Webinar and Q &A: How to Secure and Scale Your Networked AV System with Dante Domain Manager

On Wednesday, May 1 at 2 PM ET, Audinate and AV Technology hosted a webinar entitled, "How to Secure and Scale Your Networked AV System with Dante Domain Manager."

Dante makes it easy to deploy high performance AV on any LAN. Dante plus Dante Domain Manager does much more. It lets you define independent domains of devices as zones for rooms, spaces, and functions, and allows Dante AV-over-IP to cover fully routed networks for nearly unlimited expansion. Dante Domain Manager keeps your system running with complete control over user access, a system-wide dashboard and alerts with email and SNMP support.

This webinar explored how Dante Domain Manager enhances Dante AV-over-IP, and how it’s being deployed in the field.

Date:Wednesday, May 1
Time:2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Duration:1 hour
Cost:Free

Webinar Q & A

You had questions (over 100 of them!) and we have answers. See below for a comprehensive list of every question asked during the webinar.

Dante General Questions

Q: Any training event in UK/Europe?
A: Yes, please check the Audinate website for upcoming training events.

Q: What is a node?
A: A node is classified as any Dante device or computer running Dante Virtual soundcard / Dante Via.  This could be a Dante product from any of our partners. It could also be any computer running the software Dante Virtual Soundcard / Dante Via.  If a large production console has multiple Dante cards in the console then each card would be considered a node in that environment.

Q: Regarding API Control, what about the ability for an outside system to say enable or disable a particular route?
A: Our Dante API is available for all of our partners to use, if a 3rd party company would like to be able to add this feature to their product they can at any time. It would be up to the manufacturer to include that with their solution.

Dante Domain Manager

Q: Are there plans for a mobile management app for Dante Domain Manager coming?
A: Since it is a browser based application, any mobile device with access to the network can manage it. We would need to check with product management to see if a dedicated app for mobile devices is on the product roadmap.

Q: Is LDAP integration available at the silver, gold and platinum level?
A: It is available at the Gold and Platinum levels. Not at Silver.

Q: Will the shared audio stop if the Dante Domain Manager server goes down?
A: All audio (shared or otherwise) will keep working if the Dante Domain Manager server does go offline.

Q: In case your Dante Domain Manager server is down or off, nobody could use Dante Controller?
A: Correct. That is why we offer High Availability mode in our Platinum edition.

Q: How does a Dante Domain Manager user obtain support from Audinate? Contact information?
Technical support for end users is first done through your Dante Domain Manager reseller. They will open a support case, and resolve the issue, or escalate the case and get our support engineers involved as necessary.

Q: If a device is enrolled in a Dante Domain Manager domain, can it support AES67 simultaneously or are these features mutually exclusive?
A: At the moment, AES67 is disabled when a Dante devices is enrolled into a Domain. However in June we have an update which will allow AES67 to be enabled on a Dante device that is enrolled in a Domain.

Q: What network challenges or reconfiguration needs presented during this process?
A: Please refer to this PDF document.

Q: Will Domain Manager allow Firmware updates to be made to Dante Devices across different VLANs?
A: Yes

Q: How do we connect Dante Controller with Dante Domain Manager?
A: In the tool bar of Dante Controller there is new Globe icon which when clicked, gives you the opportunity to connect to the Dante Domain Manager server. If the network is configured properly, the Dante Controller will automatically discover the Dante Domain Manager server. You can also manually enter the IP address of the Dante Domain Manager server to connect.

Q: Can Dante Domain Manager support NMOS in broadcast facilities?
A: While SMPTE 2110  support is included in the upcoming version (6/19) of Dante Domain Manager, we are taking a wait and see approach to NMOS and it is not currently on our roadmap. Factors affecting our support will include market adoption and the requirement appearing in system RFPs.

Q: Can Dante Domain Manager prevent the accidentally introduction in the system of a wrongly configured device (i.e. with the same ip address of an existing device) which could cause instabilities in the system?
A: Dante Controller does this currently. If a device is added to a Dante network and has the same IP address or device name as an existing device, the device that is being added to the network will be highlighted in red in Dante Controller, and will not be operational until the conflict is resolved.

Q: Is Dante Domain Manager a hardware piece that I can access via a web interface?
A: It is software that runs on a virtual machine somewhere on the network. It servers up a browser interface which you use to configure and monitor your Dante systems.

Q: Can Dante Domain Manager run on a virtual server?
Dante Domain Manager must currently run on a virtual machine.  We currently support VmWare and Oracle VirtualBox.

Q: Is Dante Domain Manager a software that I run on a Mac or Windows computer or is it a "full hardware box?
A: It is software that runs on a virtual machine, so it can run on a Mac or PC running Oracle Virtual Box, or it can run on a server running ESXI /vSphere. It will soon be available as an ISO as well.

Q: When creating "shared audio" are there quad-channel-streams routed via the gateway between subnets?
A: When a shared audio device's channel(s) are shared with devices in different receivers in different Domains which happen to be in different subnets, unicast audio flows are used. Up to four channels of audio per flow.

Q: Do you set "single" shared audio paths or share whole devices?
A: You can chose to select one, multiple, or all channels from a transmitting device to be shared when using Shared Audio Groups.

Q: Is the Dante Domain Manager with High Availability an Active/Active or Active/Passive solution?
A: Active/Active

Q: Regarding Active Directory integration: Is there an example Site plan we could have?
A: There is no Site Plan for LDAP / Active directory at this time.  There are instructions on configuring this in the Dante Domain Manager User Guide.

Q: Any plans to allow users the ability to edit, or at least view Dante Controller files offline and within Dante Controller as opposed to viewing only in XML?
A: Currently there are no immediate plans to release a solution that will allow offline editing. This request has been added to the list of features requested by end-users and integrators.

Q: Are the roles restricted to the pre-defined set (admin, operator, guest...), or is it possible to create new ones with specific permissions?
A: At this time the roles are pre-defined.

Q: Can a device be assigned to more than one domain?
A: A device can only sit in one Dante Domain at a time.  It can be moved around to many different domains and even send audio to many different domains.  However the device can only be enrolled in one Dante Domain at a time.

Q: Can Dante be routed through a VPN over the internet?
A: No. (monitoring information can i.e. Dante Domain Manager Dashboard/we browser, but audio/clock cannot)

Q: Can the domains be in different cities or countries?
A: Domains can be in different cities but it must be a corporate LAN.  Dante will not work using the public internet.  As long as the network is able to support the latency requirements without jitter it will work just fine.

Q: Can we remove some user in real time if I want?
A: Yes, It is as simple as hitting the Delete User button in Dante Domain Manager.  If you are connected to LDAP / Active Directory then you can also remove users in those systems and they will be simultaneously removed from Dante Domain Manager.

Q: Can you elaborate a bit more on the security and control as it relates to Active Directory. Do you need to configure multiple devices or will the Dante Domain Manager credentials inform the other security protocols?
A: If Dante Domain Manager is connected to an LDAP/Active Directory server, it will make queries to the LDAP/AD server when a user enters their "corporate" (stored on the LDAP/AD server) credentials.

The relationship between the access rights of users will be based upon parameters set in the AD/LDAP database, and queried by the Dante Domain Manager server when set up by the admin.

For example I could use a numeric entry called Group ID for a user in a particular organizational unit on the LDAP server.

Dante Domain Manager will query the tree to the authorized groups and then could be set to allow user rights based upon the value of the Group ID field (or any other field that can be resolved by the Dante Domain Manager server) and mapped using the LDAP groups feature of Dante Domain Manager.

Q: Can you setup privileges for the controllers or do you need the Dante Domain Manager to do that?
This feature does require the use of Dante Domain Manager.

Q: Can you still use zero-conf IP addressing within the domains when using Dante Domain Manager?
A: Yes you can, but you probably would want to assign the Dante Domain Manager server a static IP address.

Q: CBU has 15 Domains, are these all in the same IP subnet or different IP subnets? Is audio being shared inter-Domain? How is that configured and working?
A:  They are all but 2 on the same subnet. Audio is shared by being exposed.

Q: Curious if you need ethernet switches with hardware 1588-PTP ASICs on board. Or is software PTP adequate?
A: Dante does not require any form of PTP from the switch. The clock for a traditional Dante network as well as a Dante Domain Manager-based system is still provided by a Dante hardware device. That being said, many Dante devices can derive sync externally (e.g.: from an external word clock) and can be configured thusly in Dante Controller. One additional note: In June there will be an update to our Dante Domain Manager software which will allow GPS clock synchronization.

Q: Dante Domain Manager can use LDAP or AD for users also, correct?
A: Correct

Q: Do portable devices belong to a single domain or will that change as its plugged in to different rooms?
A: When moving devices they will remain in a single Dante Domain unless you unenroll the device from the existing Dante Domain and enroll it into the new Dante Domain.  This can be done very easily with the click of just a few buttons.

Q: Do se nées particularité switch?
A: Dante does not require the use of any particular kind of switch.

Q: Do we need a router to share audio across subnets / domains?
A: Yes

Q: Do we need to have Controller knowledge or any other pre-requisite?
A: Dante Domain Manager is not a replacement for Dante Controller.  The two software packages work together.  It will require that you know how to use Dante Controller if you will be changing audio routes.

Q: Do you have any experience interacting with RTS intercom's  "Omneo," which is their 're-badged' version of Dante?
A: The Omneo product line from RTS currently does not support Dante Domain Manager. Their engineering team is currently working on this capability but it will be up to them to release the firmware when they are ready.

Q: Does Dante Domain Manager work with Radius?
A:Yes

Q: Can Dante Domain Manager be used in 2110-30 facilities?
A: We have an update to the Dante Domain Manager software in June that will allow Dante Domains to be configured to clock and share audio with SMPTE 2110-30 facilities.

Q: Does Dante Domain Manager come as a complete VM package that includes OS? Or does it live on top of an OS that needs to be installed on the VM?
A: Dante Domain Manager comes as a software appliance that gets loaded into the VM.  It does not include the OS for the VM.

Q: Does Dante Domain Manager have an API to use with 3rd party control systems to allow it to function as a digital audio router, and if so how fast and clean is the switching?
A: Not at this time.

Q: For the UC part why not Dante Via? Dante Via is a great choice and is used in many UC applications. Have you been able to calculate the max distance 16, 24, 48, or 64 channels can travel (given you used the term "routable"?
A: Dante follows network standards so the max distance is different for all users.  It will depend on the network.  As long as the network can meet the latency requirements between devices the audio can be sent great distances.

Q: Do I need to have a computer always running Dante Domain Manager on the network all of the time?
A: Yes, you will need to have a Virtual Machine running Dante Domain Manager at all times to take advantage of all of the features.

Q: Is the "domain creation" strictly related to the Dante devices of choice or must be related to iP subnet?
A: Strictly related to the Dante devices of choice.  You can have devices from multiple subnets in the same Dante Domain.

Q: What is a maximum channel number in network or in one VLAN?
A: The maximum depends on the overall bandwidth of a given link and on the Dante devices being used. For example I can have a 48 port gigabit switch with 5 Solid State Logic System T broadcast mixing consoles, each loaded with 6 of our Dante HC chips ( which can do 512 TX and RX). Each console would have 3,072 transmit channels and 3,072 receive channels.  That is a total of 18,432 audio channels in both directions.  Which would work fine on that switch.

Q: How are subscriptions between domains done in case you share devices?
A: There is a feature called Inter-Domain routing within Dante Controller when you add Dante Domain Manager to the environment.

Q: How are you bridging the networks? Would this device act as a router with Trunked interfaces?
A: A router or routers in the network would be configured to allow Dante devices in various subnets and the Dante Domain Manager server to communicate. The Dante Domain Manager server does not act as a router.

Q: How does routing audio from one subnet to another affect latency both within each domain and across domains?
A: When devices are updated to the 4.0 version of Dante firmware then the latency can be expanded up to 40 milliseconds on devices that use the Brooklyn chip and up to 20 milliseconds on devices that use the Ultimo chip.  The latency will be determined by the network.  As long as the network can meet these latency's then audio will pass between the devices just like when they sit in a single subnet.  Within Dante Controller there is a feature called Latency Monitor and it will allow you to see what the latency is to all of your Dante devices.

Q: How is 'Shared Audio Path' configured?
A: It's basically a two-step procedure. In the Dante Domain Manager browser interface you create a Shared Audio Group in two or more Domains (this makes them a single clock domain). Then you go to the Devices page and select the  transmitting device whose audio you would like to share, scroll down to TX Channel Sharing, enable it for the Domains that are members of the Shared Audio Group, then select the individual channels (or all) that you want to share. You can also create an alias for each shared audio channel (totally separate from the transmit channel name).

Q: How many channels can be in one Dante Domain?
A: There is not a limit to the number of channels in a Domain. We have tested 1200 Dante Brooklyn II devices (64x64) in a single Domain. That's 76,800 transmit and receive channels of audio. Regarding a maximum number, it really comes down to the bandwidth available on the network infrastructure and the Dante devices being used (Ultimo, Broadway, Brooklyn, HC, embedded, etc...).

Q: Is a domain unique, or can a single device belong to more than one domain?
A: A Dante Domain is an independent system and clock domain. A Dante device can only exist in one domain at a time.

Q: Is it possible to create a campus wide preset for emergency paging using Dante Domain Manager, and then to revert back to routing tables as previously established?
At the moment there are no presets in Dant Domain Manager. There are presets which can be created and recalled using Dante Controller.

Q: Is it possible to disable the auto-discovery and only add devices manually by IP Address?
In addition to our standard Dante Discovery, you can upload a list of the IP Addresses to Dante Domain Manager for discovery.  You can also connect Dante Domain Manager to a DNS server and only discover Dante devices in desired subnets.

Q: Is it possible to group domains like as subdomains (rooms) to an master domain (building)?
A: Not at this time, but we are working on a solution to allow the organization of Domains in a group, while being independent clock domains.

Q: Is it possible to make a full replication of the site Domain Manager for AV companies that have NOCs for remote management and monitoring?
A: A Dante Domain Manager integrator/reseller could save a copy of their customer's Dante Domain Manager configuration for testing, but it would not be a full replication of the system since it would not have any Dante devices on it.

Q: Is it possible to duplicate the audio from any Dante Domains and tunnel through to be heard to a NOC user for monitoring, especially for mission critical meetings?
A: Creating a "Shared Audio Group" for the NOC Domain and a Meeting Room Domain will allow you to remotely monitor the audio.

Q: Can Dante Domain Manager do firmware updates to different Dante devices on the network. i.e. Yamaha, Shure etc.?
A: A new version of Dante Controller with our Dante Updater firmware updater will be made available within the next 30 to 60 days. This will let you update different devices on the network at the same time. There may still be some devices that will require you to use the manufacturers GUI/user interface to update their products. These will be noted so in our firmware updater.

Q: It seems we can create multiple domains within a subnet. Can we create a domain that includes devices from different subnets?
A: Yes, You can have as many devices as you want from different subnets in a Dante Domain and have as many Dante Domains in a subnet as you want.

Q: Short of bandwidth what additional considerations should be made for other network traffic on the same VLAN as Dante devices such as RTSP, NDS etc.?
A: If other traffic such as RTSP and NDS are on the same VLAN as Dante devices, you may want to configure QoS to give the Dante Clock, Control, and Audio priority over all other data. You can use the Latency Monitor and Clock Status Monitoring in our Dante Controller software to see how the other traffic is impacting the Dante system.

Q: How do we get this training?
A: Dante Domain Manager training will soon become available online within the next 60 to 90 days.

Q: What are system requirements for Dante Domain Manager?
A: The system requirements can be found here .

Q: Does Dante Domain Manager run as a service or does it need to be actively open?
A: Dante Domain Manager is an application running on a virtual machine, so it does need to be open and running.

Q: Will it continue to run after my server 2016 auto reboots at 2am?
A: If the Dante Domain Manager server goes offline, your audio still functions. You do lose the ability to log in to the system to make changes in Dante Controller. We do offer a high-availability mode in our Dante Domain Manager Platinum Edition. You would have a main Dante Domain Manager server, a Backup Dante Domain Manager server, and an Arbiter.

Q: What are the interface options for Dante Domain Manager and Dante Controller? e.g., push a wall plate and have it route the Mic to all Dante audio zones?
A: Our Dante API is available for all of our partners to use, if a 3rd party company would like to be able to add this feature to their product they can at any time. It would be up to the manufacturer to include that with their solution.

Q: What are the odds Dante traffic will be encrypted any time soon?
A: In a Dante Domain Manager environment, all communications between Dante Controllers and Dante devices is encrypted. The audio is not encrypted.

Q: How is Dante Domain Manager going to be updated, knowing there is no installer file as such?
A: The Dante Domain Manager dashboard does have an update feature that will look to Audinate to see if there is a newer version of the software available.

Q: Please allow for offline activation for Dante Domain Manager!
A: This feature request has been passed on to our Product Engineering team.

Q: Could monitoring/reporting features be shared with 3rd party apps, e.g. via API?
A: Currently this information is provided via SNMP only.

Q: What are the recommendations for redundancy?
A: The Platinum edition of Dante Domain Manager has the ability to run in a High Availability mode.

Q: Can you further explain the role of DNS in Dante Domain Manager?
A: Since Dante is a service running on a network, for Dante Domain Manager systems that are going to have multiple subnets, we recommend using a DNS server to aid in the discovery of Dante devices and Dante Controllers by the Dante Domain Manager server. There are SRV records which can be incorporated into the DNS server. You can find out more information at this link.

Q: What equipment do I need to stream audio to other parts of a building . I have a sq6 digital mixer presently?
A: Depending on your application you can choose from the close to 1900 Dante products available to use. Our AVIO line of audio interfaces allow a cost effective means to add Dante to any system.

Q: What if several user workstations have credentials for the same environment. Is it possible for multiple people to make route changes and if so, does anyone have priority?
A: If you provide multiple people the credentials to be able to route audio in the same environment, then there is no priority for routing changes. You can have a person that is an Operator in a specific Dante Domain that has the ability to make routing changes, however there can also be someone else that is the Domain Administrator for that Dante Domain.  The Domain Administrator has more rights to the environment,  but their rights to routing would be the same as the Operator.

Q: What is the limit or maximum number of Domains and hosts permitted using Dante Domain Manager ?
A: Currently each Dante Domain Manager server will support the management of up to 2100 Dante devices and the creation of up to 390 Dante Domains.

Q: What latencies are there across the likes of the university network distances?
A: It really depends on the network. On the subject of latency, one new feature in Dante Domain Manager is that devices enrolled in Dante Domains have access to higher latencies (up to 40ms) to deal with larger networks with longer latency times.

Q: When Dante is sharing a network with normal network data, is the only way to secure Dante through the Domain Manager?
A: You could use ACL's and Mac address filtering to provide some additional security to a traditional Dante network.

Q: If Dante is sharing a network with other network data, do we set the latency for the total jumps in the entire network or just the switches that handle Dante?  The default latency of many Dante devices is 1ms, which is good for up to 10 switch hops. The lowest setting is 1 micro second, which is only available on Brooklyn 2, Broadway, and HC devices) is good for one switch hop. So we are counting the number of switch hops traversed for the respected audio, not the number of switches in the network.

Q: When sending audio between different subnets or VLANs do we need to have multicast routers setup?
A: No. We use unicast for clocking between subnets. And a device that has multicast flows created will use a unicast flow to get that audio to a Dante receiver that is in a different subnet in the Domain.

Clocking

Q: Will there be discussion of technical details of how Dante Domain Manager functions? For example: how does the clock cross subnets?
A: There will be some forthcoming videos online which will delve into various subject matters like this. But to answer your question about clocking: Each Dante Domain is an independent clock domain. In a domain with a single subnet, the clock election process is no different than a traditional Dante network. As soon as a Domain has a device from a different subnet enrolled into it, the Dante Domain Manager server will alert you of this, giving you the opportunity for the Dante Domain Manager to configure the clocking, or allowing you to manually configure it. So there is a Grand Master clock for a Dante Domain. If the Domain has multiple subnets, there will be Subnet masters for each subnet. Typically the Grand Master clock will act as the subnet master for its subnet. The Grand Master clock and subnet masters use unicast PTP (IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize. The subnet masters use multicast PTP (IEEE 1588v1) to keep their respective slave devices in sync.

Q: Who is the master clock is such a topology?
A: The selection of the Grand Master clock in a Dante Domain can be done automatically by the Dante Domain Manager server (through a best master clock algorithm) or by configuring it manually in the Dante Domain Manager browser interface (and Dante Controller if syncing externally and/or using the Preferred Master settings).

Q: Hello, can you explain how the clock works between subnet?
A: There is a Grand Master clock for a Dante Domain. If the Domain has multiple subnets, there will be Subnet masters for each subnet. Typically the Grand Master clock will act as the subnet master for its subnet. The Grand Master clock and subnet masters use unicast PTP (IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize. The subnet masters use multicast PTP (IEEE 1588v1) to keep their respective slave devices in sync.

Q: Will you describe in more detail how Dante Domain Manager manages clocking across domains? Does each domain clock itself, or is the VM hosting Dante Domain Manager clocking all domains? 
A: Each Dante Domain is an independent clock domain. In a domain with a single subnet, the clock election process is no different than a traditional Dante network. As soon as a Domain has a device from a different subnet enrolled into it, the Dante Domain Manager server will alert you of this, giving you the opportunity for the Dante Domain Manager to configure the clocking, or allowing you to manually configure it. So there is a Grand Master clock for a Dante Domain. If the Domain has multiple subnets, there will be Subnet masters for each subnet. Typically the Grand Master clock will act as the subnet master for its subnet. The Grand Master clock and subnet masters use unicast PTP (IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize. The subnet masters use multicast PTP (IEEE 1588v1) to keep their respective slave devices in sync.

Q: Can a master clock be shared among Domains?
A: A master clock can only be shared among domains when doing routes the go from one Dante domain to another Dante Domain.  This is called Inter-Domain Routing and it will create a Grandmaster clock when enabling this feature.

Q: Can a non-Dante device be recognized by Dante Domain Manager such as a Grandmaster PTP clock?
A: Dante has the ability to choose an external clock for the Dante network.  It does not have to be a Dante device that acts as a master clock.

Q: What will happen if I lose the Grand Master clock device? Election? Can I set more than one master/ Grandmaster clock like main and redundant?
A: If you choose to let the Dante Domain Manager server configure the clocking in a Domain with multiple subnets, it will automatically select a unicast capable "standby" device for each subnet. So if a clock master and/or subnet master were to go offline, the devices sync to their internal clock for a few samples while the standby device is elevated to subnet master and/or Grand Master. You can also manually select the Grandmaster, subnet master(s), and standby devices .

Q: Within a large system, such as the campus wide Dante system presented, typically requires multicast networking. With multicast networking, since all multicast streams tend to flow toward the router/querier, what kind of practical methodology does one use to determine the necessary network BW required between venues or Dante Domains, however segmented, in order to handle all of the multicast streams? This would especially become critical if Dante AV, with it's associated increase in required BW to include video streams, was implemented?
A: If all of the devices on a campus wide Dante network were in the same subnet, then multicast is used for PTP and any multicast audio flows that are created. In a Dante Domain Manager system where Domains are created that contain multiple subnets, we do not send any multicast through the router. Each Dante Domain is an independent clock domain. In a domain with a single subnet, the clock election process is no different than a traditional Dante network. As soon as a Domain has a device from a different subnet enrolled into it, the Dante Domain Manager server will alert you of this, giving you the opportunity for the Dante Domain Manager to configure the clocking, or allowing you to manually configure it. So there is a Grand Master clock for a Dante Domain. If the Domain has multiple subnets, there will be Subnet masters for each subnet. Typically the Grand Master clock will act as the subnet master for its subnet. The Grand Master clock and subnet masters use unicast PTP (IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize. The subnet masters use multicast PTP (IEEE 1588v1) to keep their respective slave devices in sync.

Q: It seems we can share audio between domains on different subnets. Can you explain how clock mastership works in these scenarios?
A: You can share audio with Dante devices that are in different subnets that are enrolled into a Domain.

Q: Can domains be clocked independently or together as desired by user via Dante Domain Manager config?
A: By default each Dante Domain is an independent clock Domain. However they can become a single clock domain if Shared Audio Groups is used. This is configured in the Dante Domain Manager browser interface.

AES67

Q: How would Dante Domain Manager deal with Livewire, AVB, or other AES67 devices on the network?
A: At the moment, AES67 is disabled when a Dante devices is enrolled into a Domain. However in June we have an update which will allow AES67 to be enabled on a Dante device that is enrolled in a Domain. As far as discovery, those AES67 devices that use SAP will have their transmit streams appear in Dante Controller. Those that don't will have to use the RAV to SAP application. For AES67 sinks, those connections will need to be configured in their respective manufacturers user interfaces. The Dante Domain Manager server does not secure AES67 devices.

Q: Can AES67 streams be seen in and routed by Dante Domain Manager ?
A: At the moment, AES67 is disabled when a Dante devices is enrolled into a Domain. However in June we have an update which will allow AES67 to be enabled on a Dante device that is enrolled in a Domain. As far as discovery, those AES67 devices that use SAP will have their transmit streams appear in Dante Controller. Those that don't will have to use the RAV to SAP application. For AES67 sinks, those connections will need to be configured in their respective manufacturers user interfaces. The Dante Domain Manager server does not secure AES67 devices.

Q: Can aes67 devices be incorporated? How is that done? What about discovery of AES67 devices?
A: At the moment, AES67 is disabled when a Dante devices is enrolled into a Domain. However in June we have an update which will allow AES67 to be enabled on a Dante device that is enrolled in a Domain. As far as discovery, those AES67 devices that use SAP will have their transmit streams appear in Dante Controller. Those that don't will have to use the RAV to SAP application. For AES67 sinks, those connections will need to be configured in their respective manufacturers user interfaces.

Pricing and Editions

Q: What is the cost to purchase Dante Domain Manager?
A: There are three editions of the software and it will depend on your needs. Dante Domain Manager is sold through factory trained resellers.  You will need to reach out to a Dante Domain Manager reseller for pricing .

Q: Another pricing question, how much is it to add devices beyond the 250 devices in the platinum package?
A: You can add devices in packages of 100 at a time beyond 250 devices. Dante Domain Manager is sold through our factory trained resellers. You will need to reach out to one of them for pricing.  Here is a link to list of our current factory trained resellers. /products/software/dante-domain-manager#getddm

Q: Is it a one time buy or a subscription model?
A: A one time purchase with 13 months of support. You have the option of purchasing additional years of support from the Dante Domain Manager reseller.

Q: I somewhere read about bronze, silver and gold on it. What does it mean? Can you elaborate on what comes with the gold and platinum plans?
A: Silver, Gold, and Platinum are the three different editions of the product. Here is a link which explains the differences .

Q: If we are talking "numbers of nodes" in different editions of Dante Domain Manager: Is it to be seen as a number of nodes per domain, or number of nodes in general?
A: The number of nodes that you want to manage with Dante Domain Manager.  For example you may have a large Dante environment but you are most concerned with the security of the Executive Boardroom.  You can purchase the Silver edition and secure, manage and monitor  just the equipment used in the Executive Boardroom.

Q: What are the gold and platinum device limits?  The device limit for the Gold Edition of the software is 50 devices.  Once your system grows beyond 50 devices you can upgrade to the Platinum edition. The Platinum edition without any add on packs will manage up to 250 devices. However, when you have the Platinum edition you can purchase add on packs that will increase the device count to 2100 devices per Dante Domain Manager server.

Q: Do you need to purchase multiple Dante Domain Manager licenses for a large college campus, like one for each building or, just one master license for the entire network?
A: More than likely you will only need one Dante Domain Manager server license.  If the Dante Domain Manager server does not have the ability to see the other venues around campus over the campus network, because of how the network is designed, then it may require multiple licenses.

Joe Way

Q: With such a small number of FTE how did you do the hardware upgrades to each of the legacy or new systems?  How long did this take to complete?
A: We did it over a course of one year, though we have been purchasing Dante enabled devices over time. Likewise, when a new install is done by an integrator, it is a requirement.

Q: You spoke about one Dante VLAN, so you mean, that you have only one VLAN for all your audio Dante devices and separate it with Dante Domain Manager ? Do I understand it right?
A: Yes, we have an AV VLAN for all AV. Part of that is provisioned for the Dante devices only. We use Dante Domain Manager to manage all those devices. We probably didn't have to make a separate provisioning, but I knew it'd be easier to manage.

Q: Can a Dante Domain Manager span multiple geographically distinct locations? Our university has five campuses that have separate internet connections.
A: We have had success between our two campuses that are fiber connected. Not much luck with the other that is not.

Q: Mr. Way, it is a huge system. Does the system have protection against hackers?
A: We take all precautions to lock it down, both on the Enterprise level as well as the user level. The entire AV VLAN is hidden with only certain ports and devices allowed. In higher ed, we have much greater security concerns than if someone hijacked the Dante network, like student records / FERPA, HIPPA, etc. So, just to access the network at all requires whitelisting. And then on top of that we ensure that users of Dante Domain Manager only have the appropriate permissions based on what actions/devices they need to take or control.

Q: Is there any perceivable audio latency in your live venue audio user environments at California Baptist University? In particular for talent stage monitoring.
A: We have near zero latency, basically undetectable. The reason is because we have an incredible infrastructure team who built a fiber backbone connecting every switch on campus. So not only is there no latency within our live venue, there’s zero when we use the production room in the Events Center to produce the play-by-play at the baseball field on the completely other side of campus, jumping 4-5 switches and the core.

Q: Can 48Khz and 96Khz sample rates be shared across Domains and sub nets?
A: We run everything in the sample  rate. We found issues with mixed sample rates, but I understand it's possible. Audinate answer - Dante can utilize sample rates up to 192Khz.   The receiving device must be at the same sample rate as the sending device.  Dante does not do sample rate conversion.

Q: Is CBU using one sample-rate across the entire network?
A: Yes, we have one. I believe 48Hz. (May be different, but I know that it is consistent for any audio being shared across.)

Dante AV

Q: When will we see Video supported products in the market and how will that fit into Dante Domain Manager and Dante Controller? Will Audio and Video be separate channels or combined into a single channel?
A: The Dante AV solution was launched at the beginning of the year. It will be up to the manufacturers to release products when they feel best meets their needs. I cannot speculate on timeframes. In Dante Controller, Dante AV devices will have its video and audio channels listed independently under the device name.  Each Encoder and Decoder will support up to 8 channels of audio. These channels will be completely independent of the video and can be routed separately.

Q: Will Dante AV need 100 gig backbone, similar to 2110 for those wanting to future proof?
A: No. It is designed for 1Gb networks.

Q: All your slides say AV over IP, but all your description only discusses audio - which is it: audio or audio-video?
A: Audinate announced a couple of months ago the ability to do video over Dante. Dante AV will work with Dante Domain Manager, however since the announcement was just made there are currently no products available on the market that do Dante AV.

Q: How do people handle and route the video that corresponds to the audio that is being managed?
A: With Dante AV,  the video encoders and decoders will show up in Dante Controller just like current Dante devices. The video devices will appear in a different color. You will route all of your video by going to the crosspoint in Dante Controller and clicking.