Network Interfaces For Mbox; Overview - PRG MBOX User Manual

NETWORK INTERFACES FOR MBOX

Overview

The Mbox application relies on a multitude of network communications to control and configure the software, as well as
to provide feedback and monitoring capabilities. The network communications involve both industry-standard protocols
like Art-Net, sACN, and CITP, and also proprietary Mbox-only protocols.
All of this network communication needs to happen via the network interfaces of the computer that is running the Mbox
software. This computer may have more than one network interface and therefore it is important to connect to the
correct interface and also to configure any interfaces appropriately for use with Mbox.
Mbox can use any interface on the computer, but the most common interfaces are the localhost - for communication
between Mbox and other applications running on the same computer (e.g. Daemon) - and the standard RJ45 interfaces.
The Wi-Fi interface of the computer can be used for some communications, but this is not recommended due to the
complexity and limitations Wi-Fi may put on the communications.
For some communications that require the localhost, no configuration is required. This includes any communication
between Mbox and the Mbox Daemon application. But for other most other communications, a choice must be made
for which network interface Mbox will use:
+ The Sync Interface will be used for all transmission and reception of playback synchronization communications.
This includes MboxTime, Layer-to-Layer Sync, and network timecode from TC Reader or Mbox Director.
+ The Management Interface will be used for all other configuration and feedback communications as well as for
content management. This includes monitoring and configuration from Mbox Remote (including pixel mapping,
image remapping, and projection mapping configuration), CITP/MSEX communications to lighting consoles and
visualizers, and content management synchronization between servers.
Guidelines for interfaces:
+ Mbox also needs to receive control data (Art-Net or sACN) from a control console or Mbox Director. These two
protocols can be received on any active interface, and therefore no configuration is required to select which interface
is used.
+ It is generally preferable that the Sync and Management interfaces be separate, to ensure that communications on
one do not affect communications on the other. However, it is not required that they be different, and in some cases
they must be the same.
+ The Sync and Management interfaces are selected on the Preferences tab of the Mbox application, in the Network
section. Each has a pop-up that will show the currently-selected interface, and will allow the selection of another
active interface when clicked on.
+ One of the choices on the pop-ups is an interface called "Local." Choosing this item will ensure that the associated
communications will only be routed internally on the computer, using the localhost.
+ If an active interface is selected but then becomes inactive then any communications using that interface will not
occur. The inactive interface will need to be restored or an alternate interface selected.
All network communications to and from the Mbox server require correctly configured network interfaces. If the selected
interfaces do not have the correct IP address or subnet mask, then they may be unable to communicate with any other
networked devices. Make sure that all devices are configured correctly to be on the appropriate subnet. Refer to
Networking Guidelines" on page 160 for more information.
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