This article describes what the M2M Cloud Cluster is, explains how it works on a technical level, and briefly touches on whether it may be suitable for your specific use case.

Glossary

Please make sure to first read the glossary before continuing.

• What is the M2M Cloud Cluster?
• How does the M2M Cloud Cluster work?
• Is the M2M Cloud Cluster suitable for you?

What is the M2M Cloud Cluster?

The M2M Cloud Cluster is a dedicated VPN server for your IXON Cloud company that IXON sets up at a location of your choice (from a number of selected locations only). You can connect up to 1500 IXrouters to a single M2M Cloud Cluster and all IXrouters in your IXON Cloud company will automatically connect to the M2M Cloud Cluster instead of any of the general IXON VPN servers.

The M2M Cloud Cluster is set up for one, or both, of the following purposes, depending on your preference:

One to many

"One to many" can be described as remotely accessing all your machines simultaneously from one, or more, central system(s), or vice versa, over a persistent VPN connection. A practical example of this may be a remote SCADA system that needs to control and monitor various different machines at different locations.

One to many can be considered an “add-on” for the IXON Cloud, meaning it does not affect any existing IXON Cloud features, like restricted user access through the extensive user management system.

Many to many

"Many to many" can be described as having machine to machine communication. A practical example are two machines that need to communicate with each other, but are too far apart to be connected directly.

Many to many can also be considered an “add-on” for the IXON Cloud, but this does affect the user management. In short, everything that has a VPN connection to the M2M Cloud Cluster (this includes users, IXrouters, but also IXrouters that you may not have access to in the IXON Cloud) can communicate with one another.

How does the M2M Cloud Cluster work?

Connecting IXrouters to the M2M Cloud Cluster

The M2M Cloud Cluster is linked to your IXON Cloud company. What this means is that all IXrouters that you newly register in your IXON Cloud company will automatically connect to your M2M Cloud Cluster instead of any of the general IXON VPN servers. For already registered IXrouters in your IXON Cloud company, it is sufficient to simply toggle their VPN connection once, after which they will also connect to the M2M Cloud Cluster from that moment onward.

By default, an IXrouter will get a dynamic VPN address assigned when it establishes its VPN connection. However, with how the M2M Cloud Cluster works, it’s highly recommended to configure static VPN addresses for every one of your IXrouters. With an M2M Cloud Cluster you can choose your own custom VPN range, if you so choose, and set a static VPN address for each individual IXrouter through the IXON Cloud.

Connecting a central system to the M2M Cloud Cluster

This applies to “one to many” only. To remotely and simultaneously access all machines that are connected to the M2M Cloud Cluster from one (or more) central system(s), the OpenVPN client will need to be installed on the central system(s). That OpenVPN client will then need to use an OVPN file, supplied by IXON, which will provide it with all the necessary details to set up a VPN connection to the M2M Cloud Cluster, resulting in a persistent VPN connection.

Communication over VPN

Everything is now connected to the M2M Cloud Cluster, but doesn’t yet know how they can reach their destination. There are two methods to choose from: “routing” or “port forwarding”.

Routing

Routing is only available for "one to many" and requires each machine that you want to access remotely to have a unique IP addres or IP range. For every machine that you want to reach, you’ll need to add a route on your source device in the OVPN file provided by IXON.

Port forwarding

Port forwarding is available for both "one to many" and "many to many" and requires you to be able to specify a port where your central system (when using “one to many”) or machine (when using “many to many”) will communicate to. If you are unable to specify a custom port, please contact IXON Support. At every machine that you want to reach, you’ll need to add a port forward in the machine’s IXrouter.

Is the M2M Cloud Cluster suitable for you?

This question doesn’t have an easy yes/no answer. If you’re interested in simultaneously remotely accessing multiple machines from a central system (one to many), the M2M Cloud Cluster will very likely be suitable. If you’re instead interested in having machines communicate remotely with one another (many to many), then the M2M Cloud Cluster’s suitability highly depends on your specific use case and testing is recommended to fully determine its suitability.

In either case, we will be more than happy to discuss your specific use case to determine the M2M Cloud Cluster’s suitability or discuss testing possibilities.