Networking requirements

Christie Pandoras Box Version 6 - Q&A

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Networking requirements

Postby showwelle » Sat Jun 27, 2020 4:10 pm

Hi there,

since we have some serious problems finding another machine after a count of four managed switches (currently PB 6.1.4, but I'm upgrading to 6.4.2 in a few weeks), I just wanted to ask for the recommended requirements.
So…
- Which Layers should the managed switches support?
- What ports are used for what usage - and from which type of machine to which other machine?
- How about Multicasts? What are the correct IGMP-Settings? Which version should we use, should we drop or flood, … - should we use it at all?*
- What minimum bandwidth is needed for which usage?
- Are you planning to support the usage of tagged VLANs, so I could send ArtNet, sACN and the Pandora-stuff over one single cable? (I know some network-cards support this and I'm using that already, but I'm curious whether you are planning something.)
- Can I change the Multicast-Groups to custom addresses if needed?
- Is the client trying to connect to a master until it finds one - or does it stop after a number of failed tries?
- Are there special requirements for managed switch-Configurations?
- Are there any known products or protocols that might cause problems and which should be located in a different VLAN?

* Disabling IGMP Snopping recently caused a complete loss of connection between the manager and every single machine; but it was recommended in some help-file I found. Maybe you want to provide a good and detailed documentation for the networking things?
showwelle
 
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Re: Networking requirements

Postby Daniel Kaminski » Sun Jun 28, 2020 2:06 pm

Hi,

Please have a look at
https://www.coolux.de/root/downloads/su ... and-wd.htm

There is a list of all ports and network settings you need to know.

Regarding Tagged VLAN. That is nothing that is accomplished in Application Software, but in Hardware and Drivers. Intel Server Network Cards and Drivers for example support tagged VLANs on a single NIC.
There are a couple of limitations that go hand in hand with it and it does not work on all Windows Versions in the same way. Christie does not recommend to use a tagged VLAN Network NIC, because we can not support it, due to the complexity of the topic.

There is no way of changing Multicast Groups or most of the Ports Pandoras Box uses.

Pandoras Box is designed to have its own separate network for PB-Net, because this is the only way to ensure that the network is not overloaded or busy doing other things. This is especially critical if you do tracking or other real time critical tasks.
You should also keep in mind, that spreading content over the network can have a pretty big effect on other network protocols / performance and the other way around.

To understand you network problems better, we will need way more information about the way your network is setup and how your switches are configured.
If you have more questions feel free to ask?

Daniel
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Daniel Kaminski
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