Switches from the brands Cisco, HP, Luminex, Netgear and Swisson can be automatically configured for Dante by one mouse click. This without having to learn the configuration software of the switches themselves.
The IP network behind the Dante system can be a challenge. With one network switch it is doable for sure but if you have let’s say 10 switches in your Dante network? Then network management and planning become a serious job and crucial for deploying a stable Dante system. For sure there are the Dante certificates that will teach you all you need to know. But it is not easy to keep the knowledge alive.
The company CX-networks solved this switch configuration part of your network with their CX-engine. With one click you can configure all your switches -even with mixed brands- at the same time. This can be a serious time and money saver when deploying larger networks.
“If you want to configure all your Dante switches in one go, CX-engine might be what you are looking for!”
CX-networks has a focus on the “event” industry meaning that Dante and DMX support are the main topic in their product design and switch configuration. So, this sounds like a real friend for us Dante users. Let’s dive in.
How does the CX-engine work?
I got a little box in the mail that contained the CX-engine. A computer with the size of a double cigarette box that contains 2 LAN ports, HDMI, USB and WIFI. This little computer contains the CX-software.
The first thing you do is hooking up the box to your LAN network and get into their application by the WIFI connection. The application is running in your browser. Then we have to configure the CX-engine. Configuration is manufacture/model independent. It is straight forward and all the crucial Dante stuff is prepared.
To set things up we follow the next three steps.
First: Setup your inventory
Adding your devices into the inventory of the CX-engine. Every device needs to be specified by its device type, manufacturer and product model.
Now this “device type” does the trick. A device type is a manufacturer independent category. Every device type has its own configuration settings. Currently there are two device types, network switches and DMX-Node.
Configure your device type “network switch”
Besides assigning a hostname the main action is to add one or more VLAN from a certain type. For a VLAN the following types are available: Data, sACN, ArtNet, Dante, NDI. For a Dante network you need the type Dante (for sure) and maybe a second VLAN type Data and/or NDI.
Create ports and assign VLAN
Now you define the number of ports, it’s function (access or trunk) and then you assign the VLAN to the port. Now your switches are added into the inventory list.
Second: Create a Preset
A preset is what you use to flash all the switches with the correct configurations. In the preset you select device types. The settings for the selected device type can now be configured (if needed). Then you store this preset.
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Third: Assign preset to your devices.
We got devices in our inventory; we got presets; so, let’s combine them. You open the preset mapping menu, select either a group of devices or a single device and click on “deploy preset”. Your switches will be configured.
Nice feature: Compare settings
After the deployment the configuration of the switch is downloaded into the CX-engine and can be compared with the previous configuration. This can help you to maintain your switch fleet and follow the configuration changes that are made.
Projects: Offline preparation
Great for the live world and renting companies, the project option. In a project you store all the devices and presets together. You can create a project on your desk, export it to USB and load it onsite into a CX-engine. During desk preparation you will not assign the preset to a device by using the “deploy” function but instead you use the “map” function.
Some practical notes
I hear you thinking, as Dante expert you wonder how the CX-engine assigns the IGMP Querier in a multiple switch environment. Well, no worries it’s been thought about.
Secondly how do you handle switches with different port counts? In my network I have switches with 10, 18 and 48 ports. Good question! By defining different presets. One preset (1) for port 1-8, second preset (2) for port 9-16 etc. Then you assign preset (1) to all switches and preset (2) to switches that have enough ports etc.
The only issue with this I could think of are the trunklines that are on port 9 and 10 of my 10-port switch, but I don’t want to define port 9-10 as trunklines on the 18-channel switch (there the trunklines are on port 17 and 18). So I guess, you must define special presets for the trunklines separately from the Dante ports.
My verdict
Companies that try to make our Dante life easier should always get kudos from us. The CX-engine could be very handy for larger networks and live events. It can save you many hours of switch configuration time. The fact that you can prepare a network configuration on your desk is also great. Not to mention that you no longer have to learn the user interface of different switch brands, avoiding configuration mistakes and saving time. The only thing you have to do is adding the switch into the network so that the CX-engine is able to see it and get access to the configuration. Once the switch is in your inventory you can configure it within seconds. If you plan Dante networks for large live events, I highly recommend checking this one out.
More company and product info
Web: CX-networks.com. Mail: info@cx-networks.com
The current pricing is: hardware unit €1078, 2 months license €222,75, one year license €2004,75, lifetime license €5925.
