VBrick Systems VB Directory System - Manual (Page 4)

V B D I R E C T O R Y U S E R S G U I D E V E R S I O N 4 . 1
C O P Y R I G H T V B R I C K S Y S T E M S P A G E 4 J U N E 2 0 0 7
1: Introduction
Brick products are now shipped with a management application called VBDirectory,
which provides quick reference and access to all VBricks on a network. It is
available as a standalone program available on the product CD ( or from the VBrick
website) and bundled with the release of many VBrick products.
The VBDirectory application listens to the Management SAP (Session Announcement
Protocol) sent by each VBrick on the network
1 . This allows the administrator to locate the
name and IP Address of each VBrick on the network through its Host Name, which is set in
the Internet Protocol, or IP section of the software. If a Host name has not been selected,
the VBrick is identified through the Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware
address that uniquely identifies each node of a network. On Ethernet models, the VBrick’s
Host Name identifies the VBrick to various network applications, including DHCP, SNMP and
VBrick application tools.
As long as SAP transmit is enabled, the VBrick sends a Management SAP to VBDirectory’s
default address. When a new VBrick device is added to the network, VBDirectory
automatically locates it and adds it to its list. Double-clicking the VBrick address after
locating the SAP in the VBDirectory interface launches a Web Interface that provides VBrick
control though one of the following:
• • VBrick 1000, 2000, 3000 Series (MPEG-1) appliances through VBAdmin software or
through Telnet access.
• • VBrick 4000, 5000 and 6000 Series (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WM) appliances
through the Integrated Web Server (IWS).
• • EtherneTV-STB appliances through a web browser interface.
• • EtherneTV WM IP Receiver through a web browser interface.
Benefits of VBDirectory
• • Significantly simplifies management of environments with multiple VBrick
appliances.
• • Automatically recognizes when VBricks are added or removed from the network.
• • Allows VBricks to be grouped together for management purposes.
1 VBDirectory is compatible with software release 2.0.0 or higher for the VBrick 6000 Series and release 2.4.0 for
VBrick 3000 series. The Upgrade function for the VBrick 3000 series requires VBAdmin release 3.2.5.1 and
higher. It is not backwards compatible with previous versions of code.
V V
CHAPTER one
ICON KEY
Important
Information