In this video, we’ll talk about Dante redundancy - an important feature that allows you to
run your audio on two networks simultaneously as a failsafe mechanism.
Dante redundancy is key when building a mission-critical audio network.
On many Dante-enabled products, you will notice that there are 2 Ethernet ports for Dante,
labeled Primary and Secondary. The Primary port is connected to your main network,
while the Secondary port is used to create a backup, or redundant network.
These networks are always entirely separate from one another.
A redundant network is a complete set of switches and cables that are separate from your main
network, connected to the Secondary ports of all your Dante devices. Dante sends identical
audio flows into both networks at all times. If the a path on the Primary network is broken
for any reason - such as a cable being pulled out, or a switch power supply failing - the
Redundant network is instantly used. This happens without any audible artifacts such
as clicks or pops. The Secondary network is an isolated network
that does not connect to or or carry mixed data types. While the Primary network may use shared
IT infrastructure, the Secondary network is always on it’s own.
It is also worth noting that Dante Virtual Soundcard does not support redundancy.
Setting up a Redundant network is incredibly easy, as most of the work is done
by Dante automatically. Here we’ve setup a regular Primary Dante
network using a switch and Ethernet cables as usual.
We’re using a completely separate set of switches and cables that are otherwise identically
connected to our Secondary network, plugged into the Secondary ports of all our devices.
The Secondary switches do not need to be identical to the ones on the Primary, as long as they
are sufficient for the required bandwidth. When we open Dante Controller, everything
looks like it did earlier. That’s because all the subscriptions and settings created
on the Primary network are automatically reflected on the Secondary network. There is no need
to configure the Secondary network separately at all.
You can check to see if a Secondary network is connected by observing the Device Info,
Clock Status or Network Status tabs in Dante Controller.
When we make a change in Dante Controller, it is automatically made on both networks,
instantly. There is no separate setup for each.
So the setup is simple: first setup and test your Primary network, then connect an alternate
set of cables and switches to the Secondary network.
That’s it, you’ve got a redundant network.
To see how Dante redundancy works, let’s first see what happens without it.
With only our Primary network connected, it seems clear what will happen if we disconnect
our source from the network: Audio stops, of course. When we plug things
back in: Audio resumes.
But with a redundant network… Audio flows without interruption, even if
we remove the Primary - or Secondary - cables.
A few notes of caution: First, do not connect any Secondary ports to your Primary network.
The Secondary port will not be able to participate on that network.
In pre-network audio gear, it was common to see 2 or more connectors on some pieces, so
that signals could be “daisy chained” or parallel connected from a back panel.
A Secondary network port is not at all like that. Do not use a Secondary port to extend
a Primary network - instead, route all cables back to a switch.
There are some exceptions to this rule in certain products that have settings that allow
a Secondary port to act as a simple switch port for daisy-chaining. Be sure to check
the capabilities of your Dante-enabled products before attempting this.
A word of advice: Always set up your network on Primary ports BEFORE configuring your secondary network.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this video, and that it helps you to create more robust Dante setups.
Thanks for watching.