Guidelines for Networking DMX TCP/IP Host
This document outlines a few basic rules in implementing DMX TCP/ IP Host
Before you begin
DMX Host requires a TCP/IP network to run (even if you are running DMX Host and DMX Listener on the same machine). If you can connect to the Internet, you should probably OK as this is the same protocol.
If you plan to broadcast the DMX Host output to several machines, it is recommended that the computer that runs DMX Host has a FIXED IP address (one which is the same every time the machine starts) as opposed to a dynamically assigned IP address. Otherwise, each time you start the computer, you must change the connection properties of the DMX Listener session to match the IP address of the host (the IP address is displayed at the bottom left corner of the DMX Host Window when a session is active).
If you are running DMX Host and DMX Listener on the SAME machine and do not require networking you can use the IP address 127.0.0.1.
The Port that you assign the DMX Host is very important. A port is a unique number that provides the network with a signpost to the application, and every application must have its own unique port. The default port setting (10232) should be OK in most circumstances, but if for any reason you cannot get DMX Host to run, try changing this value. If you have multiple DMX Host sessions running on the same machine, you MUST give each session its own unique Port ID.
Setting up a network
Once you have started a machine running DMX Host, then so long as the IP Address of that machine is visible, you should be able to connect straight away. On some networks which have firewalls, you may need to explicitly free up the DMX Host ports to allow free communication.
Changing your IP Settings
Please be very careful before making any changes to your IP settings and you should consult your network administrator before making any changes. The IP settings are found by selecting the “Network and Dialup Connections” option in the control panel. Locate the entry you wish to edit and with the Right–Button click and select Properties from the menu.
You should then be presented with a screen that looks like this.
Select the Properties button for Internet Protocol and you will see a screen that looks something like this:
Click on the “Use the following IP Address” option to enter specific IP addresses (and make sure you keep note of what was there before).
Accessing your DMX Host from the Internet
If your network can be directly accessed from the Internet, then you can connect to an Active DMX Host session as you would normally. Generally though, most companies have a small number of external IP address and specialised equipment such as routers, firewalls and VPNs to avoid unauthorised access to your network. When this is the case, you will probably have to ask your Network administrator to enable “Port Forwarding” on the router which automatically forwards any requests to the DMX Host, and the IP address may also be different to the one displayed on the DMX Host screen.
When a DMX Listener connects to a DMX Host, it checks the network speed (or latency) and will automatically drop its polling rate to a rate that the software considers optimal (the connection speed is displayed on the DMX Listener screen). In some cases though where the speed on the connection changes significantly you may experience some problems with DMX Listener, in which case you should manually set the polling rate in DMX Listener to a slower rate.
Optimising the Connection
There are many options in both DMX Host and Listener that can optimize your connection to avoid problems. The most simple thing to check is that you should make sure that only the software you require for the project is running. Applications such as email and office-type products will significantly affect performance.
DMX Host
1) Turn OFF the View option when running
2) Turn OFF the Safety Mode (with error correction) in the Properties dialog
3) Spread the load of system processing as much as you can by running multiple instances of DMX Host or DMX Listener on different machines.
DMX Listener
1) Make sure that you are only connecting to the DMX Listener sessions you require
2) Avoid having to many “Channel Information” windows running at any time.
3) Remove an actions that are not used.
Using DMX Host with ArtNet
ArtNet (like DMX Host) is an Ethernet protocol that is quickly becoming the standard for intelligent distribution of DMX. Although DMX Host can happily work alongside ArtNet they are different in a couple of respects. The main difference, is that ArtNet runs in a closed network and talks to all devices simultaneously, whereas DMX Host has a one to one Server/Client relationship. DMX Host also isolates the source of the DMX stream from DMX Listener, and so if you want to change the source (say from a ArtNet compatible device to a DMX device) then you can do so without make any changes to the client application.
There are 2 approaches to use ArtNet, the first is to simply change your computers IP Address so that it is the range of ArtNet network, and the other (and perhaps better approach) is to have 2 networks on your computer – one for ArtNet and the other for DMX Host (see illustration below).
1) Using the same Network
This scenario requires that you change ALL computers IP addresses that are to connect within the range that is used by the ArtNet network. ArtNet uses IP addresses that begin with 2.xxx.xxx.xxx or 10.xxx.xxx.xxx depending your application. Every device in a TCP network must have a unique IP address, and this is calculated automatically by ArtNet devices. Unfortunately this calculation does not really apply to PCs, but if you select a range of IP addresses between 2.0.0.20 – 2.0.0.40 or 10.0.0.20 – 10.0.0.40 you should be OK. The safest way to test this is to make sure all devices in the ArtNet network are connected an online, then change you settings (Windows will tell you if the IP address you entered is in use).
2) Using Different Networks
On the DMX Host computer only you must have 2 separate network connections on the same computer for example: 2 Ethernet cards, or 1 Ethernet Card and 1 Wireless Card. One device must be set to an IP address within the ArtNet Network (as described in “Using the same Network”), but the other can be set to your normal computer network topology (often starting in the range of (192.168.xxx.xxx or 172.16.xxx.xxx). When you start a DMX Host session, it will only display one of these IP addresses but the machine will be accessible by any computer on either network so long as you use the correct one.
Peter Grimshaw
BTM Innovation Pty Ltd
Last Updated : Thursday, August 28, 2003