Network Connections; More On The Network - Telos VX User Manual

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The Engine front panel display gives at-a-glance status information. The main screen is
pictured above. It shows the IP number for the LAN (Livewire) port, its connection speed and
status. The overall status and CPU temperature are also indicated. The knob lets you scroll
through the menu pages.
Among the menus is one that lets you change the IP address and another that shows the status
of the Livewire audio channels.
The main screen, shown at power-up, is pictured above. To see any of the other pages /menus,
push, and then rotate the knob to show each in turn. Pushing the knob enters you into the
menu that is displayed. Editing items inside menus, such as the IP address, is similar - navigate
to the specific item you want to change by rotating the knob, then push it to choose the item,
such as the IP address. In the case of the IP address, select from among the digits by rotating
the knob, then pushing. Finally, rotate and push to enter the value you want. (yeah, this isn't
the most convenient of user interfaces, but you shouldn't have to use it; the web interface,
once available, is much more friendly. The reason for the IP address entry here on the front
panel is to avoid the circularity that you need the IP address to connect a web browser, in order
to enter the IP address. (should the default not work, for some reason.) We think you'll also
find it convenient at times to have the IP address displayed on the front panel.

Network Connections

The VX Engine has two RJ-45 Ethernet jacks on the rear panel. Both are 100/1000 auto-speed
setting. The upper (LAN) port is for Livewire audio and, by default, everything else, such as PCs
used for web-based configuration, VSet phone controllers, producer PCs, and console control-
lers. This can be connected to an existing Livewire network or to a new, dedicated, network that
you create to serve only the VX system, which could be as simple as a single Ethernet switch.
For audio to work, there must be at least one Livewire device capable of supplying clocking
on the Livewire network. Normally, this would be a Livewire audio Node. The Axia Element
console Powerstation can supply this clock.

More on the Network

An appeal of the Ethernet/IP approach to building studios is that you can make them as simple
or elaborate as your needs require. The components of a VX system: the Engine, VSet phones,
console controllers, and PCs are networked together using standard, off-the-shelf Ethernet
switches. A small VX system might have only a single Ethernet switch as the '"network infra-
structure", while a large full-facility setup could have dozens of switches and an IP router or two.
The Ethernet switch on the Engine's LAN port must be Livewire capable. That is, it needs to
support multicast. Switches that are not multicast-capable usually flood multicast traffic such
as Livewire audio streams to all ports, potentially overwhelming devices like PCs and printers
- So you don't want to plug the VX LAN port into an office network after Livewire outputs are
enabled! ! Multicast-capable switches will not propagate the Livewire traffic to ports that are
not subscribed to a particular audio channel. Thus blocking the high-volume traffic from places
it is not wanted. A suitable switch would be the Cisco 2960G or another from that family. The
switch that is part of the Axia Element PowerStation is also suitable. Of course; the VX and
Axia consoles were designed to work smoothly together.
For the initial, out-of-the-box, configuration, the foregoing is not a concern. You can safely use
a simple Ethernet switch or an existing LAN to get your configuration PC to the VX LAN port