Introduction to networks
Create and manage a hierarchy of networks, register and organize your devices in player groups, or manage your smarthub devices, in Networks. Networks is accessed via the Admin group in the Appspace menu. Every Appspace account comes configured by default with one root network that can be divided into multiple sub-networks. A user within a network has visibility to resources within the network and any sub-network.
Note
Administrator privileges are required to configure Networks. Please refer to the table in the Introduction to user management article.
Networks Interface
The following illustrates the layout of Networks in Appspace.
Note
SmartHub ASE may be listed as a tab within Networks if the SmartHub ASE Manager is installed in Appspace.
Players
The Players tab displays all players, player groups, tags, and player information linked to this account. You can add and register devices as players, and group and manage them in player groups.
Toolbar
The toolbar consists of buttons to register a device as a player, tag or sync players, assign a channel to a player, move players between player groups, reset a player’s status, unregister a player, and also search for players.
Filters
You may filter players by network or player status. The filtered results will be displayed on the right.
Tags
The Tags section displays tags that have been added to different players. Clicking on a tag(s) automatically populates the player list on the right.
Groups
The Groups section displays all player groups within the account. Clicking on a group automatically populates the player list with players that are associated with that group.
Networks
The Networks tab displays all networks and sub-networks for this account. Selecting different networks or sub-networks will present summarized information for the selected network.
Overview
The Overview sub-tab displays the details of the selected network such as name, description, permissions, and the assigned channel. It also provides a graphical overview of information such as the total number of users, channels, registered players, online players, and offline players, available in that network.
Properties
The Properties sub-tab lists the network properties for the selected network or sub-network. Users are allowed to add new properties, which will be applied to all players in the network and its sub-networks.
Notifications
Appspace can be configured to send email alerts to administrators in the event of device failures, communication loss, or errors during content download or a sync. When a failure has been detected and no response is made within 15 minutes, a failure alert email will be sent to the administrators. The system will continue to monitor the device and if the failure persists, email alerts will be sent in 15 minute, 45 minute, 1 hour, 3 hour, 6 hour and 24 hour intervals.
There are two types of device failures:
- Communication Lost – this indicates that the player has lost network connection with the Appspace server for two weeks or less. The player will still be playing the application but any updates made will not be received.
- Failed – this status requires urgent attention as it may be a critical failure that could result in an application not being displayed on the screen at all. This could be caused by a number of reasons such as on-site power or hardware failure.
SmartHub ASE
The SmartHub ASE is a device that pre-positions content and integrates third-party data, services, and hardware to increase the efficiency and functionality of your signs. The SmartHub ASE tab displays all SmartHubs registered to this account.
Advanced
The Advanced tab allows users to export and import player information as a batch function. A user will first have to export the data to an Excel file, make the necessary data edits, and then re-import that file for Appspace to reflect the changes.
