Green Hippo

July Tip Of The Month - Hippotizers and Networks

July Tip Of The Month - Hippotizers and Networks

This tip is a basic overview of understanding and troubleshooting network connections with Hippotizers and network devices when using HippoNet, PixelMapper, ArtNet over DMX, and ScreenThief.
 
Some basics;
 
IP Address: An IP Address is a numerical identifier which is unique to a network device within a network subnet. I.e. Every device on the same network subnet needs to have a unique IP Address to communicate with other devices on that subnet.
 
Subnet: A Subnet is a distinct logical subsection of a computer network. Devices on the same subnet can communicate with each other without additional devices such as routers or bridges. So for two or more computers to communicate with each other they need to be on the same Subnet.
 
IPConfig: ipconfig in Microsoft Windows is a command application that can display all current TCP/IP network configurations. To run it, click Start, Run..., and then type ‘cmd’ and then click OK.
 
At the command prompt, type: ‘ipconfig /all’ and press enter. You will be presented with a list similar to the one below.
 
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix: WAG54GS
        Description: Intel(R) PRO Connection
        Physical Address: 00-0E-35-3E-80-EC
        Dhcp Enabled: Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes
        IP Address: 192.168.1.103
        Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server: 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers: 62.24.139.140  :  62.24.139.139
        Lease Obtained: 16 May 2010 17:08:37
        Lease Expires: 17 May 2010 17:08:37
 
There is also other useful information provided by ipconfig.exe for troubleshooting;
 
Physical Address is commonly known as the MAC address. This address is normally hardcoded to the network card and is unique to that card.
DHCP Enabled, when set to ‘Yes’ the card is configured to request an IP Address from a DHCP server on the network. A DHCP server would provide a unique IP address for that network connection avoiding any conflicts with other devices on the network. When set to ‘No’ an IP Address needs to be entered manually. Before this is done, you need to make sure that the IP address is not being used by any other devices on that network.
Autoconfiguration Enabled, if there is not a DHCP server available when set to ‘Yes’, Autoconfiguration will configure the network connection with an IP Address of 169.254.x.y (where x.y are numbers 0-255) and a subnet mask of, 255.255.0.0.
 
So, if you run ipconfig and the IP Address is something like 169.254.1.100 and the subnet mask is 255.255.0.0 but Dhcp Enabled is set to ‘Yes’ then windows has automatically assigned that IP address to itself as no DHCP server is available.  Be aware that this setting can change if a DHCP server becomes available while the system is running or the system is rebooted.
 
Ping: Ping is a command application which can be used to check if a specific network device can be reached using its IP Address and also how reliable that connection is. Nearly all devices will respond to a ping request, but on some devices it can be disabled. However it’s still a useful tool to check connectivity between two devices.
 
To use Ping, at the command prompt type ‘ping’ and then the IP Address of the system you are trying to connect with (e.g. 192.168.1.10) and press enter. You will be presented with something similar to;

Ping will attempt to send 4 packets of data to the specified IP address,

• If all four requests are received it means that the two devices can communicate, and the devices are configured correctly.
• If some packets are received, but some are lost, there could be a problem with network traffic (the network is overloaded) or the network hardware is failing (e.g. faulty or loose cable).
• If all the packets are lost the other device is unreachable because it is not configured properly or there is a hardware fault

An example;                                                                                                                     

In the example above, the devices connected to two Network switches, the Zookeeper and ScreenThief systems are configured with a subnet mask and IP address range to communicate the Hippotizer.

The Lighting desk and lighting fixtures are able to communicate with the ArtNet data network connection on the Hippotizer.

Note: In theory it is possible for both logical networks to be connected on the same hardware as long as the networks exist on different subnets. However, the amount of traffic from one can affect the speed and reliability of the other so this is generally not recommended.

If configured correctly, the Hippotizer, Zookeeper system and Screen thief system will be able to ping each other. If they are unable to, ScreenThief will not be able to send data to the Hippotizer, and the Zookeeper system will not be able to control the Hippotizer.

Double check the IP address settings using ipconfig, if they appear to be correct make sure the Zookeeper or ScreenThief systems have firewall software configured correctly. If this still fails to rectify the problem, Network hardware should be checked for problems.

Thanks to Sumesh for this months tip ;)