Overview

Network Interface Configuration lets the User configure the interfaces of the Gateway. These interfaces include Ethernet, VLAN, Bond, and Bridge.

All the RansNet Appliances comes with Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and each interface by default is in routing/Layer-3 mode. The logical interfaces are configured for specific purposes and they require specific settings, which are illustrated in below sections.

Below is a list of common settings available for all interfaces:

enable or disable
ip address setting (mbox support multiple IP addresses per physical or logical interface, for both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses).
MAC address setting. It is possible to change the default MAC address of each interface. Only do this for a specific reason that you’re fully aware of.
MTU size
Duplex and speed (physical interface only)

Virtual Lan (VLAN)-(802.1Q)

User can use a RansNet device to support multiple VLANs on a physical interface using standard 802.1Q, which is the networking standard that supports virtual LANs (VLANs) on an Ethernet network. In other words, the User can configure a physical interface into multiple logical interface and assign/tag each logical interface into a virtual network (VLAN). Each logical VLAN interface is also called a sub-interface.

Bonding interface (LACP)

It’s possible to combine multiple mbox physical interfaces into one logical interface to achieve higher throughput and interface/link redundancy. Typically we call this link aggregation or link bonding.

RansNet Appliances supports various bonding modes depending on objectives. The most commonly used is 802.3ad/LACP, which is compatible with other upstream/downstream switches running the same protocol.

Types of Bond Modes

Round-robin (balance-rr) Transmit network packets in sequential order from the first available network interface (NIC) slave through the last. This mode provides load balancing and fault tolerance.
Active-backup (active-backup) Only one NIC slave in the bond is active. A different slave becomes active if, and only if, the active slave fails. The single logical bonded interface’s MAC address is externally visible on only one NIC (port) to avoid distortion in the network switch. This mode provides fault tolerance.
IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation (802.3ad/LACP) Creates aggregation groups that share the same speed and duplex settings. Utilizes all slave network interfaces in the active aggregator group according to the 802.3ad specification.
Transmit based on (Source MAC xor Destination MAC)
Adaptive transmit load balancing
Adaptive load balancing

When configuring bonding interfaces, following conditions applies:

all interfaces belonging to the same switching domain must be assigned to the same bonding instance (bond-group)
All bonded interfaces will have the same MAC address (don’t do this on eth0!)
No IP on bonded interfaces, only assign IP address on the logical bond interface.
Connected peer (eg. switch ports) must support and be enabled with bonding (802.3ad)
All links assigned to the same bonding group must have exactly the same performance and quality, eg. same speed and same latency. Any variation/difference from one of the links can drastically affect the overall bonding results.

Bridge Interface

By default all CMG/HSG/UA/HSA interfaces are layer 3 interfaces (routed mode), Hosts coming in from different interfaces have to be routed across mbox to communicate. Sometimes it’s desirable to allow them to communicate directly, eg. bridge wireless users and LAN users.

mbox support 802.D ethernet bridging, which allows Hosts connected to different mbox interfaces to communicate directly, by assigning them into the same bridge. Hosts connected to the same bridge belong to the same layer-2 segment and will have the same network subnet/mask.

Notice Title

All interface can be set as DHCP mode

Ethernet Interface

User can access the Ethernet Interface from the dropdown menu by clicking on the tab when editing the Gateway. User can click the interface name in the ‘Ethernet‘ column to edit it.

Fields of Interface List UI

Fields	Description
Name	Interface name ex: eth0,eth1,br1
Type	Type of interface configured. ex: Ethernet Physical, Bridge (Software Switch)
Enable	Displays the Enable/Disable status of the interface
Operating Status	Show the upload and download data
IP/Network	Shows the Ip address configured to each interface
Description	User’s input for reference
DHCP Server	DHCP enabled/disabled status of the interface.
Members	members of Interface for Bridge/Bond type
Action	To check the status , delete, Arp table and DHCP Lease info.

Table 1 : The Fields of Ethernet Interface Settings List

New Ethernet Interface

To create new ethernet interface, click on the button then from the Interface type select ‘Ethernet (Physical)‘ as shown below.
Click on button to add the interface to configure.

NOTE

The Interface UI has Settings and DHCP Server tab. User can configure the values of the interface settings and also the DHCP Server settings as per the below fields.
Settings : Interface name, Admin status, IP4/IP6 and other settings.
DHCP Server: DHCP Server status, DNS server, Default Gateway, DHCP Pool, DHCP Option and Additional DHCP Pools.
.

Fields of Ethernet Interface – Settings

Section	Fields	Description
New/Edit Ethernet
	*Ethernet Name*	Configure interface with ip address and other information like Link speed, Proxy ARP, MTU Size, etc
	*Admin Status*	Enable/Disable the physical port
	*IPv4 Address/Netmask*	This field supports three connection type: 01. PPPoE – Allows mbox to dial to ISP DSL service 02. Static IP Address – Manually set an IP address and subnet. 03. DHCP: Set IP address to an interface from upstream device
	*IPv6 Address*	Static IP Address – Manually set an IP address
	*Other Settings*	This field supports eight optional configuration types: 01. DynDNS – Dynamic DNS keeps DNS updated with a site’s correct IP address, even if it changes frequently 02. Link Speed/Duplex – Communication system is a P2P system composed of 2 or more connected parties. 03. MTU Size – It is most used in reference to packet size on an Ethernet network using the Internet Protocol (IP) 04. Proxy ARP – 05. VRRP (High Availability) – 06. Route Metric –
	*Description*	User’s input for reference

Table 2 : Fields to configure Ethernet Interface – Settings

Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server

Fields of Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server

Section	Fields	Description
DHCP Server
	DNS Servers
	Router (default gateway)
	*DHCP Pool Range*	Issues IP Address to device from defined pool
	*DHCP Options*	01. Static MAC-IP – ? 02. MTU Size – It is most used in reference to packet size on an Ethernet network using the Internet Protocol (IP) 03. Domain – 04. Lease Time – 05. Option 42 – Enables Time Synchronization of the client. 06. Option 43 – 07. Option 66 – 08. Option 150 – 09. Option 242 –
	*DHCP Description*	User’s input for reference
	*Additional DHCP Pools*	For non-attached networks

Table 3 : Field to configure Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server settings

CONFIGURATION STEPS

Access to mbox through console or CLI. See Device console access link
Identify the interface to configure.
Enter into interface configuration mode and change specific settings.

NOTE

SUMMARY PROCEDURE (ETHERNET)

enable configure interface eth[number] enable / no enable ip address [ip_address/prefix] (no ip address [ip_address/prefix])

mbox> enable
mbox#
mbox# configure
mbox(config)# interface eth0
mbox(config-if-eth0)# enable
mbox(config-if-eth0)# ip address 203.128.19.100/28 remark "public IP for server 1"
mbox(config-if-eth0)# ip address 203.128.19.101/28 remark "public IP for server 2"
mbox(config-if-eth0)# exit
mbox(config)# ip default-gateway 203.128.19.103
mbox(config)# exit
mbox#
mbox# show running-config
!
hostname mbox
!
interface eth0
enable
ip address 203.128.19.100/28 remark "public IP for server 1"
ip address 203.128.19.101/28 remark "public IP for server 2"
!
ip default-gateway 203.128.19.103
!
mbox# show ip interface eth0
4: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    inet 192.168.1.12/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

VLAN Interface

User can access the VLAN Interface from the dropdown menu by clicking on the tab when editing the Gateway. User can click the interface name in the ‘VLAN ID‘ column to edit it.

New VLAN Interface

To create new ethernet interface, click on the button then from the Interface type select ‘VLAN (Sub-Interface)‘ as shown below.
Click on button to add the interface to configure.

Fields of VLAN Interface – Details

Fields	Description

*VLAN ID*	The VLAN interface-id number, ex:
Main Interface	Physical Interface to map sub-interface
*Admin Status*	To enable/disable the logical interface
*IP Address*	This field supports 2 connection type to connect to another network 01. PPPoE – Allows mbox to dial to ISP DSL service 02. Static IP Address – Manually set an IP address and subnet. 03. DHCP: Set IP address to an interface from upstream device
*IPv6 Address*	Static IP Address – Manually set an IP address
*Other Settings*	This field supports eight optional configuration types: 01. DynDNS – Dynamic DNS keeps DNS updated with a site’s correct IP address, even if it changes frequently 02. Link Speed/Duplex – Communication system is a P2P system composed of 2 or more connected parties. 03. MTU Size – It is most used in reference to packet size on an Ethernet network using the Internet Protocol (IP) 04. Proxy ARP – 05. VRRP (High Availability) – 06. Route Metric –
*Description*	User’s input for reference

Table 4 : Parameters to configure VLAN Interface

VLAN Interface – DHCP Server

Fields of Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server

Section	Fields	Description
DHCP Server
	DNS Servers
	Router (default gateway)
	*DHCP Pool Range*	Issues IP Address to device from defined pool
	*DHCP Options*	01. Static MAC-IP – ? 02. MTU Size – It is most used in reference to packet size on an Ethernet network using the Internet Protocol (IP) 03. Domain – 04. Lease Time – 05. Option 42 – Enables Time Synchronization of the client. 06. Option 43 – 07. Option 66 – 08. Option 150 – 09. Option 242 –
	*DHCP Description*	User’s input for reference
	*Additional DHCP Pools*	For non-attached networks

Table 3 : Field to configure Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server settings

CONFIGURATION STEPS

Access to mbox through console or CLI. See Device console access link
Identify the interface to configure.
Enter into interface configuration mode and change specific settings.

NOTE

SUMMARY PROCEDURE (ETHERNET)

enable configure interface vlan[Physical interface No.| VLAN ID] enable / no enable

mbox> enable
mbox#
mbox# configure
mbox(config)# interface vlan 1 10
mbox(config-if-vlan10)# enable
mbox(config-if-vlan10)# ip address 172.16.20.1/24
mbox(config-if-vlan10)# exit
mbox#
mbox# show running-config

Bond Interface

User can access the Bond Interface from the dropdown menu by clicking on the tab and click on the menu when adding/editing the Gateway/Branch. User can also click the interface name below the ‘Type‘ column to amend the interface settings.

Fields of Interface List UI

Fields	Description
Name	Interface name ex: eth0,eth1,br1
Type	Type of interface configured. ex: Ethernet Physical, Bridge (Software Switch)
Enable	Displays the Enable/Disable status of the interface
Operating Status	Show the upload and download data
IP/Network	Shows the Ip address configured to each interface
Description	User’s input for reference
DHCP Server	DHCP enabled/disabled status of the interface.
Members	members of Interface for Bridge/Bond type
Action	To check the status , delete, Arp table and DHCP Lease info.

Table 1 : The Fields of Ethernet Interface Settings List

New Bond Interface

To create Bond interface, click on the button then from the Interface type select ‘Bond (LACP/802.ad)‘ as shown below.
Click on button to add interface and configure.

Bond Interface – DHCP Server

Fields of Bond Interface – DHCP Server

Section	Fields	Description
DHCP Server
	DNS Servers
	Router (default gateway)
	*DHCP Pool Range*	Issues IP Address to device from defined pool
	*DHCP Options*	01. Static MAC-IP – ? 02. MTU Size – It is most used in reference to packet size on an Ethernet network using the Internet Protocol (IP) 03. Domain – 04. Lease Time – 05. Option 42 – Enables Time Synchronization of the client. 06. Option 43 – 07. Option 66 – 08. Option 150 – 09. Option 242 –
	*DHCP Description*	User’s input for reference

Table 3 : Field to configure Ethernet Interface – DHCP Server settings

CONFIGURATION STEPS

Configure a logical bonding interface
Assign individual physical interfaces into a bonding group

SUMMARY PROCEDURE (ETHERNET)

enable configure interface bond [bond_groupnumber] ip address ip_address/prefix (no ip address ip_address/prefix) mode bond_mode interface eth[number] bond-group [bond_group_number]

mbox(config)# interface bond 0
mbox(config-if-bond0-0)# enable

mbox(config-if-bond0-0)# ip address 172.16.10.1/24
mbox(config-if-bond0-0)# mode 8023ad
mbox(config-if-bond0-0)# exit

mbox(config)#
mbox(config)# interface eth2
mbox(config-if-eth2)# enable

mbox(config-if-eth2)# bond-group 0

mbox(config-if-eth2)# exit

mbox(config)#
mbox(config)# interface eth3
mbox(config-if-eth3)# enable

mbox(config-if-eth3)# bond-group 0
mbox(config-if-eth3)# end


mbox# show interface bond 0
Ethernet Channel Bonding Driver: v3.7.1 (April 27, 2011)

Bonding Mode: IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation
Transmit Hash Policy: layer3+4 (1)
MII Status: up
MII Polling Interval (ms): 1000
Up Delay (ms): 0
Down Delay (ms): 0

802.3ad info
LACP rate: fast
Min links: 0
Aggregator selection policy (ad_select): stable
bond bond0 has no active aggregator

Slave Interface: eth2
MII Status: down
Speed: 1000 Mbps
Duplex: full
Link Failure Count: 0
Permanent HW addr: 00:60:e0:69:42:1c
Aggregator ID: 1
Slave queue ID: 0

Slave Interface: eth3
MII Status: down
Speed: 1000 Mbps
Duplex: full
Link Failure Count: 0
Permanent HW addr: 00:60:e0:69:42:1d
Aggregator ID: 2
Slave queue ID: 0

Bridge Interface

When configuring bridging interfaces, following conditions apply:

Assign physical interfaces into a bridge group
Each interface should have no IP address assigned.
(optional) assign IP address to the logical bridge interface

Fields of Interface List UI

Fields	Description
Name	Interface name ex: eth0,eth1,br1
Type	Type of interface configured. ex: Ethernet Physical, Bridge (Software Switch)
Enable	Displays the Enable/Disable status of the interface
Operating Status	Show the upload and download data
IP/Network	Shows the Ip address configured to each interface
Description	User’s input for reference
DHCP Server	DHCP enabled/disabled status of the interface.
Members	members of Interface for Bridge/Bond type
Action	To check the status , delete, Arp table and DHCP Lease info.

Table 1 : The Fields of Ethernet Interface Settings List

New Bridge Interface

User can access the Bond Interface from the dropdown menu by clicking on the tab,
click on the menu when adding/editing the Gateway/Branch. User can also click the interface name below the ‘Type‘ column to amend the interface settings.

The fields of the Bridge Interface List are explained below:

Fields	Description
Ethernet	The existing bridge interface if it’s configured.
Admin Status	Whether the interface is enabled/disabled
IP/Network	Shows the IP address configured to each Bridge interface
Description	Purpose of the configured interface (Optional)
Action	Option to delete the Interface.

The Fields of Bridge Interface List

To create new Bond interface click on the button as in Image 7.

**Image** 8 : New/Edit Bridge Interface Page

Settings of Bridge Interface

The New/Edit Bridge Interface consists of 3 sections as listed below. The DHCP Server can be configured by enabling the section header button.

Sections	Fields	Description
New/Edit Bridge
	*Bridge Name*	Name of the bridge interface.
	*Admin Status*	To enable/disable the bond interface
	*IP Address/Netmask*	This field supports 2 connection type to connect to another network 1. PPPoE – Allows mbox to dial to ISP DSL service through an ethernet connection 2. IP Address – Manually set an IP address and subnet. 3. DHCP – Option to configures as DHCP client for upstream DHCP serve
	*Optional Settings*	This field supports four optional configuration types: 01. Description – 02. IPv6 Address – 03. Proxy ARP – 04. Link Speed/Duplex –
Show / Edit Bridge Members
	Link Interface [Button]	Show the member of the bridge interface
DHCP Server		To enable the VLAN to issue an IP address to clients.
	*Client Default Gateway*	To enable the VLAN to issue an IP address to clients.
	*Client DHCP Pool Range*	Issues IP Address to device from defined pool
	*Optional Settings*	This field supports four optional configuration types: 01. Static – 02. DNS Server – 03. DHCP Description – 04. Lease Time –

Table 8 : Parameters to configure Bridge Interface

SUMMARY PROCEDURE (ETHERNET)

enable configure interface eth[number] bridge-group bridge_group_number interface bridge br<bridge_group_number> ip address ip_address/prefix (no ip address ip_address/prefix)

mbox(config)#
mbox(config)# interface eth2
mbox(config-if-eth2)# enable
mbox(config-if-eth2)# bridge-group 0
mbox(config-if-eth2)# exit
mbox(config)#
mbox(config)# interface eth3
mbox(config-if-eth3)# enable
mbox(config-if-eth3)# bridge-group 0
mbox(config-if-eth3)# exit