21

Nice! As i metioned: a local provider for the server is way better.

Im wating for the first packets from Alphasat in the next two days :slight_smile:

@on4bgc wut? Dutch->language of the netherlands xD Used by exactly nobody :wink:

@pe1chl I think that inmarsat requires a onsite server because of security. The sat modem is not directly connected to anything that has a connection to the internet i think. But you would need to have a infrastructure plan to understand that decision.

regards,
Manuel

22

what theā€¦can i have one of these sat dishes? :wink:

(google street view)

23

Well what I was suggesting, a small router that serves as a VPN router and rate limiter, would of course
provide the same isolation from the internet. The advantage of a local server is that it does not require
another server running ā€œat homeā€ to feed it in realtime, so it continues to work even across short internet
outages etc.

That teleport is in a beautiful region of the country, but of course ā€œin the middle of nowhereā€.
Syed asked for a more local supplier but IT suppliers are mostly in the ā€œrandstadā€ (built-up area in
the west/southwest of the country) and that teleport is 200km away. The closest one could expect
to get servers etc is Groningen, but I have no information about a company like ServerHome located
there. Maybe there is, there is some datacenter activity in that area e.g. the new Google datacenter.
That would still be 50km away, though. The solution of sending it by express courier is easier.

1 Like
24

In the same country is for me a local provider :slight_smile: 200km is nothing compared to shipping it from the US including customs.

The problem is that a VPN router that has a connection to the sat modem at the teleport must have a internet connection to make a vpn connection to Outernet. Even that Internet connectivity, even when it is only used for the vpn, are often not allowed at such sensetive locations.

regards,
Manuel

25

And how do you think the server that is now located there is going to receive its information?
My bet is that it has an internet connection. Which has a VPN on top of it when things are well designed,
but it could have some open SSH login port. Iā€™m not sure what is better, a (hopefully well) designed VPN
router or a general-purpose system with lots of functionality.

26

As a mentioned before, we would need information from inmarsat for that. Only the know how the infrastructure works.

My guess would be that outernet has a vpn to the server in NL. That server speaks to an inmarsat server on the lan (other nic) that then speacks to the modem.

So anything has to be validated from the inmarsat server that is only reachable from the lan (network for any 3rd party). The modem can only be accessed by that server from inmarsat.

regards,
Manuel

PS: yes there must be a connection to the internet at some point.

27

I donā€™t think it is that complicated. The modem is probably directly connected to another port on the
server. The server gets files from headquarters and a schedule, and slowly outputs the packets on
the ethernet port to the modem. The RF out from the modem is then handed over to the operator
who mixes it with other signals from other clients and uplinks everything to the satellite.

There would be no need for any connectivity to any Inmarsat related network.
An internet connection is of course no real requirement, it is just convenient and cheap. When it
were a real Inmarsat application, there would be a private circuit between headquarters and the teleport.
(unrelated to internet)

28

@pe1chl Youā€™ve done a bit of satcom work, no?

29

I have some picture of how this worksā€¦ :slight_smile:

30

http://datumsystems.com/download/203171/

31

Any updates on the server ?
Thanks.

32

It was received by the teleport and will be racked tomorrow. Then we need to work on it.

2 Likes
33

Brilliant work hereā€¦ shows how a community can pull ā€œsolutionsā€ out of the air quickly :slight_smile:

34

Update: We have the server racked, but the remote hands did not have enough time to install the OS. This will happen on Monday. Sorry about the delays. In the meantime, however, you should all be getting frame lock, but those are just random packets.

35

Frame lock ok
Thanks for letting us know

luckily we all have computer experience :wink:

36

W00t!!! We have lock ā€¦ ( easting random packets!!)

Thanks @syed!

37

Did you not get the enterprise iDRAC option? You can install the OS without any hands on the serverā€¦
Of course normally you would install VMware ESXi on the server and then the OS inside that, but that
is no different. In the iDRAC you can mount virtual media from a .iso file on your system, and then boot
from that and install it using the remote console.

38

Jup frame lock also here in Germany :slight_smile:

Thanks! @Syed hope everything is back online at monday.

regards, Manuel

39

Yes, we have the iDRAC option, but the staff at the teleport went home before we could obtain the IP for the remote management card.

40

Ahā€¦ that is a pity. It is the only thing that has to be prepared locally. All the other setup work
including BIOS setup, RAID controller setup, Hypervisor installation and OS installation can be
done remotely. I did that a few times and it works very well.