Mosaic Network Primary Function

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Definition

In any Mosaic project one Controller must be allocated as the Network Primary. In new projects the first Controller added is chosen by default. In order to define a Controller as the Network Primary, select the Controller within the Network tab of Mosaic Designer 2, and in the Properties tab click [Set as Network Primary]. If the button is grayed out (like in the screenshot below), that means the selected Controller is already the Network Primary. To the right of the button Mosaic Designer 2 will display which Controller is the Network Primary.

As described below the button in the screenshot above, the Network Primary is responsible for keeping the playback on all controllers synchronized, and for issuing real time and astronomical clock triggers to other Controllers. Addionally only the Network Primary can communicate with Paradigm, or be configured for Ethernet triggering.

Possible Issue

There is one issue that may occur, that typically stems from having the Network Primary separated from other Controllers on the network. This can be a result of improper network configuration, network hardware failures, unplugged or cut cables, or may be intentionally separated during a system turn on. If the Network Primary and other Controllers cannot communicate, then the other controllers will fail to execute real time or astronomical triggers, since they rely on the Network Primary to do so.

If this is accidental, resolving the network issue will return communication and they'll proceed to interact normally. If Controllers are intentionally separated for a period of time and must continue to operate normally, the following is recommended:

The Network Primary (Controller A) will continue to run the original project
Save Project as New for each Controller that must run independently (i.e. Controller B, Controller C, etc)
Within that new Project, set the target Controller as the Network Primary (i.e. Project B should have Controller B defined as Primary)
Upload the new Project into the target Controller. Each will now execute the real time and astronomical triggers
Later when the networks are converged, the original Project from Controller A must be uploaded into the other Controllers.