grandMA3 MA-Net3 session and device monitoring with Araneo and GigaCores

grandMA3 MA-Net3 session and device monitoring with Araneo and GigaCores

Intro

This article is valid for Areneo versions 1.9.0 and higher

The Luminex Araneo software, in combination with Gigacore switches can be used to monitor grandMA3 MA-Net3 sessions and devices.
To take full advantage of this possibility, an extra license is needed.
Without this license, Araneo will only show  grandMA3 console, 1 grandMA3  Processing Unit, 1 grandMA3 Node and 1 grandMA3 OnPC station as MA-Net3 devices. All other grandMA3 devices will show up as regular edge devices in this case.
This allows the users to evaluate the MA-Net3 monitoring functionality before purchasing a license.


License installation

The license will be available for purchase in the Luminex webshop at https://odoo.luminex.be/shop

After purchasing the MA-Nnet3 license, you will receive an e-mail with a registration code.
This code can be entered in Araneo via additional setting > Licenses > Activate Ticket > Enter your ticket > Activate
The computer running Areneo must have internet access to activate the license key.

Once the license is activated, Araneo will show all grandMA3 MA-Net3 devices as true MA3 devices instead of edge devices.

Moving the license to another computer can be done by deactivating the license first (this also requires internet access) and re-acctivating the license key on another computer.


             



Gigacore generation differences.

  1. When using only 2nd generation GigaCores (10i,16i,30i and 10t,16t,18t and 20t) you can just connect the computer running Araneo to the management group. It is not necessary to connect the computer to the group or Groups (VLANs) containing the MA-Net3 devices. The Gigacore Switches will tunnel the MA-Net3 admin data to the management group, where Araneo can access this data.
  1. When using only 1st generation GigaCores (GC10,12,14R,16XT,16RFO or 26i) you MUST use a second network card or dongle to connect the computer running Araneo to the group containing the MA-Net3 devices. The 1st generation Gigacore Switches cannot tunnel the MA-Net3 admin data to the management group.
  1. When using a mix of 1st and 2nd generation GigaCores, you can connect the computer running Araneo to the management group of either a 1st or 2nd generation Gigacore, BUT, there must be at least one 2nd Generation GigaCore on the path of the MA-Net3 multicast streams.The easiest way to make sure this is the case, is to use the 2nd generation GigaCore switch to connect one of the grandMA3 devices in the session to the network, and make sure it is connected via the network port on the grandMA3 device that is being used for the MA-Net3 session.

MA-Net3 functionality

Araneo will show all the MA-Net3 devices with a clear "MA3"logo, the device name , the session number, the session state of the device, and an icon of the physical device.
When the device is expanded by clicking the white triangle, we can also see the model of the device, the session name, the session index, the IP address of the station, the MAC address and the uptime of that station.
At the bottom of the screen we get some more info, like the  status of the station, the name of the showfile and the software version of that station.



When we hover over the session index, we will see the flow of the MA-Net3 session data over the GigaCore network.
If there are missing multicast registrations on the network, this will show up as a red line.



Araneo will not only perform a health check on the Gigacore network, but also on the MA-Net3 sessions and devices.



In the MA-Net Network menu in the top bar we get an overview of all the MA-Net3 sessions and the grandMA3 devices in our network.
 

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