Configuring Interfaces

There are two default interfaces on the PowerMedia WMS, eth0 and eth1. To configure an interface, select Network>Configure>Interfaces. The Interfaces page is displayed.

The Interfaces page shows the following information:

    Item

    Description

    Device

    Device name

    Type

    Type of the interface: Ethernet

    Media

    Type of media: normally twisted pair

    IPv4 Address

    Current IPv4 address of the PowerMedia WMS host

    IPv6 Address

    Current IPv6 address of the PowerMedia WMS host

    Link

    Describes the physical link connection.

    “Yes” indicates cable is connected and a link to the connected device is established.

    Rtp

    Indicates that Rtp traffic is on this interface.

    Status

    Describes the administrative status of the interface. “Yes” indicates that the interface is configured.

The Interfaces page enables you to perform several actions on each interface:

Changing the Status of an Interface

Note: Only Administrators can change the status of an interface.

Each interface except eth0 has a DEACTIVATE button next to it, which enables you to change its status. 

The interface comes up with the configuration stored in the configuration file.

This action stops all traffic using that interface.

Note:   You cannot deactivate the interface eth0, because there must always be an interface available for the Web User Interface.

When you click Deactivate from the Configure Network Interfaces page, a warning page appears. 

Viewing Interface Details

The DETAILS button for an interface displays the Interface Details page which contains information about the running configuration of the interface and interface statistics.

The configuration includes the following information:

    Item

    Description

    Encapsulation

    Type of network connection (such as Ethernet).

    Hardware Address

    MAC address of the PowerMedia WMS host.

    MTU

    Maximum Transmission Unit, the largest physical packet size, measured in bytes, that a network can carry.

    Ethernet has a fixed MTU of 1500 bytes.

    Media

    Type of media: normally twisted pair.

    Link

    Whether the interface is linked.

    IP Address

    Current IP address of the PowerMedia WMS host.

    Mask

    Network mask associated with this interface.

    Broadcast

    Default route.

    Interface Flags

    Linux flags showing the current status of the interface.

    Card Description

    Type of hardware card for the interface.

Below the configuration parameters is a button Blink eth0 interface LED. Clicking this button lights the system LED (front and back) on the PowerMedia WMS, so that you can identify it in a rack of equipment.

The interface statistics include statistics for all packets received at or sent from the host through the selected interface, including the numbers for Packets, Bytes, Errors, Dropped packets, Overruns, Frame errors, Carrier losses, and Collisions.

Configuring the Interface

Note: Only Administrators can configure interfaces. All users can view the configuration.

Note: If you configure a bonded interface, such as bond1, to enable/disable STP and RTP on the interface, the settings apply only to the bonded interface. They do not change any existing settings on the physical interfaces that are combined in the bonded interface.

  1. Click the IP Address of the interface that you want to configure to display the Configure Network Interfaces page.

When the Configure Network Interfaces page appears, it shows the current information stored in the configuration file. For an active interface, this information can be different from the running configuration shown in the Interfaces display.

The PowerMedia WMS can be configured to use a particular interface for RTP traffic. Only interfaces configured with static IP addresses can be enabled for RTP. If DHCP is used to set the IP address for an interface, that interface cannot be enabled for RTP. You can enter a single, or multiple hostnames separated by spaces, associated with a single IP Address.

If no interface has been enabled for RTP, the system tries to use the interface associated with the local hostname. If a host name has not been assigned, this attempt fails and the PowerMedia WMS cannot accept calls.

Note:   A typical configuration uses DHCP to set the address for eth0 to be used for the Web UI. The second Ethernet interface, eth1, should have a static IP address and be used for RTP.

The Enable MRCP on address field allows you to enable MRCP on the IPv4 interface only.

  1. To store the changes made, click OK. To cancel the changes, click CANCEL.

    Accepting the configuration change updates the configuration file, but does not change the running configuration of an active interface:

  1. To apply a configuration change to an interface, reboot the PowerMedia WMS.

Setting an IP Address for an Interface

Note: Only Administrators can set the IP address of an interface.

By default, the system has DHCP configured on eth0 and eth1. This allows the PowerMedia WMS to automatically receive an IP address from a DHCP server (or from bootp). If the system is automatically obtaining an IP address, it can also obtain other DNS information, such as the network mask and hostname.

Note: If DHCP (or bootp) is used to set the IP address for an interface, you cannot enable that interface for RTP.

You can also set IP addresses and subnet masks statically. To do this:

  1. Select Statically set IP addresses.

  2. Enter an IP address and subnet mask in the Configure Network Interfaces page.

    The system checks to ensure that the addresses entered are valid. If an invalid address is entered (for example, five octets instead of four), the system flags the error and does not accept the changes. The error appears in red beside the text field that has the violation. For example, in the case of a wrong IP address, the invalid address error appears in red beside the IP textbox.

  1. After setting the static IP address, the Web UI will prompt you to reboot. After the reboot, you must then go into the DNS configuration and set the DNS settings since they are no longer receiving the data from DHCP. For more information, see Configuring DNS.

Enabling RTP on an Interface

You can configure the PowerMedia WMS to use a particular interface for RTP traffic. Only interfaces configured with static IP addresses can be enabled for RTP. You must enable RTP on the same interface. Typically, eth0 is configured with DHCP for the management address, and eth1 is configured with a static address and RTP enabled.

Enabling QOS and Traffic Control on an Interface

The PowerMedia WMS supports Differentiated Services (DiffServ) as follows.

If you select Enable QOS on interface, the PowerMedia WMS prioritizes outgoing traffic by injecting a QOS stamp in each UDP and HTTP packet. This way, other network devices know how to prioritize the packet for delivery.

If you select Enable Traffic Control on interface, the PowerMedia WMS filters incoming traffic. Incoming traffic that matches RTP, RTCP, and HTTP get priority over all other types of incoming traffic.

Note: Traffic Control is a system parameter and enabling/disabling it on an interface applies to all system interfaces.