SDVoE
The SDVoE alliance was in full swing in its efforts to further the adoption of their compelling network- based AV technology. Some vendor’s prices are becoming relatively affordable, but many are still simply too expensive for large scale deployments.
The general sense at many of the booths was that the network architecture is simple to design and that the direction is to create a separate AV 10G network with some network console communications via (SNMP) with the enterprise network. In theory, this all sounds like it should be a painless design/installation strategy. However, many of the conversations I had with truly network savvy AV folks and actual network engineers/administrators made it clear that there is a big disconnect about the simplicity of these systems.
As an industry, it appears that there needs to a concerted effort to bring the AV community quickly into a network dependent environment and that this will require much more than the basic understanding of QOS, or VLAN’s. This technology may be the future of AV, but its success will be dependent on how effectively the vendor’s, contractor’s and design consultants can educate and adopt this new paradigm.
It’s time for someone to design an AV focused 10G/40G network switch with a large capacity backplane, simple to navigate web-based interface, and the ability to effectively control unwanted protocols and reduce network complexity. Of course, also very secure.
Audio
Audinate demonstrated their new Domain Manager software application which now allows for the management of multiple domains. This will create the ability for larger Dante systems without the restrictions of a single domain VLAN or the confines of layer 2 boundaries. It allows for layer 3 routing which provides access to multiple subnets and even routing over WAN links creating even larger geographically distributed audio networks. Active Directory and LDAP integrations are available making policy and rights distribution accessible enterprise-wide. SNMP alerts and audits further enhance this product’s seemingly endless menu of offerings. Domain Manager has been a much-needed software application for the network based audio industry.
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