Best way to connect multiple Hyperdecks

Hi guys,

I just bought the Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K. I’m building a gator rack case that will house amongst other things, 3 Hyperdeck minis to use as VTR playback and recording. I finally realized that in order for them all to connect to the system, I need a router or switch. I have an old school clunky router that seems to be doing the trick. I don’t entirely get the difference between a router and a network switch. Ideally I want a cleaner solution than running Cat5 cables out of each hypderdeck into the router which is outside of the gator rack. It won't fit inside the rack because it's got 2 big antennas. Would it work to just use a small switch that can live inside the rack and just run the Cat5 cables to that? Or is the router needed either way? I don’t need remote access to anything. I just want to have 3 hyper decks connected to the switcher control panel along with the software that’s running on a laptop.

Thanks for any input. This networking stuff is not my forte so I’m just trying to figure out the best way to do it before I spend more money.

J.

Hey i am doing just that - a small cheap switch in my case connecting 2 hyperdeck minis and an ATEM 2ME and have had no issues.

A network switch is for connecting multiple devices on a local area network (LAN). Generally speaking, all of the devices on a LAN share a similar section of IP address space, and every device on the LAN can see all of the other devices.

In contrast, a router is generally for connecting two different networks (and often different IP address spaces as well). So most people's usage of routers involve connecting a local area network (LAN) in a home or office to the broader, public internet (wide area network or WAN). This is why routers typically have a specifically labeled WAN port, whereas, on network switches, the ports generally just have numbers (because they are all equivalent). Routers take care of directing data packets between the internal network (LAN) and the wider internet (WAN), but switches aren't capable of doing this.

To make things slightly more complicated, most routers also have multiple (3 to 5, or sometimes more) LAN ports, in addition to the WAN port. These LAN ports on a router generally act as a if they were a network switch, where all of the devices connected to them can see and communicate with each other without any special packet routing.

So in terms of which of these network devices you need, if your devices just need to connect to each other and not the wider internet, then you can probably get by with a switch. But if any of the devices needs internet access to be able to connect with web sites or other servers that aren't directly connected to your switch, then you probably need a router.

One final consideration is that when just using a network switch, you will generally need to manually assign static IP addresses to all of the computers and other devices connected to that network. This is because switches do not have any DHCP functionality. So if you want to be able to use DHCP to automatically assign local IP addresses to devices on your local network, then you will likely need to use a router, even if you have no plans to connect the router to the public internet (so the WAN port might stay empty in this case and you would only use the router's LAN ports).

Thanks Shane and Dave. I appreciate you both taking the time to reply. This is all stuff that's way over my head so I'd never figure it out without relying on the knowledge of others. I feel like I have a bit of direction now.

J.

I have a wireless router and a switch installed in a Gator Rack. Just flip the antennas down and you can put the cover on.

Best,

David

Thanks Shane and Dave. I appreciate you both taking the time to reply. This is all stuff that's way over my head so I'd never figure it out without relying on the knowledge of others. I feel like I have a bit of direction now.

J.