Network Menu

The Network Menu contains the controls necessary for configuring PDM II's two network ports. Note that not all menu items will be visible with all configurations.

Figure 1 - Network menu

Figure 1 - Network menu

Networking Overview

PDM II contains two network interface controllers with rear-panel RJ45 Ethernet ports labeled "Primary" and "Secondary".  

The Primary port supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Livewire+/AES67. The Secondary port does not.

The Primary port is always active. The Secondary port can be disabled if desired.

Using DHCP v. Manually Assigning an IP Address

Only one port can support DHCP, DNS, and a specific Gateway at a time according to the table below:

Secondary

Port Enabled?

DHCP          

Enabled?

Primary Port

Configuration

Secondary Port

Configuration

Yes

Yes, on Secondary

User specifies IP address and subnet mask; no gateway or DNS

DHCP server specifies IP address, mask, gateway, and DNS

Yes

No

User specifies IP address and subnet mask; no gateway or DNS

User specifies IP address, mask, gateway, and DNS

No

Yes, on Primary

DHCP server specifies IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS

(Disabled)

No

No

User specifies IP address, mask, gateway, and DNS

(Disabled)

By default, the Secondary port is disabled and the Primary port has DHCP enabled.

Separate Ports v. Using a Single Port

Generally speaking, and when two separate Ethernet ports are available, it is preferable to connect the Primary port to the dedicated Livewire or AES67 network and the Secondary port to the "office" network for remote access.

  • Separate Ports - In this scenario, both ports are enabled. The Primary port is used for AoIP (as the Secondary port is not capable of handling Livewire or AES67 traffic). A user-specified IP address and subnet mask are used, but there is no need for a gateway or DNS entries. The Secondary port is used to establish a remote connection with an IP address and subnet mask either assigned manually or through DHCP. Specific gateway and DNS settings can be entered. The two ports must be connected to different networks.

  • Single Port - In this scenario, only the Primary port is enabled. Both AoIP traffic and the remote connection are present on one port.

Primary DHCP Menu

If the Secondary port is disabled, DHCP on the Primary port can be toggled on or off in the Primary DHCP menu.

Figure 1 - Primary DHCP enabled screen

Figure 1 - Primary DHCP enabled screen

When DHCP is disabled on the Primary port, its fields for manually setting the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway are visible.

Secondary DHCP Menu

The Secondary port is disabled by default but can be toggled on in the Secondary Net Enable menu.

Figure 2 - Secondary DHCP enabled screen

Figure 2 - Secondary DHCP enabled screen

When the Secondary port is enabled, it can be set to have DHCP enabled or disabled. When disabled, its fields for manually setting the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway are visible.

NTP Enable Menu

NTP (Network Time Protocol) can be enabled or disabled in this menu.

Figure 3 - NTP enable screen

Figure 3 - NTP enable screen

NTP Server Menu

This menu allows you to enter the IP address of a local NTP server. If no address is entered (the server is set to 0.0.0.0), PDM II defaults to using "pool.ntp.org" servers.

Figure 4 - NTP server screen.

Figure 4 - NTP server screen.