ISIS Client Performance Testing and Troubleshooting This article describes several checks, tests and recommendations for persons attempting to resolve ISIS client connection and performance related problems. It is intended to supplement existing Avid documentation available for download from the Avid Knowledgebase Website. Date: January 2nd 2008 Product: ISIS Client Document Version: 2 http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/supportcontent.asp?browse=&productID=172&contentID=10473 Revision notes: March 6th 2007: Updated ISIS Intel NIC driver versions for ISIS 1.2. Added information regarding Broadcom Chipset based NICs. Updated ISIS Client FOS Versions for ISIS 1.2. Updated the ISIS Client Connection Manager discussion with changes in ISIS V1.2. December 24th 2007 Moved document version information to top of document Updated checking the ISIS NIC Driver and Settings Section - Added NIC driver information history as an Appendix - Added ISIS Client PCI Slot information as an Appendix - Added Intel Pro 1000 PT NIC information

Added Useful ISIS Command Line Tools Added ISIS v1.3 and v1.4 version information Added ISIS information for AirSpeed configuration testing Updated Firewall section Added Mac G5 Ethernet Tuning Utility Information Contents: Checking the ISIS NIC Driver and Settings………………………………………………..……….…….Page 2 Checking the ISIS Client Version………………………………………………………………………….…….Page 5 Checking the ISIS “Client Type” Setting (ISIS 1.1B Onwards)……………….…………………Page 6 Using PathDiag to Measure ISIS Client Connection Performance…….……..……………….Page 7 Using Command Line Tools to Troubleshoot ISIS Client Network Connections………..Page 9 Optimizing NICs Using a Broadcom Chipset for ISIS Use………………………………………..Page 10 Avid Unity ISIS Ethernet Tuning Utility for Mac G5 Platforms…………………………………Page 10 Exporting the ISIS Client Manager Logs……………………………………..………….…………….…Page 11 Using ISIS Client NIC Properties to Alert the Computer User……………………..………….Page 12 Checking Windows Firewall Configuration…………………………………………......……………….Page 13 Using Disklog to Log ISIS File System Activity…………………….……………….…………………Page 14 Resolving Slow Windows Browser Performance on ISIS Clients……………….…………….Page 15 Confirming Airspeed Configuration for ISIS Use……..……………………………………………….Page 18 - AirSpeed ISIS Client Installation……………………………………………………………………………Page 18 - Connecting the AirSpeed Server to the ISIS Network………………………………………….Page 19 - AirSpeed Configuration Dialog Pages…………………………………………………………………….Page 19 - ISIS AirSpeed Client Licensing……………………………………………………………………………...Page 20 - ISIS AirSpeed User Account………………………………………………………………………………....Page 20 - Configuring ISIS AirSpeed Devices in ISIS Administration………………………….……..Page 20 - Using FLTOOL to confirm the AirSpeed ISIS Client Version / Connectivity………..Page 20 - Using PKG_INFO to Determine the ISIS Client Software Version………………………..Page 21 Appendix A: Supported Network Interface PCI Card Hardware…………………………..….Page 23 Appendix B: Supported ISIS Client Computer PCI Slot Positions……………………………Page 23 Appendix C: Supported Intel NIC Driver Versions……………………………………………………Page 24 Appendix D: Disabling the onboard NIC when using the HP XW8400 Platform………Page 25

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Checking the ISIS NIC Driver and Settings When exploring performance concerns with ISIS client computers some good first checks are to confirm that the Intel Network Interface Card (NIC), used to connect to the ISIS Network, is seated in the correct PCI slot of the Host CPU and is configured correctly. To check that the driver revision and NIC configuration are optimal for ISIS, use the Computer Management Console, Device Manager, NIC Properties, Driver Tab and Advanced Tab. The driver installed for the Intel NIC on ISIS client computers should only be installed using the ISIS System Installation media as the source and not from any Intel Driver Install CD provided with the NIC package (neither should it be the driver assigned by the Microsoft OS through automatic plug and play installation). Be sure to install the x64 (64 bit) version of the driver only when installing the adapter in Host CPU's running 64 bit versions of Windows XP operating system. Please refer to the ISIS version Release Notes or see Appendix A, B and C for details on the supported Intel NIC hardware, slot position for the PCI card and supported driver versions for the card. Once the NIC PCI card driver is checked and updated as necessary, confirm that the “Jumbo Frames” setting value is “Disabled” and that the Transmit and Receive descriptors settings (Under Performance Options) are each set to a value of 1024. It may also be worth checking and modifying the power management settings of the NIC to ensure that it is not possible for the Host PC to disable the NIC to save power. Finally check that the NIC is negotiating a 1 Gbit connection speed with its reciprocal switch port by looking at the details for the NIC link speed in the NIC Connection properties, Link Tab.

Intel Pro 1000 MT NIC driver version

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Intel Pro 1000 MT NIC Jumbo Frames Disabled

Intel Pro 1000 MT NIC Performance Options

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Intel Pro 1000 MT NIC Receive and Transmit Descriptors

Updating Intel Drivers on Avid Interplay Cluster Systems Recent ISIS Readme documentation recommends that you update the Intel Pro MT/PT drivers on ISIS clients. This statement does not apply to Interplay Engine cluster systems. The Intel drivers on cluster systems do not require updating for this release. Doing so could compromise the integrity of the cluster. In general, do not update the hardware drivers on a cluster system unless instructed to do so by the Interplay Readme or Customer Support.

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Checking the ISIS Client Version Is the ISIS client version appropriate to the System Director installation? Is it possible that the client computer got overlooked when it came to upgrade the remaining system components? For ISIS software versions prior to ISIS v1.4 it is important to ensure that the ISIS client software installed on each client computer platform is the same version as that of the System Director(s). For ISIS software version 1.4 and later, it is acceptable to leave clients running an installer version that is one version prior to the main system version allowing these platforms to be upgraded when most convenient. For example after a system has been upgraded to ISIS version 1.4, clients running v1.3 or v1.3a software can be left to be upgraded at a later time. To check which version of ISIS client software has been installed check the upper left corner of the ISIS Client Connection Manager software Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the version installed.

Avid Unity ISIS Client Connection Manger GUI Showing the Installed ISIS Software Version For earlier versions of the Client Connection Manager software, it may be necessary to check the version of the AvidFOSInstall.exe file to determine the version of ISIS client software that has been installed. Navigate to C\:Program Files\Avid Technology\AvidUnityISIS and select the AvidFosInstall.exe item. Right click the file and select “properties” then select the Version Tab. Note the version of the AvidFOSInstall.exe file:

1.0.900 would be ISIS v1.0 1.0.7290 would be ISIS v1.0B 1.0.9570 would be ISIS v1.0C 1.0.10720 would be ISIS v1.0E 1.1.0.1950 would be ISIS v1.1 1.1.0.2470 would be ISIS v1.1B 1.2.0.8760 would be ISIS v1.2

1.3.0.14450 would be ISIS v1.3/v1.3a 1.4.0.6350 would be ISIS v1.4

ISIS Client AvidFosInstall.exe Properties, Version Tab

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Checking the ISIS “Client Type” Setting For ISIS software version 1.1B and greater, the Client Manager application has a new option available in the General Settings – the “Client Type” dialog. This dialog can be set to optimize the behavior of the ISIS Client Connection’s when “reading” data at particular media resolution types.

ISIS Client Connection Manager Preferences, General Pane For ISIS v1.1B Client Manager: For zone-1 and Zone-2 clients, this setting should typically be set to High Resolution. For Zone-3 and Zone-4 clients that will be working with DV-25, DV-50 or IMX Media, this setting should typically be set to High Resolution. However in cases where Client NIC throughput is identified as an issue, selecting Low Resolution may help alleviate NIC congestion issues due to read-ahead. For Zone-3 and Zone-4 clients working with MPEG-2 Media, this setting should be set to Low Resolution in order to provide optimal performance for throughput and scalability. For ISIS v1.2 (and greater) Client Manager: A third option, “Medium Resolution” is added and is now the default setting. The High Resolution setting is recommended for Avid Editing systems (and Avid Interplay Assist systems) using DNxHD 145/120 material. This setting optimizes the client for low latency which is required by editors handling higher data rate material. Under certain circumstances platforms handling 2:1, DV 50 and IMX 50 material in Zones 1 and 2 may also require this setting. Medium Resolution is recommended for Avid Editing systems using SD material at most resolutions such as DV25 or IMX30 in Zones 1 to 3. The Low Resolution setting is recommended for Avid Editing systems in Zone 4 using MPEG 2, DV25 and IMX 30 material. When this option is selected, ISIS Read Ahead (or oversubscription) is disabled and sets the preference I/O size to 1024.

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Using PathDiag to Measure the ISIS Client Connection Performance Launch PathDiag from the Start Menu, Programs, Avid Unity ISIS folder. Select Custom Test and direct the test at one of the mounted ISIS workspaces by choosing setting “Path to Test” to be one of the mounted ISIS workspace Drive letters. Set Reads Vs Writes to be a Write then Read test. Set the Transfer Size to 4096 KB, the Transfer Rate to unlimited and the Max File Size to 100 MB. (100 MB should be fine – no need for 1000 for confidence testing)

With the above settings and a single connected ISIS client in ISIS Zone 1 or ISIS Zone 2 we would expect typical Read and Write performance of somewhere between 60 and 75 MB /sec. Anything significantly lower than this would indicate a problem at some point in the chain of ISIS connectivity (or that your test is directed at the internal drive of the client computer and not one of the ISIS workspaces).

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PathDiag is quite flexible and can be used to test an ISIS Client’s ability to perform certain roles. For instance to emulate the transfer of data in much the same way an editor might transfer data at particular Media Resolutions we recommend the following values for the PathDiag “Transfer Size” setting: DNxHD 8 MB (8192 KB) DV/IMX 4 MB (4096 KB) MPEG-2 1 MB (1024 KB) In addition we have also occasionally used a Transfer Size of 128 and 256 when troubleshooting NIC and PCI bus issues as well as Switch issues. We have found that some systems will only run at these low transfer sizes which helps us identify where the problem is vs “dead NIC”, etc. To further Emulate how an editor platform might be behaving when actually writing or reading a stream of media the Transfer Rate setting can be changed from unlimited (thus testing the maximum potential of an ISIS connection) to a particular data rate emulating a Media Resolution rate (or multiple of a particular rate to emulate multiple streams). KB/sec Bandwidth overhead values can either be selected from the Transfer Rate drop down menu or can be manually entered into the dialog box. Further details on the usage of PathDiag can be found in the ISIS Client Connection Manager User Guide available from the Avid KB website here: http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/browse.asp?productID=172&topicID=3

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Using Command Line Tools to Troubleshoot ISIS Client Network Connections Modern Operating Systems (OS) offer several good tools for diagnosing network issues from a command prompt. The suggestions below are for Windows OS Command Line use and are intended to be used as a start point. Further details on the usage of each command can be seen by typing /? after the command in the MS console (eg for usage data on the ipconfig command type: ipconfig /? followed by the “Enter” key). ping: The ping command is commonly used for determining whether the local host computer can communicate with another network device. When troubleshooting ISIS connections, it can be helpful to ping, for instance, the System Director, an ISIS switch blade, an ISIS Storage Blade or a router Interface to confirm subnet communication. ipconfig: This command can be very useful for quickly displaying a host computer’s network configuration details. This is very helpful for confirming that a NIC configuration is appropriately set for a particular ISIS subnet use. tracert (or TraceRoute): To determine the path a network packet takes to get to a particular destination, Tracert can be used to display how a packet traverses a network. This may be useful for troubleshooting ISIS Zone 3 and ISIS Zone 4 client connections. It may well be useful for working out Zone 2 issues as well, particularly when a single connected client on one of the two main ISIS subnets (a NewsCutter Workstation for example) wishes to communicate with a client connected to the other ISIS subnet (an AirSpeed for example). NETSTAT: When troubleshooting poor client connection performance, it can be instructive to view the statistics of the ISIS client’s network connection. NETSTAT can be used to display a broad range of statistics associated with either a single connection or any running on a host computer eg: NETSTAT –a shows all active TCP connections and actively listening TCP and UD services NETSTAT – e shows current Ethernet statistics, number of bytes received, sent and errors. NETSTAT – s shows per protocol statistics eg current IP, ICMP, TCP and UPD (and more!) statistics. Of particular interest when troubleshooting poor read performance with ISIS connections will be NETSTAT – s > Ipv4 Statistics > Re-assembly Failures. ISIS uses large UDP/IP datagrams to transport data. These datagrams are frequently fragmented to fit on the network and must be re-assembled by the receiving connection at their destination. Should one fragment be lost on the network, the whole IP datagram is dropped and must be re-sent. A re-assembly failure indicates that the host has received some but not all of the fragments of an IP datagram. Lost fragments could be due to packets being lost on the network or a connection not being able to accept incoming packets quickly enough. To use this statistic as a tool, configure a consistent stream of data over a connection by playing a particular media file in loop mode or by using PathDiag and periodically monitor the statistic for an increasing number of re-assembly failures in succession over time. Some detective work may then be necessary to determine which network interface in the path of the connection is causing the failure.

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Optimising NICs using a Broadcom Chipset for ISIS Use If you are connecting to the ISIS system using a platform that uses a Broadcom chipset based NIC (e.g., HP xw4300), you can use the following procedure to reduce the risk of Packet Reassembly Failures, which can occur particularly when working with higher resolution material (e.g., DNx145). Although the Broadcom NIC does not have a provision today for setting the Transmit (Tx) or Receive (Rx) Descriptors like the Intel MT Server NIC, there is a registry key that can be changed on the Rx side, the side that is important for improved Read performance and to minimize the risk of packet loss. The following procedure explains how to change this value. Please note that this procedure requires that you edit values in the System Registry using the Registry Editor. Warning: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. The two Microsoft articles below offer some suggestions about how to back up the registry and offer some help with the specifics of modifying the registry.

Windows XP and Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/Windows 2000: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322755/

1. From the Start Menu choose Run 2. Type “Regedit” to enter the Registry Editor application 3. Make sure that the highest level in the left pane of the Registry Editor is

highlighted to ensure a complete search of the Registry. This is usually “My Computer”

4. From the edit menu choose Find or type “Ctrl f” 5. In the “Find What” field type “RxStdDescCnt”. 6. Change the value of RxStdDescCnt from 200 (default) to 511 (no higher). 7. From the edit menu choose Find Next or type “F3”

Note: There are likely two or three (possibly more) instances of this key present. You have to change all of them to ensure that if any one is active at a given time it will have the correct value.

8. Continue to search the Registry via Find Next until all instances of the key are found with the value of 511.

9. Reboot the Workstation. Following the reboot you may consider opening the Registry to confirm the setting has changed and is persistent. Keep in mind that if the machine is re-imaged, or a new driver is installed, it is likely that this setting will have to be changed again manually. Avid Unity ISIS Ethernet Tuning Utility for Mac G5 Platforms Version 1.4 ISIS introduced a new utility that can be used for optimizing the Ethernet performance of the Apple Mac G5 computer for ISIS use. The Avid Unity ISIS Ethernet Tuning Utility can be used with Mac G5 clients using ISIS shared storage running version 1.2 onwards and can be obtained from the ISIS v1.4 Installation media or downloaded from the Avid ESD website ( http://esd.avid.com/ ). Further details on the installing the utility can be obtained from the v1.4 ISIS Readme document which is available from the Avid Knowledgebase here: http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/browse.asp?productID=172&topicID=3

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Exporting the ISIS Client Manager Logs If persistent problems are occurring with the ISIS client connection check the Messages section of the Client Connection Manager GUI to get reports of incidents as they occur. These messages can be exported to a log file by selecting the Fast menu and then selecting the Export option. It will be helpful to save off the MS event logs as well to send to Avid Technical Support. Simply Export these as .txt files rather than saving them off as the native .evt files.

ISIS Client Connection Manager GUI showing Messages section and Fast Menu Options

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Using ISIS Client NIC properties to Alert the Computer User When diagnosing ISIS client connection difficulties it sometimes helps to have the ISIS NIC configured to alert the user when network difficulties occur. Configure the NIC properties so that the “Show Icon in notification area when connected” and “Notify me when this connection has limited or no connectivity” are both selected per the screenshot below.

If network difficulties are encountered the default behavior will be that a small pop up balloon tip will appear in the system tray notifying the user of the situation. However if the Avid performance optimization registry modification has been run the balloon tips may be disabled. The registry modification to disable Notification Area Balloon Tips is detailed below. 13. Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips Start > Run > regedit > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion

Explorer > Advanced. Add a new DWORD value called "EnableBalloonTips" and set to 0. To re-enable the Balloon Tips simply set the value to 1, close the registry editor, then re-start the computer.

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Checking Windows Firewall Configuration to See That Settings Are Compatible With ISIS The Windows Firewall may be enabled on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 based ISIS Client computers however the “Don’t allow exceptions” option should not be selected. When the ISIS Client Connection Manager software is installed on a client computer, the ISIS client installer configures the Windows Firewall as part of the process. After the installation is complete, and the computer has rebooted, you can check the firewall configuration. “AvidUnityISIS” will have multiple entries in the exceptions list (listed in the Exceptions Tab) to allow successful ISIS communication through the firewall. The ports excepted will range from UDP Port number 4000 to 4399 for ISIS versions up to 1.3 and Port number 4200 to 4599 for ISIS version 1.4 onwards.

In troubleshooting ISIS client performance it is possible that the Windows Firewall is blocking a port or service that ISIS depends on for correct operation. Should a situation exist where client connections to ISIS are being affected, it may be worth disabling the Windows Firewall for a period of time to see if this helps the situation. If this setting does seem to improve the performance of the ISIS client it would be advisable to try and resolve the conflict rather than leave the Firewall permanently disabled. Possibly a service or application has been installed after the ISIS client software that has modified the Firewall exceptions list. Policies passed down from a Windows Domain administrator may also close previously open ports. Be aware that installed external Network Firewall appliances and Access lists may also affect ISIS connectivity too.

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Using Disklog to Log ISIS File System Activity Disklog can be used to capture information about the workings of the ISIS file system from the client perspective. It can be a useful tool for troubleshooting ISIS performance issues. On the ISIS client, navigate to the ISIS folder: C:\program files\Avid Technology\AvidUnityISIS

• Create a new folder called manual • Launch disklog.exe • In the Data section check all four boxes (The Trace Buffer option will not be

available until you create the “Manual” folder in the above step). • Start working with Disklog running in the background • Once the problem is observed, go back to disklog and click snapshot • Click save and enter a filename. Save out the file and note the location saved.

Send resulting file in for analysis.

The ISIS DiskLog GUI with all four options selected in the Data Section

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Users browsing folders on Windows based ISIS Client computers experience delays with folders opening and revealing their contents Users of Windows based ISIS client computers experience up to 30 seconds delay before a folder’s contents are revealed when browsing folders in Windows Explorer or through “My Computer”. Avid editing applications might also experience a long delay in the initial stages of launching the application possibly seeing a “Timeout” error. This article is based on the information in Avid KB Article ID 8722. To resolve this delay behaviour on Windows based ISIS client computers it is necessary to make two changes to the ISIS client computer configuration in order to improve the folder browsing performance: 1: The first step in this process is that the LMHosts file must be created or an existing file must be edited on each affected ISIS client computer. Since it is easy to destroy the formatting of this file by inadvertently adding control characters we recommend that you use the Notepad utility text editing program to edit or create this document and not Word Pad, Microsoft Word or similar. It is also important not to use tabs to place spaces between statements in a line (If tabs are used in a line of the LMhosts file that line may not be recognised correctly). On the active System Director for the ISIS system, launch the System Director Control Panel and then select the “Configuration” tab. Click the “General Configuration” button then make a careful note of the System Director Virtual Name. On an affected ISIS client computer, using the Folder Options applet in the Control Panel, ensure that the “Hide Known File Extensions” option is de-selected. Navigate to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC folder and locate any LMhosts file or possibly LMHosts.sam file. An existing LMHosts file will most likely be an active file containing edits to enable the computer to resolve NETBIOS Computer names to IP addresses. The LMHosts.sam file is an example or “sam”ple file illustrating the usage of the various options for the LMHosts file and is provided by Microsoft. If there is just the LMHosts.sam file present then right click in the ETC folder and select “New Text Document” and edit the file name to read LMHosts (With no extension). Open the file with Notepad and add the following line modified for the name of the Virtual System Director in your ISIS system. 127.0.0.1 <SYSDIRVIRTUALNAME> #PRE The file should end up looking something like this after modification: 127.0.0.1 BBCISISVSD #PRE Place at least one “space” character between the IP address and the ISIS System Director Virtual name and then at least one “space” character between the name and the #PRE statement. Be careful to declare the Virtual System Director name carefully and when the text editing is complete, finish up the line with a “Carriage Return”. Then use the “Save as” to save the modified LMHosts.sam file as just LMHosts back to the same location as the above path. Re-navigate to the ETC folder and select the LMHosts.txt file, right click the file and select “Rename” and remove the .txt file extension. Accept any messages that arise from the renaming warning of the implications of changing the file extension and then re-confirm that the LMhosts file exists and has no extension. Alternatively you may wish to create a text file on the desktop of the affected computer containing simply the above line of text. An LMHosts file can be created by importing the contents of this text file using the WINS tab of the computer’s Network Interface (NIC) Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties. After you have created the text file use the

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directions in step 2 below to navigate to the NIC properties Advanced TCP/IP settings. Verify that “Enable LMHOSTS lookup” is selected and that the Radio button for "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" is selected. Select “Import LMHosts” and navigate to the text file that you created containing the PRE statement. On clicking “Open”, an LMHosts file will be created in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC folder containing the text required. This method has the advantage of parsing the text for any characters that might cause problems with the LMHosts file such as tabs etc, and it will name the file correctly then place it in the correct folder for use by the Operating System. If, on originally checking, the LMhosts file already exists, open the file up with Notepad and save off a copy of the file as it stands unedited with a new extension of “.old”. Open the original file again and add the statement mentioned in the above text, above the first line of text in the file, for example the existing LMhosts file might read: 102.54.94.102 TURKEY #special bird server Modify the existing file to read something similar to: 127.0.0.1 BBCISISVSD #PRE 102.54.94.102 TURKEY #special bird server Place at least one “space” between the IP address and the declared computer name and then at least one “space” between the name and the #PRE statement. When you have completed modifying the LMHosts file, save the file then check the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC folder once again to ensure that the LMHosts file does not now have a .txt suffix appended to it as it was saved. (If .txt has been appended to the file name, re-name the file so that the .txt is removed). Note: You may wish to set the “Hide Known File Extensions” option in the Folder Options Control Panel back to selected if you had to de-select the option during the opening stage of this modification. If the existing LMHosts file contains several statements prior to modification it may be worth consulting the IT staff administering the network and discussing any possible impact the above addition might make to their configuration. If you are in any doubt about the use of the syntax in the LMHosts file, the LMHosts.sam file contains recommendations on usage of the file. 2: The next step in this process is to modify the Advanced TCP/IP settings of the affected client computer’s ISIS NIC settings so that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is selected. 1. Right-click on My Network places and select “properties”. 2. Right-click on the adaptor attached to ISIS (Intel Pro 1000 MT Server adapter) and then select its properties. 3. Highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and then click “properties”. 4. Click the Advanced button. 5. Click the WINS tab. 6. Verify that “Enable LMHOSTS lookup” is selected and that the Radio button for "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" is selected. 7. OK each of the open dialog boxes to save and exit each dialog. When complete re-start the ISIS client computer, mount at least one ISIS Workspace and then confirm that the browsing performance of the ISIS client computer has improved. The NIC settings pane should look like the following screenshot after modification:

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Confirming Airspeed Configuration for ISIS Use In order to successfully use Avid Unity ISIS Shared Storage, an AirSpeed server must have several prerequisites in place: - The appropriate version of the AirSpeed ISIS client must be installed on the

AirSpeed Server. - The AirSpeed Server must be correctly connected to the ISIS Network. - The AirSpeed Network Properties must be configured so that the ISIS System

Director can be communicated with. - The AirSpeed Server requires an available ISIS Client License in order to connect to

and use the ISIS storage system. - An ISIS User Account must be configured in the ISIS Administration tool with

appropriate rights to access the ISIS Workspaces that will be used by the AirSpeed Server.

- Target ISIS Workspaces for AirSpeed Servers configured as Ingest devices must have sufficient free space to accommodate media transferred from the Server to the ISIS storage.

- ISIS AirSpeed Client “Devices” must be configured with sufficient bandwidth allocated to each individual AirSpeed device in the ISIS Administration tool to allow each AirSpeed Server to perform its role.

The notes below are intended to be used as a supplement to the configuration instructions provided in the following Avid Documents which are available to download from the Avid Knowledgebase Website:

AirSpeed Documentation: http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/browse.asp?productID=119&topicID=3

Avid AirSpeed vx.x Installation and User’s Guide Avid AirSpeed vx.x ReadMe Avid AirSpeed vx.x Supported Configurations AirSpeed ISIS Client Installation AirSpeed Servers ship with an Avid Unity MediaNet client pre-installed. When an AirSpeed Server is to be used with Avid Unity ISIS, a special version of the Unity client software must be installed in order for the server to be able to communicate with the ISIS File System. A version of the ISIS AirSpeed client software matched to the version of ISIS being run is available for download from the ISIS Administration tool Installers section as an .ISO image file. In order for the file to be “seen” by an AirSpeed Server for installation, it must be published by a Web Server such as the services provided by Avid Media Manager or Avid Interplay Engine (The ISIS System Director can also be configured to provide this service to AirSpeed Servers although this is not available by default). For AirSpeed v2.5.x users, a new AirSpeed software upgrade tool is available that allows general purpose computer platforms, such as a laptop computer, to be used as a server source for AirSpeed client and software updates. Please see the AirSpeed Readme or contact Avid Technical Support for details on how to achieve these configurations. Please note that once an AirSpeed Server is running a version of ISIS Client software, it will be necessary to update the ISIS client software if the ISIS system receives a software update. You can use “FLTOOL” or “PKG_INFO” described below to confirm which version of ISIS client software and AirSpeed Server is running. The table below relates AirSpeed ISIS client versions to the Appropriate ISIS System software version:

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AirSpeed ISIS Client Version ISIS Software Version

820 v1.0

7280 V1.0B

9560 1.0C

10570 1.0D

10700 1.0E

1900 V1.1

2480 v1.1B

8740 V1.2

1.3.14330 V1.3 / v1.3A

1.4.6450 V1.4

Connecting the AirSpeed Server to the ISIS Network AirSpeed Servers should be connected as either an ISIS Zone 1 or as an ISIS Zone 2 client depending on the Server’s role. Ideally an AirSpeed Server configured as either an Ingest device or as a Playback device will be connected as a Zone 1 ISIS Client however there is often competition for these high demand type connections. Zone 2 AirSpeed connections are supported for both AirSpeed Server roles however if Play While Transfer (PWT) is required for a particular server then that Server must be connected as an ISIS Zone 1 Client. Please note that while AirSpeed Servers are fitted with two RJ45 Gigabit Network Ports, only 1 RJ45 Port is active and is the only port that should be used. Dual connected AirSpeed connections to ISIS are not supported. AirSpeed Configuration Dialog Pages An AirSpeed Server must be configured to connect to one of the two ISIS subnets. A suitable Host Name, IP Address, Subnet Mask, and DNS Server address will need to be declared in the server’s “Network” properties configuration page as well as a Default Gateway address and NTP Server address as appropriate. The AirSpeed server’s “Send” configuration page will require that you select “ISIS” as the “Shared Storage Type” and that you declare the name of the ISIS Virtual System Director in the “Shared Storage Server” dialog entry. For AirSpeed v2.5 and later you must make an appropriate choice for the “BW Mgmt ISIS” dialog from the following: - Play or Ingest — Select this choice if the AirSpeed will be playing out or capturing

media. - Ingest Only — Select this choice if the AirSpeed will be capturing media. The

AirSpeed play out function should not be used with this setting. - Ingest and Recover — Select this choice if a faster bandwidth setting for data

transfer is required. Finally for AirSpeed Servers configured as Ingest Servers, the Server’s Destination Template must be configured so that a suitable target ISIS Workspace is chosen to transfer incoming media files to. Versions prior to v2.5.x of AirSpeed required that you manually enter the destination Workspace name however after v2.5 software a list of

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Workspaces is displayed to select from once the server successfully connects to the ISIS Storage. ISIS AirSpeed Client Licensing When an AirSpeed Server connects to the ISIS storage system it will consume an available ISIS Client License. Check that you have sufficient free ISIS client licenses to accommodate any newly added AirSpeed Server(s). Please note that when an AirSpeed Server is purchased, 1 Avid Shared Storage user License is provided with the kit. ISIS AirSpeed User Account When initially adding AirSpeed Servers to an ISIS environment, one ISIS User Account must created in the ISIS Administration tool to allow all AirSpeed Servers to connect to the storage. The account must be configured to allow rights to allow sufficient access the ISIS workspaces. If all AirSpeed servers are Playback devices then “Read only” access will be sufficient however, as soon as Ingest servers are configured, then the ISIS AirSpeed user account must give “Read & Write” access to Workspaces requiring access by Ingest AirSpeed Servers. The ISIS AirSpeed user account credentials must be configured as follows: ISIS AirSpeed User Account Logon: airspeed ISIS Airspeed User Account Password: avid Configuring ISIS AirSpeed Devices in the ISIS Administration Tool AirSpeed Servers connecting to the ISIS System Director are managed as ISIS Devices. It is necessary to allocate sufficient Bandwidth to each individual AirSpeed Server device to allow it to handle the transfer workload at the Media Resolution that it has been configured for. When an AirSpeed Server first connects to ISIS it will appear as a Device in the Devices Management section of the ISIS Administration tool with zero MB/sec ISIS bandwidth assigned to it. In order to control the usage of available ISIS Storage Bandwidth, ISIS Device Bandwidth Management can be configured to place a restriction on a particular device, effectively limiting that device to a pre-determined Bandwidth allocation. While the default zero bandwidth value will not affect editing platforms, an AirSpeed Server must be assigned an appropriate value of bandwidth greater than zero before it will be able to actually access an ISIS Workspace. The bandwidth value entered for each AirSpeed device will depend on the Media Resolution that the Airspeed is configured to work with and on the role that the Server will be playing (Ingest or Playback, Ingest only, or Ingest and Recover). The best reference for deciding this value is the Avid AirSpeed Supported Configurations document which has several ISIS configuration tables that can be used to select a suitable bandwidth value from. Using FLTOOL to confirm the AirSpeed ISIS Client Version and ISIS Connectivity For AirSpeed Servers running v2.0 or greater software, FLTOOL can be used to determine which version of ISIS client software is installed and to verify whether an ISIS AirSpeed Server device is appropriately configured to utilize ISIS storage. This tool will provide the following information from the AirSpeed Server’s perspective: - ISIS client Software Version - Bandwidth max/min settings - The status of Workspace Connection and Bandwidth Reservation

The tool can be used interactively from a KVM session on the AirSpeed platform or by logging into the AirSpeed Server remotely using a TELNET session.

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Interactive Session: On the AirSpeed Keyboard or at the KVM terminal, simultaneously press “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F3” then enter the following for the required AirSpeed maintenance mode Login information: Password: maint <return> login: mars <return> To use FLTOOL type the following: fltool <return> When finished with the tool simultaneously press “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F3” to return to the AirSpeed GUI. TELNET Session: Start the TELNET session by typing the following into the remote computer console: telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx <enter> (Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the target AirSpeed server IP Address or Host Name). login: maint <enter> password: mars <enter> To use FLTOOL type the following: fltool <enter> (Use “Ctrl” + “C” to close the TELNET Session) An example output is given below: [air124 ]% fltool Configuration: Client library: 1.3.14330 (Release) built Fri Mar 9 12:11:50 EST 2007 Configuration file is /etc/LCAecifs.conf Log To Memory is YES Logging Word is 0x600024f System Name is "bbcsysd7101" Bandwidth Min is 18 MB/s Bandwidth Max is 18 MB/s Status: Ready: "bbcsysd7101" Connected, found workspaces, bandwidth reserved=18 MB/s Using PKG_INFO to Determine the ISIS Client Software Version The PKG_INFO tool will display all installed packages on an AirSpeed Server. The ISIS client package info will be listed close to the top of the list. Interactive Session: On the AirSpeed Keyboard or at the KVM terminal simultaneously press “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F3” then enter the following for the required AirSpeed maintenance mode Login information: Password: maint <return> login: mars <return> To use PKG_INFO type the following: pkg_info <return> When finished with the tool simultaneously press “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F3” to return to the AirSpeed GUI. TELNET Session: Start the TELNET session by typing the following into the remote computer console:

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telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx <enter> (Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the target AirSpeed server IP Address or Host Name). login: maint <enter> password: mars <enter> pkg_info <enter> (Use “Ctrl” + “C” to close the TELNET Session)

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Appendix A: Supported Network Interface PCI Card Hardware

Avid Part Number Description

7030-20139-01 Intel Pro 1000 PT PCI-E Dual Gbit Server Adapter

7030-03296-01 Intel Pro 1000 MT PCI-X Dual Gbit Server Adapter

Note1: The Intel Pro 1000 MF Optical card is also supported for connections requiring 1Gbit Optical interfaces (For example when connecting to the Gbit SFPs in the Foundry 424 FSX Zone 2 switch or the SFPs in a Cisco WS-X6748-SFP 6500 Switch blade). Note 2: The Intel Pro 1000 PT PCI-E card is currently only supported for use with Symphony Nitris configurations on the HP XW8400 platform (Slot 3). Appendix B: Supported ISIS Client Computer PCI Slot Positions for Intel NICs

Platform Avid Software Product/Family Intel Pro 1000MT

PCI-X Slot Position

Intel Pro 1000PT

PCI-E Slot Position

HP XW8400 NewsCutter Adrenaline, NewsCutter XP, Media Composer, Media Composer

Adrenaline, Xpress Pro

6 Not Supported

HP XW8400 Symphony Nitris* 6 3

HP XW8200 NewsCutter Adrenaline, NewsCutter XP, Media Composer, Media Composer

Adrenaline, Xpress Pro, Symphony Nitris

7 Not Supported

HP XW8000 NewsCutter Adrenaline, NewsCutter XP, Media Composer, Media Composer

Adrenaline, Xpress Pro

5 Not Supported

HP XW8000 Symphony Nitris 6 Not Supported

HP XW8000 with single 3.06 Ghz or 2.8 GHz Processor

Media Composer Meridien, NewsCutter Effects or XP Meridien

6 Not Supported

Compaq W8000 Media Composer Meridien, NewsCutter Effects or XP Meridien

7 Not Supported

*Symphony Nitris Configurations using the HP XW8400 platform can use an Intel Pro 1000PT PCI-E Dual NIC Adapter in slot 3 when PCI-X slot 6 is filled with an Atto UL4D Dual 320 SCSI PCI-X HBA.

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Appendix C: Supported Intel NIC Driver Versions

ISIS Version NIC Model

ISIS Install Media Intel

Installer Version

Driver version (as seen in NIC device properties)

Intel Driver version

Supported

V1.0 to v1.1b ISIS x86 (32 bit OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 MT

v10.0 (x86) v8.5.14.0 v8.5.14.0

V1.1b, V1.2, v1.3 and v1.3a ISIS x86 (32 bit

OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 MT

v10.3 (x86) v8.6.17.0 v8.5.14.0, v8.6.17.0

V1.2, v1.3 and v1.3a ISIS x64 (64 bit OS)

clients

Intel Pro 1000 MT

v10.3 (x64) v8.6.17.0 v8.6.17.0

V1.2, v1.3 and v1.3a ISIS x86 (32 bit OS)

clients

Intel Pro 1000 PT

v10.3 (x86) v9.3.28.0 v9.3.28.0

V1.2, v1.3 and v1.3a ISIS x64 (64 bit OS)

clients

Intel Pro 1000 PT

v10.3( x64) Not Supported Not Supported

V1.3 and v1.3a ISIS x86 (32 Bit OS) client Intel SR2500 Onboard NIC as shipped from

Avid

Intel Pro 1000 EB

N/A v9.7.34.0 v9.7.34.0

V1.4 ISIS x86 (32 bit OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 MT

v12.1 (x86) v8.9.1.0 v8.5.14.0, v8.6.17.0, v8.9.1.0

V1.4 ISIS x64 (64 bit OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 MT

v12.1 (x64) v8.9.1.0 v8.6.17.0, v8.9.1.0

V1.4 ISIS x86 (32 bit OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 PT

v12.1 (x86) v9.3.28.0, v9.8.20.0

v9.3.28.0, v8.6.17.0, v8.5.14.0

V1.4 ISIS x64 (64 bit OS) clients

Intel Pro 1000 PT

v12.1 (x64) Not Supported Not Supported

V1.4 ISIS x86 (32 Bit OS) client

Intel SR2500 Onboard NIC

Intel Pro 1000 EB

v12.1 (x86) v9.8.20.0 v9.7.34.0, v9.8.20.0

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Appendix D: Disabling the onboard NIC when using the HP XW8400 Platform When fitting the HP XW8400 with an Intel PRO 1000 MT or PT NIC for ISIS use, it is advisable to disable the onboard network adapter. Disabling the onboard NIC on the HP XW8400 can cause the system to exhibit one of the following issues, depending on the version of the BIOS that is installed:

• 1.x BIOS: Hard Hang (no keyboard/mouse movement) • 2.x BIOS (prior to 2.15): Reboot/Halt no error message • 2.x BIOS (2.15 to 2.22): Reboot/Halt with error “922-Fatal error on unknown

slot” The cause of the lock-up is still being investigated. In the meantime, if it is necessary to disable the onboard NIC on an xw8400 for any reason it must be disabled via the BIOS. To do so use the following procedure:

1. Boot, or reboot, the system 2. Press the F10 key when prompted to enter BIOS setup 3. Choose your preferred language when prompted to enter Setup. 4. Once into the BIOS use the right arrow to navigate to the Security Menu 5. In the Security Menu select Device Security 6. In the Device Security selection window, use the down arrow to select the

Network Adapter. 7. Use the right arrow to change the option to read “Device Hidden” instead of

“Device Available.” 8. Press the F10 key to save your setting change. 9. Press F10 again to get to the Save Changes and Exit prompt. 10. Press Enter to select Save Changes and Exit. 11. Press F10 to Save and Exit.

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