Ecler White Paper Networking User manual

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WhitePaper–NetworkingwithEclerNetManager

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1. NetworkBasicsforEclerNetManager

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EclerNetManager(ENM)isthesoftwareapplicationusedfortheconfigurationandcontrolof

theEclernetworkabledevicesfamily(MIMO88,NZAseries,NPAseries,etc.).Thisapplication

usesanEthernetLANnetworkasthephysicalinfrastructuretoestablishthecommunication

linkwiththedevicesunderitsmanagement.AnEthernetnetwork

isanycollectionof

independentcomputersand/orelectronicdevicesthatcommunicatewithonetoanotherover

asharedtransmissionmedium(networkswitches,cables...).

InthecaseoftheEclernetworkabledevices,theprotocolusedisTCP/IPwitharequiredspeed

of100Mb/sandCAT5orhigherwiring.Eachhardwaredeviceis

uniquelyidentifiedwithanIP

address,a32bitsnumber(IPV4).ThisIPaddressmustbeenteredmanually,once,duringthe

configurationprocessofthehardwaredeviceandbymeansoftheEclerNetManagerSoftware

application,alongwiththecorrectmaskandthegateway(ifneeded).Thecorrectnetwork

configuration

ofthehardwaredevicesisessentialtoallowcontrolandmonitoringwithinthe

EclerNetnetwork.

Thiscanbeusuallydepictedas(pointtopointconnection,nonetworkhardwareinbetwe en):

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Whenmorethantwodevicesareused,wewillneed(atleast)anetworkswitch:



CAT5straight orXover

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2. BasicNetworkConfiguration

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Assaidbefore,eachdevicehasapersonalanduniqueIP.Forreadabilitypurposes,humans

typicallyworkwithIPaddressesinanotationcalleddotteddecimal.Thisnotationplaces

periodsbetweeneachofthefournumbers(octets)thatcompriseanIPaddress .Forexample,

anIPaddressthatthosecomputers

seeas:

00001010000000000000000000000001

iswrittenindotteddecimalas:

IP=10.0.0.1

DespitewehavethepossibilitytoassignanyIP(theoreticallyfro m0.0.0.0to255.255.255.255),

toavoidnetworkconflictsandcollisionswemustkeepitconfinedwithinthecalled“private

ranges”:

IPaddressprivaterange Max.number

ofaddresses

10.0.0.0–10.255.255.255 16,777,216

172.16.0.0–172.31.255.255 1,048,576

192.168.0.0–192.168.255.255 65,536

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BydefaultallEclernetworkeddevicescomeoutfromfactorywiththefollowingnetwork

configuration:

IP:192.168.0.100

Mask:255.255.255.0

Gateway:192.168.0.1

UDPPort:2210

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InthisdocumentwewilluseindistinctlyanyIPprivaterangefortheexamples.

Thedevices’networkconfigurationmu stbemanuallyenteredwithnorDHCPserver

(automatic)atthistime,neitherAPIPADHCPfailover(169.254.X.Xrange).

TheroleofthenetworkmaskistorestricttherangeofIPs,thusallowingwhatwecall

subnetting.Twoormoredevicescanonlycommunicatetoeachotheriftheyareinthesame

IPrange,orunderthesamemask(subnet):

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Prefixsize Networkmask

Available

subnets

Usablehosts

persubnet

/24 255.255.255.0 1 254

/25 255.255.255.128 2 126

/26 255.255.255.192 4 62

/27 255.255.255.224 8 30

/28 255.255.255.240 16 14

/29 255.255.255.248 32 6

/30 255.255.255.252 64 2

/31 255.255.255.254 128 2

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Latestbitsfromnetmaskmustfollowtheaboveconvention;thusamaskof255.255.255.127

isnotlegal,whereas255.255.255.128isOk.

Forinstance,agoodconfigurationbetweenaPCandadeviceis:

 PC DEVICE

IPaddress 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.210

Mask 255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0

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TheIPaddress&Maskcombinationaboveallowsfortheconnectionofupto254deviceson

thesamesubnet.

Exampleofawrongconfiguration:

 PC DEVICE

IPaddress 10.0.0.2 10.2.100.23

Mask 255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0

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Andacorrectone,instead:

 PC DEVICE

IPaddress 10.0.0.2 10.2.100.23

Mask 255.0.0.0 255.0.0.0

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Twomorewrongconfigurationexampl es: 

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 PC DEVICE

IPaddress 10.0.0.2 192.168.0.100

Mask 255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0

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 PC DEVICE

IPaddress 10.0.0.2 192.168.0.100

Mask 255.0.0.0 255.0.0.0

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Acrossinternet,therearealotofnetcalculatorstobringthecorrectconfigurationinaneasy

way.

Asagoodstartingpoint,itwouldbestronglyadvisabletocheckthecontrollerdeviceIP

(computer)andthecontrolleddeviceIP(Eclernetworkabledevice).Asimplewaytodosoin

Windowsisusing“ipconfig”command.OpenaCMDwindowand write“ipconfig/all”(without

quotes);youwillascreenshowingthePCnetworkconfiguration,similartothis one:

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Thisconfigurationmus tbecompatible (IPrange,mask)withthecontrolleddevice.Inthis

example,assumingwehaveanIP:10.0.0.175andmask:255.0.0.0,themanuallyentered

networkconfigurationforthecontrolleddevice(inthiscaseaMIMO88)couldbethisone:

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NotethattheIPGatewayisnotconfigured

andleftbydefault,sincewedon’tneedtoreach

controlfromlocationsoutsideourlocalnetwork.

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CaremustbetakentoentertheIPaddresswithoutleadingzeros,since:

10.0.0.04

Isdefinitelynotthesameas:

10.0.0.4

AUDPportisusedbyEclerNetManagersoftwareanditscompatiblehardwaretosendcontrol

anddatamessagesbetweendevices.So,anextracaremustbeappliedto

ensurethatallthe

networkdevicesbetweenthecontroller(PC)andthecontrolled(MIMO88)devicesallowUDP

packetstoflowfreely;thiscanaffecttoswitches,hubs,routersetc.TheUDPportvaluecanbe

changedtoanysuitableandunusedvalue,butmustbedoneatbothsidessimultaneously.

Abasicandusefultoolisthe“ping”command.Alwayscheckthecorrectconfigurationpinging

fromthePCtothedeviceIPaddress(again,fromaCMDwindow):



Moreadvancedtoolstohelpintroubleshootingaretheportscannersandthetrafficnetwork

analyzersuchNmap,Wireshark…



3. AdvancedNetworkConfiguration



EclerNetManagerusesmulticast

packetsto“discover”theunusedcompatibledevices(those

onesstillnotincludedina project),eveniftheyarenotinthesameIPrange.Thesedevices

mayappearinsidethe“OnlineandUnusedDevicesList”windowinEclerNetManager:

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Then,wemustbesureaswellthattheentirepathamongdevicesinthenetworkallowsfor

Unicast/Multicasttransfer.Insomeswitchesitmaybealsonecessarytodisablesomesettings

relatedtothenumberofmulticastpacketsallowedtogetthrough.Thelabellingusedforthese

settingsis

variedamongbrands,buttheyareoftenreferredas“broadcaststorm”,IGMP,

“802.1p”orsimilarterms.

Someexamplesover3Comswitches:



PerhapsthesettingstobetweakedarereferredasIGMP...:

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InthecaseofrunningthroughaVPN(VirtualPrivateNetwork),allthemulticastfeaturesmust

beenabled(intheexampleaSonicWalldevice):

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Asimilarcasehappenswhenwewanttocontrolthedevicefromalocationoutsidethelocal

areanetwork:forinstance,fromacountrytoanotherbymeansofaDSLlineandacoupleof

routers:



Inthiscase,multicastpacketscan’ttravelacrosstheInternet,sono

deviceswillappearinside

the“OnlineandUnusedDevicesList”window.Fortunately,onceweknowthedeviceslocalIP

address,wecanenteritmanuallyinourremoteEclerNetManagerapplication,followingthis 

genericprocedure(exampleforaremoteMIMO88):



CAT5CAT5 DSL DSL

ROUTER

ROUTER

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 Select“Adddevice…”:



 Selectthedevicetypeexistingintheinstallation(inthiscaseaMIMO88):

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 Networkconfigurationisinitiallyblank:

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 Puttheproperdevice’snetworkconfiguration(IPaddressandmaskoftheremote

MIMO88):



Note:

Inthisscenario,theenteredGate way IP mustbethesameastheoneassignedtothe

remoteDSLrouterattheothersideoftheconnection,theroutertheMIMO88isconnected

to.RememberonceagainthattheroutermustallowforUDPtransitusingtheselectedport

(2210).

Seeontheappendixasmalllistofportsandprotocols.

 Doa“connect”:

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 Youwillthengetintocontrolmode(greenconnectionicons):



Inallthesituationswherearouterorafirewallisinvolved,besurethattheinitiatingUDPport

(2210bydefault)isopened.Beespeciallycarefulifyouuseasoftwarefirewall.Thebestway

todealwiththis,ifyoucanafford,istodisablethesoftwarefirewall

andrelyonaspecialized

hardwarefirewall(Juniper,Cisco…).

Finally,takeintoconsiderationthatTP‐NET(Ecler’sthird‐partyremotecontrolprotocol)uses

alsoUDP,inthiscaseatport5800.Ifyoumakeuseofthisprotocol,ensurethesamecareis

takenwithport5800asdescribedabove

forport2210.Obviously,noneoftheaboveistobe

appliedifyoucontrolthedeviceviaRS‐232.

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Appendix:

Summaryofprotocols,portsanddefaultvalues:

 IP PORTS Protocol Comments

ENM(EclerNet

Manager)

192.168.0.100 2210 TCP/UDP Userselectable

Multicast 239.129.0.0 2211,2212 IGMP Autodevicediscovery

TP‐NET SameasENM 5800 UDP Userselectable

UCP(User

ControlPanels)

SameasPChost 80,5088 TCP Webserver

MailServicein

ENM

SameasPChost 25,465,587… SMTP(SSL) Userselectable



Bibliography:



http://www.techiwarehouse.com/cms/engine.php?page_id=d9e99072



http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/howto/other‐formats/html_single/Multicast‐

HOWTO.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Subnet_Mask



http://www.subnetmask.info/



http://compnetworking.about.com/od/basicnetworkingconcepts/u/computer_networking_ba

sics.htm

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/workingwithipaddresses/l/aa043000b.htm



http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/netsol/ns171/c649/ccmigration_09186a0

08074f26a.pdf

http://www.fuzeqna.com/sonicwallkb/consumer/kbdetail.asp?kbid=6367



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_multicast



http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5771



http://www.angryip.org/w/Home



http://www.wireshark.org/



http://nmap.org/



Fitxerinformàtic:EclerNetManager.docx

Ecler White Paper Networking User manual

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