco Unified Wireless Network (CUWN), it mirrors all hardware and software capabilities of standard AIR-CT5508-K9 controllers, terminating DTLS encrypted CAPWAP tunnels, centralizing RF management, enterprise wireless security, Layer 2/3 client mobility, VoWLAN QoS, and guest access services. It features a dedicated rear-panel redundancy port for low-latency sync of full AP registration data, client session tables, configuration databases, and certificate information between primary and secondary controllers, enabling zero-downtime failover without re-authentication or AP re-joins.
The 5508 platform is fully End-of-Sale (EoS) and End-of-Support (EoL); all stock consists of surplus, used, or certified refurbished hardware. It interoperates with all Aironet 802.11n / 802.11ac Wave 1 lightweight APs, and supports standalone local FDM web GUI, serial/SSH CLI management, or centralized fleet orchestration via Cisco Prime Infrastructure. Administrators must pair this HA chassis with a licensed primary 5508 WLC to provision and operate lightweight access points; no standalone wireless deployment is possible with AIR-CT5508-HA-K9 alone.
Key Differentiator vs standard 5508 SKUs: No factory AP license, dedicated HA hardware chassis optimized for SSO redundancy pairs, identical throughput and feature support to licensed 5508 base hardware, and requires shared license pooling from primary controller.
3. Complete Hardware Physical & Interface Specifications
Form Factor & Mechanical
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Rack Form Factor: Standard 1U 19-inch rack-mount chassis
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Dimensions: 440 mm (W) × 539 mm (D) × 44.5 mm (H) / 17.30 × 21.20 × 1.75 inches
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Unit Weight: 9.1 kg (20 lbs) with dual power supplies installed
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Cooling: Multiple internal hot-swappable cooling fans
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Power Supply: Single integrated AC PSU standard; optional redundant second PSU for fault tolerance
Rear Panel Interface Layout
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8× SFP Gigabit Ethernet uplink slots (supports SFP copper, short-range fiber, long-range fiber transceivers)
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1× 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 dedicated Service Port for isolated out-of-band management
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Dual console ports: DB-9 RS-232 serial console + mini-USB console port for local CLI configuration and recovery
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Dedicated inter-controller redundancy port for SSO HA session synchronization (critical HA dedicated interface)
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USB port for local firmware upload, configuration backup and restore
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Dual AC power supply input slots (primary + optional redundant PSU)
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Physical security lock slot for anti-theft cable attachment
Front Panel LED Status Indicators
Global status LEDs: Power 1, Power 2, System Health, Fault Alarm, Fan Status
Per-port Link/Activity LEDs for all 8 SFP uplink interfaces and service port
Power & Environmental Parameters
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Input AC Range: 100–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz universal power input
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Maximum Power Consumption: 115 W per power supply
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Heat Dissipation: 392 BTU/hour at full load
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Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
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Storage Temperature: -25°C to 70°C (-13°F to 158°F)
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Humidity: 10%–95% non-condensing (operating & storage)
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Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950-1 safety, CE, FCC Class A EMC, ICES-003, VCCI, NEBS Level 3 compliance
Platform Hardware Performance Limits (License Capacity Derived from Primary WLC)
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System Non-Blocking FW+AVC+NGIPS Throughput: 8 Gbps wired switching capacity
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Maximum Concurrent Active Stateful Wireless Clients: Hardware limited to 7,000 (actual active clients governed by primary controller AP license tier)
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New Connections Per Second: Up to 120,000
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Supported Unique WLAN SSIDs: Up to 512 broadcast/hidden SSIDs
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Maximum VLAN Interfaces: Up to 512 802.1Q tagged VLANs
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Roaming Capabilities: Intra-controller Layer 2 seamless roaming, Layer 3 inter-VLAN mobility, 802.11r fast secure roaming (supports 14,000 PMK cache roaming clients)
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Supported Wireless Standards: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave1, WMM, 802.11k/r/u/w/h
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Max Detected Rogue APs: 2,000; Max Rogue Wireless Clients: 2,500
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Max RFID Tags Tracking: 5,000 tags for location-based wireless services
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TLS/SSL Decryption Throughput: Up to 3 Gbps for bulk encrypted SaaS and web traffic
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AnyConnect RA VPN Sessions: Capped by AP license tier on paired primary controller (250 / 750 / 10,000 max sessions based on primary SKU)
4. Complete Unified Wireless & Security Feature Suite
1. Centralized Lightweight AP Lifecycle Management
DTLS encrypted CAPWAP tunnel termination for all joined APs; zero-touch AP auto-discovery via DHCP Option 43; bulk AP firmware upgrades, unified RF configuration and global policy deployment synced from primary HA controller. Supports FlexConnect local switching, enterprise wireless mesh networks, and OfficeExtend teleworker APs. All AP license entitlements are shared from the paired primary WLC; no independent AP capacity on HA chassis.
2. Cisco CleanAir Intelligent RF Spectrum Management
Continuous real-time 2.4GHz/5GHz RF interference monitoring, dynamic transmit power & auto-channel assignment, wireless coverage hole detection, rogue AP detection, classification and active wireless containment, persistent historical RF reporting synchronized between HA pair.
3. Enterprise-Grade Wireless Security Stack
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Authentication: IEEE 802.1X EAP-TLS/PEAP/EAP-FAST, local internal user database, external RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA integration
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Encryption Protocols: WEP, WPA2-PSK/Enterprise (802.11i RSN), AES-CCMP, TKIP
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Threat Mitigation: Built-in wIPS wireless intrusion prevention, rogue AP containment, wireless client isolation, MAC address filtering, dynamic per-SSID VLAN assignment
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Multi-Context Virtualization: Up to 50 independent logical security contexts for MSSP multi-tenant or enterprise department isolation
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Compliance: PCI DSS validated architecture for retail wireless POS payment deployments
4. Identity-Aware Zero Trust Policy Enforcement
Native integration with Active Directory, Cisco ISE and Secure Client to apply user/group context-based security rules, enabling zero-trust access control tied to real user identities instead of only IP addresses; user identity databases fully synced via SSO HA link.
5. Mobility, Voice & Video QoS
Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) traffic prioritization, Call Admission Control (CAC) for VoWLAN VoIP handsets, Cisco VideoStream multicast optimization for wireless IPTV, configurable bidirectional per-client bandwidth policing, fast secure roaming via 802.11r to eliminate voice call drops during client movement.
6. Integrated SD-WAN & Full VPN Services
Dynamic SD-WAN multi-path selection for hybrid broadband/MPLS WAN aggregation with application-aware routing; site-to-site IPsec IKEv1/IKEv2 tunnels with AES-256 encryption; AnyConnect SSL remote access VPN with split tunneling, clientless web portal and secure mobility for distributed remote workforce. VPN session state fully synchronized between HA pair for failover continuity.
7. High Availability Core Functionality (Primary Purpose of AIR-CT5508-HA-K9)
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Dedicated inter-controller SSO redundancy port for low-latency full state synchronization: AP join records, client PMK cache, stateful session tables, full running configuration, AAA credentials, security certificates, and RF profiles
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Zero service interruption Active/Standby failover: Upon primary controller outage, all APs and clients seamlessly re-associate to standby HA chassis without re-authentication or WLAN outage
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Configurable auto-failover and manual switchover modes for scheduled maintenance
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LAG EtherChannel link aggregation supported on all 8 SFP uplink ports for bandwidth aggregation and link redundancy
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Optional dual redundant power supplies and hot-swappable cooling fans eliminate secondary unit hardware single points of failure
8. Traffic Visibility, Logging & Compliance
Real-time traffic monitoring via FDM local web GUI; secure syslog, SNMP v2c/v3 and NetFlow Secure Event Logging (NSEL) export to third-party SIEM platforms. Persistent audit logging synchronized between HA pair, meeting strict regulatory compliance requirements for enterprise PCI DSS, HIPAA and GDPR audit frameworks.
9. DevOps Automation & Centralized Orchestration
Local CLI console and ASDM graphical web GUI for standalone secondary-unit troubleshooting; RESTful API support for automated controller provisioning and HA pair configuration; unified cross-platform policy distribution, centralized logging and cross-device reporting via Firepower Management Center (FMC); centralized license entitlement tracking via Cisco Smart License Manager (licenses only hosted on primary WLC).
5. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Secondary standby HA unit paired with licensed AIR-CT5508-12/25/50/100/250/500-K9 primary WLC for mission-critical campus wireless redundancy
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Hyperscale enterprise headquarters core wireless gateway SSO HA pair deployment to eliminate single controller outages
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University and K-12 multi-building campus wireless networks requiring 100% uptime for student/staff connectivity
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National retail chain central wireless hubs with PCI DSS compliance and zero-downtime wireless POS operation requirements
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Premium carrier-grade MSSP multi-tenant wireless security infrastructure with redundant controller pairs
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Consolidation of high-capacity physical wireless controllers into redundant HA active/standby architectures for enterprise zero-trust wireless environments
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Lab and staging environments for CUWN high-availability architecture testing and validation
6. Short Sales Listing Tagline
Cisco AIR-CT5508-HA-K9 Legacy 1U Rackmount 5500 Series Wireless LAN Secondary HA Chassis, Zero Pre-Installed AP License (Shares Capacity from Paired Primary WLC), 8×1G SFP Gigabit Uplink Ports, 8Gbps Non-Blocking Throughput, Dedicated SSO Redundancy Port, Optional Redundant PSU Support, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, AVC Layer7 Application Control, 50 Multi-Context Multi-Tenant Isolation, Full Active/Standby Stateful SSO HA Synchronization, Managed via Local FDM GUI or Centralized Cisco Prime Infrastructure, EoS Secondary Standby WLC Chassis for Mission-Critical Redundant CUWN Wireless Deployments
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