Specifications

Niagara Release 2.3
Revised: May 22, 2002 Niagara Networking & Connectivity Guide
Chapter 3 Connecting on a LAN
Niagara Considerations
3–4
Things to Note
You should note the following things about connecting Niagara devices to a LAN or
WA N:
• Connection between Niagara hosts on a LAN/WAN will be faster and more
reliable than connection via modem (either direct dial or through an ISP).
• Interstation links were designed to be used across connections that are always
available. The design assumes that connections between linked hosts go up or
down infrequently.
Therefore, interstation links should only be used on
a LAN or WAN, and only on a LAN/WAN that provides reliable
connection between hosts.
• The key to success in many installations is early involvement by the IT
department at the site. If you are going to connect devices to their LAN/WAN
you need to check with them before implementing to learn about their policies
so you can follow them.
• Access to hosts with private IP addresses can be made from hosts on the same
LAN/WAN. Any host (Niagara or other) that needs to be accessed directly
from the Internet must have a public IP address. External hosts can only access
privately-addressed internal hosts through a virtual private network (VPN) (see
“Using a Virtual Private Network,” page 6-4), or directly with dial-up (see
Chapter 4, “Connecting with Direct Dial”).
• When connecting to Niagara hosts behind a firewall, certain ports need to be
opened on the firewall for access by a BUI client or by an engineering station
running the JDE or the Admin Tool. For more information on ports in the
Niagara environment, see the “Default Niagara Port Numbers” section on
page 6-7.
• There are limitations with using our equipment behind a true proxy server. For
details, see Chapter 6, “Using Security Technologies”.
Using Niagara in a Microsoft Windows Server Environment
The following table provides a discussion of the impacts of Niagara hosts on a typical
Microsoft Windows server environment using WINS, DNS, DHCP, or DDNS.
It is organized by the type of host, as most impact is dependent on the operating
system running on the host.