Introduction
This document aims to provide guidance on network configuration for Live and avoid certain fault conditions when configurations are invalid. A certain amount of IP knowledge is required in order to achieve a robust system.
Hardware Overview
The Live host computer is known as the Front Panel Processor (FPP). It has two network connections. LAN1 is connected to the DSP engine. LAN2 is used for external Connectivity, and is visible in Menu>Setup>Options>Network. LAN2 is connected to a switch integrated into the 626022X2 sync card, which provides three RJ45 ports to the rear panel for SOLSA, TaCo and Console Expander remote clients.
Dante utilises four physical network adapters within Live. The FPP has Primary and Secondary interfaces on a PCIe NIC (Network Interface Card)*. This interface allows the console to discover, control and route attached Dante devices. It does not pass audio.
The Dante Expansion Card (Brooklyn II module) has its own Primary and Secondary interfaces. These reside on the 62D020X1 router card in L100, L200, L300, L350, L450, L550 and L650 consoles, and on the 626034X1 Dante Mezzanine card in L500 and L500 Plus consoles. Dante audio is routed to and from the DSP engine, not the FPP.
*PCIe NIC introduced June 2017. All clients with existing Dante hardware should have received the 62A7000F2 (L500) or 62A7300F2 (L300) retrofit kits to update their consoles. All L200 consoles have the PCIe NIC as standard.
Factory IP Settings
Network Interface | Fixed/DHCP | IP Address | Configured using |
FPP Dante Primary Control | Fixed | 10.101.x.x | Console Network Options |
FPP Dante Secondary Control | Fixed | 10.102.x.x | Console Network Options |
Brooklyn II Dante Primary | Fixed | 10.101.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Brooklyn II Dante Secondary | Fixed | 10.102.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Connectivity | DHCP | - | Console Network Options |
A 16 bit subnet mask is set for all fixed addresses (255.255.0.0).
Important rules to remember
* There are exceptions - you may have a configurable network switch that could serve multiple networks, separated out using VLANs. Although this would work, reasons to keep hardware separate are primarily related to failover - if this single switch failed, both Primary and Secondary networks would fail, defeating the purpose of a secondary network, so it is not recommended for Live usage cases.
**Default Gateways are used to route IP data between subnets. This is not supported in Dante, and entering gateway settings will link Primary and Secondary subnets together, which is invalid.
What is an IP address, and what is a subnet?
An IP address comprises two elements; a subnet address and a device address. The combined address is a 32 bit number split into four parts, each separated by a dot i.e. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
This means each part is 8 bits, and referred to as an ‘octet’. For the IP address 192.168.1.2, the first octet is ‘192’.
The subnet address comes first, followed by the device address. Users can define how many bits are assigned to the subnet, and how many to the device address. This setting is the subnet mask.
Example 1
The illustration below shows how this affects the assignment of different octets:
A much greater number of device addresses can be issued in the above 16 bit subnet mask example than in the 24 bit subnet mask example. In the latter, one complete octet (8 bits) remains for device addresses. The available range of values is 1-254, which means a total of 254 devices could be assigned addresses under this scheme. If more devices were needed in this subnet, the subnet mask would need to be shortened (e.g. to 16 bits)*. A 16 bit subnet mask permits 65,534 device addresses to be issued (for reasons beyond the scope of this document). It is conceivable that in future, large Dante networks could comprise more than 254 devices, in which case a 24 bit subnet mask would not be a valid configuration.
* There are further options for subnet masks - e.g. a 23 bit subnet mask would be 255.255.254.0, permitting 510 devices in the subnet. For more information, look up ‘Classless Inter-Domain Routing’ (CIDR), which is part of IPv4.
Example 2
Similar IP addresses could be defined in the same subnet or in different subnets depending on the subnet mask. A mistake in the subnet mask could therefore link two networks together that the user intended to be separate e.g. Dante Primary and Dante Secondary. With a 24 bit subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, IP addresses 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1 are in different subnets. With 16 bit subnet mask, only the first two octets have to match. This is illustrated below:
What IP addresses can be used?
A public IP address is one that can be accessed via the Internet. A private IP address is one that is issued locally on a LAN / private network. The following IP address ranges are valid for private networks, and are therefore applicable to Live Dante and Connectivity networks:
There is one significant rule however - addresses for devices must not end in ‘0’ or ‘255’. The reasons are beyond the scope of this document, as are discussions of why the other address ranges are not available. However, to provide an example, if your chosen 16 bit subnet is 192.168.x.x, you can safely use device addresses from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 (provided they are not already in use by something else on the same network). This means that setting a 24 bit subnet mask leaves you with 254 different possible device addresses. It is conceivable that in future, larger fixed Dante networks could exceed this number of devices, in which case a smaller subnet mask should be used.
DHCP auto-configuration
Also commonly referred to as link-local or APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing). When devices are set to DHCP and connected to a network with no DHCP server, they will auto-configure in the 169.254.x.x range. This is standard network protocol. It is useful in this context as it allows a laptop running Dante Virtual Soundcard to be connected directly to a Live console without needing any other network hardware; the devices negotiate their own connection. This is a common usage case for Live, and many product manufacturers (including Audinate) cite this as an ideal way to configure Dante networks. However, Live consoles have multiple internal networks and require further consideration.
The FPP is attached to the Dante network to discover devices and manage control data. As it is not a proprietary Dante device (unlike the Brooklyn module), it uses standard auto-config IPv4 protocol for its network adapters and is not ‘aware’ of Audinate’s proprietary secondary address scheme for auto-configuration; 172.31.x.x. This means that if an auto-configured network is used for secondary connections, the FPP Secondary Control interface will configure to 169.254.x.x which will link Dante Primary and Secondary networks together. This affects the control data, so devices will not be properly discovered and stagebox routing and control functions will be in an indeterminate state. Audio that has already been routed by the console or Dante Controller (i.e. Virtual Tie Lines) may or may not be affected in this invalid configuration.
If autoconfiguration of both Dante networks is required, the user must set the FPP’s secondary IP address manually (fixed) into the Audinate-specific 172.31.x.x Secondary subnet. By setting this prior to connecting any Dante devices, you ensure that any 172.31.x.x addresses issued after this point do not conflict with the FPP’s address.
Auto-configuration is also commonly used for Connectivity. Provided auto-configuration is not being used for Dante Primary at the same time, this is a valid option. Otherwise, this will cause Dante control data to be lost in the same way as the above example, as the FPP will not know which network interface to utilise. The solution is to ensure other interfaces are in a different subnet. This is achieved either by fixing primary and secondary addresses (e.g. as configured from factory) or by ensuring there is a DHCP server on each of the Dante networks to issue addresses in the private IP address ranges given above. The table below shows examples of how auto-configuration could be implemented for a Live Dante network. Note that Connectivity is fixed in a different subnet in this example:
Network Interface | Fixed/DHCP | IP Address | Configured using |
FPP Dante Primary Control | DHCP autoconf | 169.254.x.x | Console Network Options |
FPP Dante Secondary Control | Fixed | 172.31.x.x | Console Network Options |
Brooklyn II Dante Primary | DHCP autoconf | 169.254.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Brooklyn II Dante Secondary | DHCP autoconf | 172.31.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Connectivity | Fixed | 192.168.x.x | Console Network Options |
DHCP with DHCP Server
When devices are connected to a network with a DHCP server, they will be issued an IP address in the ranges given earlier in this document. These settings are contained within the network switch configuration. As instruction on how to configure switches and DHCP servers is not within the scope of this document; users should refer to manufacturer support documentation for their selected device.
Network Interface | Fixed/DHCP | IP Address | Configured using |
FPP Dante Primary Control | DHCP server | 10.101.x.x | Console Network Options |
FPP Dante Secondary Control | DHCP server | 10.102.x.x | Console Network Options |
Brooklyn II Dante Primary | DHCP server | 10.101.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Brooklyn II Dante Secondary | DHCP server | 10.102.x.x | Dante Controller software |
Connectivity | DHCP autoconf | 169.254.x.x | Console Network Options |
This example requires two network switches with DHCP servers, as Connectivity will still use auto-configuration. This is a common usage case when using TaCo (Tablet Control) applications. A wireless access point (without DHCP server) can be attached to one of the Connectivity ports on the rear of the console, then act as a wireless bridge for iPad or Android tablet devices. These devices all auto-configure to 169.254.x.x addresses.
Fixed IP address schemes
In controlled Live environments, such as a fixed installation, it may be necessary to implement fixed address schemes and switch configurations as determined by on-site network integrators. In such cases the console should be set up according to the provided scheme for all three networks.
However, at any time where DHCP cannot be used or is not desired, fixing IP addresses is a useful option. A fixed IP address scheme can help reduce effects of cross-patched networks and unwanted access. In DHCP configurations, with no other network management in place (e.g. ACL rules on switch ports), any network device set to DHCP could be physically connected and issued an IP address to gain access to the network. This becomes relevant when considering typical Live show setup environments, when a stagebox Dante Secondary connection could be plugged into a Primary network port by mistake. If settings were DHCP, that Secondary interface would cross the Primary and Secondary networks and cause an indeterminate number of Dante issues. If Dante Primary and Secondary devices were configured using fixed addresses, the mis-plugged Secondary interface would not be issued an address in the same subnet as the Primary network - it would remain on its fixed Secondary address and therefore not negotiate a connection to the Primary network.
Useful network tools
There are a number of essential network tools that users should have installed on their computer:
Dante Controller - https://www.audinate.com/products/software/dante-controller
Device settings such as IP addresses and clock setup must be configured using Dante Controller.
Live consoles can discover and route Dante audio devices directly without using Dante Controller, using Dual Domain Routing. There are also times when static network routes are required, that are not owned by the console. In this case network routes are completed using Dante Controller.
For a full list of features including troubleshooting tools, please refer to Audinate’s documentation.
Wireshark - https://www.wireshark.org/download.html
Wireshark allows users to capture real-time network activity, including the announcement of IP addresses from all devices connected to the network, regardless of whether or not they are in the same subnet as the computer attached to the network.
If the IP address of a particular network interface e.g. Dante Primary is unknown as it has been fixed by a previous user, connecting directly to the Dante Primary port and running a brief capture will reveal the IP addresses of the device and your computer. By confirming the computer’s IP address, you can deduce the correct subnet you will need to be in, and therefore reconfigure the Dante Primary address.
