NIC Selection

Starting in NDI version 5, this lists all the network adapters that will be used for network transmission.

One or more NICs can be used to transmit and receive video and audio data. This capability can be used to ensure that the NDI primary stream data remains on a particular group of network adapters, for instance, allowing you to ensure that dedicated audio is on a separate network card from the NDI video. It is generally preferred that you let NDI select the network adapters automatically, which can smartly select which to use and how to choose the ones that result in the best bandwidth.

While in some modes, NDI can automatically balance bandwidth across multiple NICs, it usually is better for you to use NIC teaming at a machine configuration level which can result in much better performance than what is possible in software. If this setting is misconfigured to specify NICs that might not exist, then NDI might fail to function correctly.

Also, please note that the operation of computer systems that are separately on entirely different networks with different IP address ranges is often not handled robustly by the operating system, and NDI might not fully function in these configurations.

NIC Selection in configuration is part of NDI Access Manager (Windows).

In MacOS and Linux, the NIC Selection can be manually added in the NDI configuration file located in the home directory of the effective user: "ndi-config.v1.json"

Here is the way to manually setup NIC Selection in the configuration file:

}, "adapters": { "allowed": [ "192.168.30.8,10.10.122.123" ]

Using the NIC selection, in combination with the Discovery Server, is ultimately the best solution for controlling the NDI network.

You might need to enable hidden files on Mac. Click [CMD SHIFT .]

Here are additional steps operators can take to help direct NDI traffic through a preferred NIC:

1. Access Manager: While Access Manager sets preferences, combining it with the following methods can give the selection more weight.

2. NIC Metrics: Adjust the metrics for each NIC in the network settings. Lower metrics will prioritize that NIC for traffic.

3. VLANs can assist with managing NIC traffic in the following ways:

   1. Traffic Segmentation: VLANs segment network traffic, ensuring that specific types of traffic are isolated and routed through the desired NIC.

   2. Improved Control: By assigning different VLANs to different NICs, you can control which NIC handles specific traffic types. This can be particularly useful for separating NDI traffic from other network traffic.

   3. Enhanced Security: VLANs can improve security by isolating sensitive traffic and reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

   4. Simplified Management: VLANs can simplify network management by allowing you to configure and manage traffic routing more efficiently.

4. Firewall Rules: You can use firewall rules to block NDI traffic on the NIC you don't want to use. This can force the traffic to go through the preferred NIC.

5. Set Up a Discovery Server: Configuring a Discovery Server on the network you want to use for NDI can help keep the traffic on that subnet. If deploying multiple redundant discovery servers, ensure that all discovery servers reside on the desired subnet.