Locality Switch

During work experience, I was able to get very familiar with the Axia Audio-over-IP Studios. From my knowledge, there aren’t any that many stations using Axia studios, and I don’t even remember seeing them at SMPTE09, so their choice to invest in this brand was interesting to me.

However, there was a very valid reason they chose this brand over, say, Logiteck or Klotz. With either of these alternate brands (and others, I believe), the audio is all connect directly into the studio engines via I/O cards.

What happens if you have an audio source which needs to be used in multiple studios? You can access the audio over the network no matter what studio it is connected into, but if the studio with the audio for that feed connected into it needs to be brought offline, or perhaps restarted, you loose access to that source.

How do these companies suggest you get around this issue? Distribution amplifiers – run the audio into each studio’s engine through a DA. Hang on! Isn’t the point of Audio-over-IP equipment to avoid all of that thick multi-pair cable which is so expensive and takes extra time to install?

Let’s take a look at how Axia does it: no audio is actually connected into the studio engine. It all is connected into Audio Nodes, which are basically a 1RU device which hooks into your audio network via a single run of Cat6, and has some analog inputs and outputs on the back. All of that audio is now available on the network, to be accessed wherever you desire.

The end result: if you need to turn off a whole studio, you don’t risk taking any station-wide audio off the network. You also don’t need any multi pair cable into each studio, and DAs.

The problem I think the other manufacturers are facing is old thinking. (Actually, this is what the technical manager at Hope 103.2 described it as – and I agree with him). They are using the old methodology of all audio being connected into the studio, rather than having it connected into anywhere on the network. I can’t blame them for thinking like this – studios have been doing this for years, why change it for digital, right?

Why would you want to stick with this old approach when it’s obvious that this node approach of Axia’s is better thinking? By the way, it’s not as if Axia came up with this approach – computer networks have been doing this for ages.

Let’s move forwards and adapt new ways of thinking. Let’s be agents of change.

(I don’t mean to bag out Logiteck or Klotz. I spoke to both of them at SMPTE09, and they are great people. However, I believe that perhaps they are using the wrong techniques for this digital studio revolution.)

Ok, ok, I’m a bit slow off the mark, but Happy SysAdmin Appreciation Day!

Yesterday, Friday 31st July was the annual SysAdmin day. It’s the occasion where you can throw a big party for your resident sysadmin, to show him/her how much you care.

No one threw a celebratory bash for me (it’s not too late *wink* *wink*), so I instead spend a while browsing their list of Advice to employees on the proper use of the System Administrator’s valuable time. It’s great stuff. Here’s a few sample ideas:

(In following examples, we will substitute the name “Ted” as the System Administrator)

• Play with all the wires you can find. If you can’t find enough, open something up to expose them. After you have finished, and nothing works anymore, put it all back together and call Ted. Deny that you touched anything and that it was working perfectly only five minutes ago. Ted just loves a good mystery. For added effect you can keep looking over his shoulder and ask what each wire is for.
• When Ted’s at the water cooler or outside taking a breath of fresh air, find him and ask him a computer question. The only reason he takes breaks at all is to ferret out all those employees who don’t have email or a telephone.
• When the printer won’t print, re-send the job 20 times in rapid succession. That should do the trick.
• When Ted calls you 30 minutes later and tells you that the printer printed 24 pages of your 500-page document before it ran out of paper, and there are now nine other jobs in the queue behind yours, ask him why he didn’t bother to add more paper.

Awesome stuff! Have a great weekend :)

Yesterday I briefly outlined the benefits of using an Active Directory, and explained some advantages of the features such as Group Policy and DFS Replication.

This is all very well and good, but by now I’m sure you’re wondering how you can get started with all of this. You have two options:

1. Hire someone with knowledge on the platform (like me!)
2. Start learning it all yourself

Option one is for anyone who really wants a top class network without too much hassle. I would recommend this option if you don’t want to spend hours upon hours of learning Windows Server, practicing, throwing it away and starting again, etc. It is the sensible option.

Option two is for people like me who love to learn something new, and can really commit themselves to learning all there is to learn about Windows Server. It’s not for the faint hearted, nor for those who don’t have the time. I also must say that you don’t want to learn about Windows Server if you don’t have any knowledge of computer networking concepts, etc.

How do you start learning Windows Server?

The first thing to do would to download the evaluation copy of Windows Server 2008, and install it on a spare PC, or a virtual machine. Have a play and fiddle around. It can be run for up to 120 days, and after that you can reinstall to keep playing with it.

Then, you really need to start going through a set of structured lessons which covers the platform, concepts, technologies, jargon, and so on. There’s heaps of people who will sell you video lessons on the subject matter. However, I suggest you take a look at the offerings from Train Signals. Train Signal offer an eight video set on Windows Server 2008, which takes you through all the basics, and then some of the more advanced stuff. It is all downloadable, and costs nothing!

After you have completed their series, you will then have the knowledge to go through all of the other roles in Windows Server, and learn it yourself, with the aid of the internet.

If you want other some website to read with articles on Windows Server, I suggest you look at Windows Networking, Windows IT Pro and Techrepublic. They’re all usually a great read.

I wish you well with your quest to learn about Windows Server. Remember, don’t apply anything to a real live network until you are confident you know what you are doing. If in doubt, consult someone with some experience in the matter.

In computers, centralised management is great. Centralised management of all your users and computers can save you both time and sanity. If you’re running more than a few computers, then you really need to start thinking about ways to centralise everything. You need a directory.

A directory is where details are stored about objects. One example of an object could be a user. Another could be a computer. You get the picture?

Each operating system has a different flavour of directory. On Mac, you have Open Directory (through OS X Server). On Linux, there is Samba. Windows has Active Directory. Each one of these really shares a common protocol, which is LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

Thing is, a directory by itself is very boring – all it does is store objects. How dull.

A directory gets exciting when you add in extra features which make managing these objects much more easier. Today I’m going to explain the advantages of using Active Directory technologies. I’m focusing on AD rather than other platforms because it is what I am farmiliar with, and I know how well it can work and how much potential it has to make your life easier.

Starting from the top: Active Directory is a directory service built into the Windows Server platform (e.g. Windows Server 2008). It is the fundamental way Windows server-client networks are structured – if at work you log on to a domain, then you are really logging on to an Active Directory (99% of the time).

A domain allows anyone to logon to any computer, and have all their settings and preferences come with them. This is one of the key advantages to installing an Active Directory network. If you have more than a few computers on your network, you should seriously be considering an Active Directory.

Active Directory is great because it has extra functinality designed specifically to manage Windows clients. Such functionality includes Group Policy, NTFS domain security, Windows Server Update Services, software deployment and Domain File Services. Each one plays a very specific role, and all of them can be useful to you.

Group Policy would have to be my favourite management tools. In a nutshell, it allows you to configure settings (policies) to groups of people. Want to define one set of settings for every Internet Explorer browser in the building? Group Policy can do that. Want to define a common desktop background? Group Policy can do that. Want to have a set of mapped drives for just your office staff? Group policy can do that.

Group Policy is great for security because you control every aspect of every computer. I would go so far to say there are no limits to the power of Group Policy – if a certain restriction isn’t built into Group Policy, you can write it yourself!

Active Directory also allows you to deploy software to groups of computers. Have you just bought a site licence for some office-productivity package, and need to install it on 15 computers? Set it up on your Active Directory, and the software will install automatically on the next restart of each computer.

Another great thing about Active Directory is that you can setup distributed file storage between multiple servers, using Domain File Services Replication (DFS Replication). This is great if you have more than one server, because you can set up it to automatically sync files so if one server goes down, the other one will take over. This is awesome in radio, because you don’t have to go off air of one computer crashes!

Six hundred words about Active Directory, and I haven’t scratched the surface! All of this is great, if you know how to install and configure it all properly. That’s why I’ve decided to share some tips with you tomorrow about how to start learning about the Windows Server platform. Then, next week I hope to share with you some tips on how to get all of this software really cheap, assuming that you are a non-profit organisation, of course.

Make sure you check back tomorrow!

If you’re up to date with the latest trends in broadcasting, you ought to know that everything is going digital. Massive multi-pair cables are being replaced with inexpensive Cat6*. All the latest digital audio consoles interconnect with Cat6, and the only analogue audio in sight is converted to digital through an A/D converter anyway.

So, why is Cat6 so popular? One word: cost. Cat6 can be bought cheaper than $0.50 per meter. Compare that to bucket loads of multi-pair cable with Krone IDC blocks on every end, and Cat6 is suddenly very attractive. Not to mention the advantages you get by running all your audio over a Cat6 network – audio coming from any source can be instantly routed to any destination you like, without leaving your chair.

I love Cat6, and the advantages it has. However, there is one small problem which every piece of Cat6 in the world has – RJ45.

You want to know the problems with the humble RJ45? The problem is that it is cheap, and very easy to break. But the main thing which breaks is the little plastic clip which secures it in. I don’t know how many of these things have been broken in studios, and have come out half way through a song, leaving a very problematic situation. I am, quite frankly, fed up with having to re-crimp these things.

Surly the broadcast world would have woken up to this problem, and found a solution. After all, we are the people who have been favouring those robust XLR connectors for as long as they have been around! Surly someone would have a solution?

But wait, there is! It’s called EtherCon, and is manufactured Neutrik. EtherCon is a wonderful concept. Here’s a pic:

See, it’s a RJ45 turned XLR! Wonderful! It’s just what I’ve always wanted. I would happily replace every RJ45 in the building with one of these EtherCon wonder plugs. But there’s a bit of a problem:

I can’t find a single network switch, network card, or patch panel which supports the EtherCon connector! Sure, they will sell me a EtherCon connector to solder onto a PCB, but that isn’t what I really want. What I want is a range of devices already with the EtherCon plug on it.

The only things I have found with EtherCon built in are expensive live audio consoles (of the PA variety), such as the beautiful-but-expensive Allen & Heath iLive series. Digital live consoles have EtherCon built in, but the broadcasting world hasn’t quite caught up. Neither has the world of Network Interface Cards.

So, for now, it’s back to re-crimping those broken RJ45 connectors for me.

* I have been using the term Cat6 throughout this post for simplicities sake – Cat5e could be substituted into this post without any trouble.