External access requirements for Live, VOD, VIO Omni systems
Applies to
- Cablecast 7.1+
Answer
To setup your Cablecast system for VOD and Live Streaming, You will need a public address for your Host server. We highly recommend using a DNS address versus public IP. DNS will appear not only cleaner, it is easier to maintain if your public IP changes. It will also be required to utilize SSL.
Your host server is usually VOD server, but may also be a VIO (or Flex if on an older system). Easy way to know is look at the machine that is hosting your FrontDoor web login. That will be your host server. In Cablecast 7.1+ all streaming and VOD traffic is proxied through the Host server. Meaning you will not need public addresses for the Live streaming units. These addresses need to be available from the public internet. Access to these machines can be achieved either by port forwarding or network address translation (NAT). See below for additional information.
NOTE: Valid Port Forwards
If you are configuring your system to use with Cablecast Reflect the port values must be in the 80, 443, 1024-65535 range to be compatible with The Cablecast Reflect Streaming Service.
Setting Up Access
Cablecast needs to access port 80 via standard http. No other ports are needed. The most common way to setup access is through a port forward. A port forward works by mapping different ports on a single public IP address to different servers on the internal network. As mentioned in the warning above, when using port forwarding you must use external ports in the 1024 to 65535 range to be compatible with Cablecast Reflect. An example of a typical port forward setup is shown in the table below.
| Server | Internal IP | Internal Port | External Port Traffic |
| ProVOD | 192.168.0.100 | 8080 | TCP |
| ProVOD | 192.168.0.100 | 80, 8080 | TCP |
Another method of allowing Cablecast Reflect to access your servers is via network address translation (NAT). NAT works by mapping multiple external public IP address to internal IP address on your network. A typical NAT setup is shown in the table below.
| Server | Internal IP | External IP |
| ProVOD | 192.168.0.100 | 64.233.160.0 |
You should consult with your network administrator to setup either port forwarding or NAT translation for your Cablecast system.
A Note On Security
As mentioned above, Cablecast only needs access to TCP port 80 on your host server. If you wish to utilize the Easy SSL support, you will need TCP 80 and TCP 443 open to your Host Cablecast server. Note, you will need to have a DNS address to utilize SSL.
Please view our Best Practices For System Security article for more information on protecting your system.
