Digi X2 - Manual (Page 155)

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C o n f i g u r e D i g i d e v i c e s
Connection settings
The Connection settings configure how the Digi device connects to the Connectware
Manager server. These settings include information about communication between client
and server and the connection methods used by the various interfaces on the system.
About client-initiated and server-initiated connections
Digi devices can be configured to connect to and communicate with the Connectware
Manager server through client-initiated or server-initiated connections.
To illustrate how both types of connections work, here is a configuration scenario
featuring Digi devices communicating over a cellular network with a Connectware
Manager server running in the home office.
Addresses for Digi devices can be publicly known, or private and dynamic, or handled
through Network Address Translation (NAT). (NAT reduces the need for a large amount
of publicly known IP addresses by creating a separation between publicly known and
privately known IP addresses. NAT allows a single device, such as a router, to act as an
agent between a public network, such as the Internet or a wireless network, and a private,
or local, network. This means that only one unique IP address is needed to represent an
entire group of computers. Addresses handled through NAT can access the rest of “the
world,” but “the world” cannot access them.)
In a client-initiated connection, the Digi deviceattempts to connect to the network, and
will continue attempts to reach the Connectware Manager server to establish the
connection. To maintain the connection, the Digi device sends keep-alive messages over
the connection. The frequency with which keep-alive messages are sent is configurable.
An advantage of client-initiated connections is that they can be used in any cellular
network, whether public or private IP addresses are used, or even if NAT is used. A
disadvantage is that you can be charged for the Digi devicesending the keep-alives,
depending on your cellular/mobile service plan.