Extron electronic MTPX Plus Series manual Subnetting a Primer, Gateways, Local and remote devices

Ethernet Connection, cont’d

Subnetting — A Primer

It is not the purpose of this manual to describe TCP/IP protocol in detail. However, some understanding of TCP/IP subnetting (a subnet is a subset of a network — a set of IP devices that have portions of their IP addresses in common) is necessary in order to understand the interaction of the MTPX Plus switcher and the mail server gateway. To understand subnetting at the level required to install and operate the MTPX Plus switcher, you must understand the concepts of a gateway, local and remote devices, IP addresses and octets, and subnet masks and octets.

Gateways

The MTPX Plus switcher can communicate with the e-mail server that the switcher uses for e-mail notification directly (if they are on the same subnet) or the communication can be routed via a gateway (a computer that provides a link between different subnets).

Local and remote devices

The local and remote devices are defined from the point of view of the function being described. In this manual, subnetting is an issue when you are using the controlling PC to set TCP/IP and e-mail values in the MTPX Plus switcher (see “IP Settings/Options window” in chapter 5, “Matrix Software”, and “Email Settings page” in chapter 6, “HTML Operation”). When you are setting up the variables for e-mail notification, which may include subnetting, the matrix switcher is the local device and the e-mail server is the remote device.

IP addresses and octets

Valid IP addresses consist of four 1-, 2-, or 3-digit numeric subfields, properly called octets, separated by dots (periods) (figure A-4). Each octet can be numbered from 000 through 255. Leading zeroes, up to three digits total per octet, are optional. Values of 256 and above are invalid.

Typical IP Address: 192.168.254.254

Octets

Figure A-4 — IP address and octets

Subnet masks and octets

The subnet mask (figure A-5) is used to determine whether the local and remote devices are on the same subnet or different subnets. The subnet mask consists of four numeric octets separated by dots. Each octet can be numbered from

000 through 255. Leading zeroes, up to three digits total per octet, are optional. Each octet typically contains either 255 or 0. The octets determine whether or not the same octets of two IP addresses will be compared when determining if two devices are on the same subnet.

255 indicates that this octet will be compared between two IP addresses.

0 indicates that this octet will not be compared between two IP addresses.

Typical Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0

Octets

Figure A-5 — Subnet mask and octets

A-6 MTPX Plus Twisted Pair Matrix Switchers • Ethernet Connection