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MSS User Guide 5: Using the MSS
5-7
Setting up dedicated hosts ensures that the units will always talk to each other. Enabling
Autostart for both units enables one MSS to send data to the other MSS without having to
wait for a serial carriage return to start the session.. The second MSS knows exactly
which other MSS to accept connections from. Finally, when Autostart is enabled, the
access mode must be either Local or Dynamic (Dynamic is more flexible).
Multihost Mode
Multihost mode is used to set up a data pipe between a serial device attached to the
MSS and multiple hosts on the network. Data from any network host goes out of the MSS
serial port, and data from the serial port is sent to all connected network hosts. The MSS
does not alter the data in any way; it only forwards it between the serial port and the
hosts.
There are a few important things to note about multihost connections:
The MSS attempts to send data in the order it is received. That is, it reads in and
sends data from one host before reading in data from another host.
The MSS will ping TCP and UDP hosts before sending packets to make sure the
remote hosts are active. If they are active, the MSS makes the real connection
and passes the data. If not, the MSS will retry later. Similarly, if one of the host
connections is terminated prematurely, the MSS will attempt to reconnect at
preset intervals.
If a host's flow control or other settings block the MSS from sending, the MSS will
skip it and send the data to the other hosts. However, the MSS does not keep a
list of which hosts were skipped in the past—it consults all hosts each time it has
data to send.
When the MSS serial port is logged out, all host sessions are disconnected,
leaving the port idle.
Enabling Multihost Mode
To configure the MSS for a dedicated multihost connection, use the Change Port
Dedicated command.
Figure 5-11: Enabling Multihost Mode for MSS-VIA and MSS4
Local>> CHANGE PORT 1 DEDICATED HOSTLIST
Figure 5-12: Enabling Multihost Mode for MSS100
Local>> CHANGE DEDICATED HOSTLIST
When a ded
icated connection is enabled, local mode hotkeys for session manipulation
are disabled.