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First Published: March 20, 2015
The standard Cisco StadiumVision Director network consists of all components of the solution implemented at a single site or venue. Cisco StadiumVision Director supports a centralized Cisco StadiumVision Director server that can be used to manage and control content for multiple venues using a distributed architecture of Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote servers connected to the central site over the Cisco Connected Stadium wide-area network (WAN).
This module describes the network architectures supported in Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 4.0 and the server platforms used to implement the solution. It includes the following topics:
The three primary areas of the standard Cisco StadiumVision Director network architecture include:
The Cisco StadiumVision headend is designed to acquire, process, and encode the video content used in the Cisco StadiumVision solution.
Figure 1 shows the basic network architecture for a Cisco StadiumVision Director network.
Figure 1 Basic Cisco StadiumVision Director Architecture
Cisco StadiumVision Director supports an environment of two servers that run the Cisco StadiumVision Director software, where one of the servers operates as the primary active server, and the other server operates as a secondary backup server. If a failure occurs, you can configure the backup server to become the active server, but the failover process is not automatic.
Figure 2 Cisco StadiumVision Director Server Redundancy
Figure 3 shows the architecture of Cisco StadiumVision Director server redundancy under normal network conditions and operation. The primary and secondary servers are addressed as independent hosts with two different IP addresses on the same subnet in the Cisco Connected Stadium network.
While the secondary server is still connected to the network, notice that communication and control only occurs between the primary Cisco StadiumVision Director server and the rest of the network, including the Digital Media Players (DMPs).
The secondary server is only connected to the network to be made available as a backup to the primary should a failure occur. In addition, the secondary server can (and should) be configured to be backed up with data from the primary server on a scheduled basis so that it can be ready as a warm standby.
Figure 3 Cisco StadiumVision Director Server Redundancy Under Normal Operation
Figure 4 shows the redundancy environment when connectivity from the primary Cisco StadiumVision Director server fails. When the primary server fails, a manual process must take place to restore the secondary server from a backup, shut down the primary server, and activate the secondary server as the primary.
Figure 4 Cisco StadiumVision Director Server Redundancy Under Manual Failover
Notice that the secondary server must be reconfigured to use the same IP address the original primary server. In this example, the secondary server IP address is changed to 10.0.0.1 (from 10.0.0.2) to match the primary server address. When the process is complete, communication and control only occurs between the newly activated secondary server and the rest of the network.
Note The word “failover” does not mean automatic activation of a secondary server. The failover process is manual with the secondary server acting as a warm standby.
For more information about how to perform the failover process, see the Configuring Failover Between Redundant Cisco StadiumVision Director Servers.
Figure 5 shows a central Cisco StadiumVision Director server connected to the headend, with network connections over the Cisco Connected Stadium WAN to multiple remote sites to Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote servers.
Figure 5 Centralized Cisco StadiumVision Director with Remote Sites
Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote Servers are installed at remote sites to provide a way of targeting site-specific content to locally-installed DMPs in a distributed Cisco StadiumVision Director network environment, where event operation can also be limited to designated venue operators.
Note SV-4K media players are not supported with Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote servers. The SV-4K can be located at remote venues, but it must be controlled by the central Cisco StadiumVision Director server as shown in Figure 5. For more information, see the Restrictions for Configuring Multiple Venue Support.
The centralized Cisco StadiumVision Director architecture implements control of multiple venues using Hierarchical Management, which includes the following areas of functionality:
Figure 6 shows the use of Hierarchical Management in Cisco StadiumVision Director, where a central site user with administrator role-based access control (RBAC) permissions is located at the central site data center where the primary Cisco StadiumVision Director server resides.
Figure 6 Hierarchical Management in Centralized Cisco StadiumVision Director
The administrator can perform all venue-related functions, including assigning venue operators, content and scripts into their corresponding venue-specific scopes of control. At the remote venues, the remote venue operators can control the scripts associated to their assigned venue scope-of-control.
For more information, see the following modules of this guide:
This section describes the server platforms supported by the Cisco StadiumVision Director server and the Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote server:
The Cisco StadiumVision Director Release software can be supported on the following platforms:
Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 4.0 requires a minimum of four data drives. Therefore, the Platform 2 server must have two additional 300 GB drives installed to support Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 4.0.
Note The extra drives are mandatory for Release 4.0. For more information about the installation of additional hard drives on the Cisco StadiumVision Director Platform 2 server, contact your sales representative.
Figure 7 Front Panel of a Cisco StadiumVision Director Platform 2 Server
The Cisco StadiumVision Director Platform 3 server (Cisco UCS C220 M3 server) has six drives in its default configuration for SV-DIR-DIRECTOR-K9 product ID (PID).
Note If you order a spare Platform 3 server (SV-PLATFORM3=) only 2 drives are in the default configuration. Therefore, 4 additional data drives are required (SV-HD-A03-D300GA2=).
Figure 8 Front Panel of a Cisco UCS C220 M3 Rack Server
You can use another Cisco device or third-party server to run the Cisco StadiumVision Director software. Be sure that your configuration meets the minimum system requirements in Table 1 and supports a VMware ESX virtualized environment with a compatible ESX version (See “VMware vSphere ESX Tested Versions for Cisco StadiumVision Director” section.)
Note Cisco StadiumVision Director servers are meant to be physically located close to the DMPs that they operate with, and communicating to the players over a LAN. For information about installation-related licensing compliance, see the “Installation Requirements for Licensing Compliance” section of the Release Notes for Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 4.0.
Cisco StadiumVision Director has been tested with VMware vSphere ESX version 5.1 and 5.5. Other VMware vSphere ESX versions cannot be guaranteed to work with Cisco StadiumVision Director.
Note Any free version of ESX software, including VMware vSphere Hypervisor is not supported.
For more information about installing Cisco StadiumVision Director servers, see the Cisco StadiumVision Director Software Installation and Upgrade Guide, Release 4.0.
Be sure that you consider the following restrictions before you configure a virtual server environment for Cisco StadiumVision Director:
You can use your own server or install a Cisco UCS C22 server to run the Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote software. If using your own server, then the configuration must meet the miminum system requirements in Table 2 and support a VMware ESXi virtualized environment.
For details about the Cisco UCS C22 M3 Rack Server, see the Cisco UCS C22 M3 Rack Servers Data Sheet.
For more information about installing the Cisco UCS C22 M3 Rack Server hardware with the Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote software, see the Cisco StadiumVision Director Remote Installation and Upgrade Guide.