Crestron
e-control Vote SW-VOTE
11
••
Introduction
Installation & Reference Guide — DOC. 5822
customizable to some extent. See “Signal Block Configuration and Definition,” page
30, for specifics.
The server is connected to each control system via either a serial cable through an
RS-232 port or an Ethernet network through a LAN port. To effect the latter type of
connection, the control system relies on an intermediary, the Crestron
CNX Gateway,
to translate communications protocols. To aid in making this clear, the following
illustrated discussion of system terminology and topology should prove useful at this
point.
System Terminology and Topology
The server is connected to the control system via either a serial cable through an
RS-232 port or an Ethernet network through a LAN port. To effect the latter type of
connection, the control system relies on an intermediary, the Crestron
CNX Gateway,
to translate communications protocols.
This manual simultaneously discusses several different inter-connected computer
systems. To reduce confusion, throughout the manual, these systems are referred to
using the terms in the following table. (Also refer to the diagrams on the next page.)
Term
Explanation
The system
or
the control system
One of a number of Crestron
control system(s),
which may
include any combination of the following models:
CNMS
,
CNRACK
,
CNMSX
-
PRO
,
CNMSX
-
AV
, and
CNRACKX
.
The server
or
the software server
or
the Voting Computer
The Crestron Software Server,
swserver.exe
, which runs
on a PC under Microsoft
®
Windows
®
95 or Windows NT
®
.
The gateway
or
the CNX Gateway
A communications conduit that sits between the
server
and
the control system(s).
The
control system(s)
are connected to the
server
via direct RS-232 serial connection
or via TCP/IP to the
gateway
and thence via TCP/IP to the
server
.
N
OTE
:
“Connected via TCP/IP” means any node (computer) visible on the Local Area Network
(LAN). If the LAN is connected to the Internet, this could include any node visible anywhere on the
Internet. Since a node can also see itself, this implies that multiple services can run on the same
machine. For example, the
gateway
and the
server
can be “self-hosted” in this way.
In the illustration that follows, the communication pathways are represented by the
arrows. The physical network is not represented, however.