IP Network Mask, IP Gateway | Black Box ServSwitchTM specs

Network configuration

This page allows you to configure the various aspects of the IP port and its relationship with the local network.

MAC address

Media Access Control address – this is the unique and unchangeable code that was hard coded within your Wizard IP Plus unit when it was built. It consists of six 2-digit hexadecimal (base 16) numbers separated by colons. A section of the MAC address identifies the manufacturer, while the remainder is effectively the unique electronic serial number of your particular unit.

Use DHCP

DHCP is an acronym for ‘Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol’. Its function is particularly useful when connecting to medium size or larger networks, such as the Internet. When this option is selected, your Wizard IP Plus will attempt to locate a DHCP server on the network. If such a server is located, it will supply three things to the Wizard IP Plus: an IP address, an IP network mask (also known as a Subnet mask) and a Gateway address. These are not usually granted permanently, but on a ‘lease’ basis for a fixed amount of time or for as long as the Wizard IP Plus remains connected and switched on. Discover allocations.

To get here

1Using VNC viewer or a browser, log on as the ‘admin’ user.

2Click the ‘Configure’ button in the top right corner.

3Click the ‘Network Configuration’ option.

IP Address

This is the identity of the Wizard IP Plus within a network. The IP address can be thought of as the telephone number of the Wizard IP Plus. Unlike the MAC address, the IP address can be altered to suit the network to which it is connected. It can either be entered manually or configured automatically using the DHCP option. When the DHCP option is enabled, this entry is greyed out.

IP Network Mask

Also often called the subnet-mask, this value is used alongside the IP address to help define a smaller collection (or subnet) of devices on a network. In this way a distinction is made between locally connected devices and ones that are reachable elsewhere, such as on the wider Internet. This process helps to reduce overall traffic on the network and hence speed up connections in general.

IP Gateway

This is the address of the device that links the local network (to which the Wizard IP Plus is connected) to another network such as the wider Internet. Usually the actual gateway is a network switch or router and it will be used whenever a required address lies outside the current network.

VNC Port

This is the logical link through which communications with a remote VNC viewer will be channelled (see What is a port?). The default setting is 5900 which is

a widely recognised port number for use by VNC software. However, in certain circumstances it may be advantageous to alter this number - see ‘Security issues with ports’ for more details.

HTTP Port

This is the logical link through which communications with a remote web browser will be channelled (see What is a port?). The default setting of 80 is an established standard for web (HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol) traffic though this can be changed to suit your local network requirements.

IP Access Control

This section allows you to optionally specify ranges of addresses which will or won’t be granted access to the Wizard IP Plus. If this option is left unchanged, then the default entry of ‘+0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0’ ensures that access from all IP addresses will be permitted. See Setting IP access control for details.

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