Red/BlackWeb-Based HF Radio system monitoring
Red/Black is a management product that monitors and controls devices and servers, with a particular focus on HF Radio systems.
Red/Black is a Web-based server that can provide control and monitoring of different devices and servers. This is intended to complement, not replace, the primary device management tools. Red/Black servers can operate in a pair, to monitor and control devices across a secure boundary. A detailed description of Red/Black is provided in the [Red/Black overview] whitepaper.
Red/Black is designed to support HF Radio systems and to display and manage communication chains. This is described in the whitepaper [HF Circuits: Automation & Evolution with STANAG 5066].
Usage Overview

A Red side operator view of Red/Black can be seen in the above screenshot:
- Devices are arranged in “communication chains”, so that the operator can clearly see how devices are connected.
- The Red/Black boundary is clearly shown, along with crypto and guard devices that sit on the boundary.
- Black side devices are clearly shown to the right of the boundary. A black side operator can use Red/Black to monitor and manage these devices on black side (without any red side visibility).
- Red side servers (all Isode products in this screen shot) are monitored and controlled to the left of the boundary.
- The Red/Black top screen shows key status parameters for each device to enable primarily monitoring to be handled from the top screen.
- Alerts are shown in the bottom right hand corner and devices with pending alerts that have not been read by operator are shown clearly.
- Devices can be selected to give access to more detailed parameters and control of selected parameters.
- Red/Black enables configuration of device connectivity by operators (for switchable configuration) and by administrators (to reflect physical configuration)
Architecture
The above diagram shows the Red/Black architecture. Key points to note:
- There are two Red/Black servers, one on each side of the secure boundary.
- Isode’s M-Guard product is used to control flow of status and control messages across the boundary
- Devices can be present on both sides of the boundary. Black side devices can be managed red side or black side.
- Device types are specified with an XML “abstract specification” so that no product changes are needed to support new devices.
- Devices need drivers.
Supported Devices
Red/Black provides support for the following devices:
- Modems (as supported by Icon-5066)
- Collins: RT-2200A; HSM 2500; Q9600
- RapidM: RM6; RM8; RM10
- Thales: TRX 1774
- Generic SNMP Devices supported by standard MIBs:
- System MIB (enables basic monitoring of most SNMP capable devices)
- Host MIB (to monitor a host)
- UPS MIB (to monitor an uninterruptable power supply)
- Specific SNMP Devices:
- Leonardo HF 2000 Radio
- IES Antenna Switch
- eLogic Radio Gateway
- IES Antenna Rotator
- Isode products with special drivers
- M-Switch
- M-Vault
- Icon-5066
- TCP devices – a TCP driver can provide basic up/down status monitoring for a number of devices, including the following Isode products:
- Harrier
- M-Box
- M-Link
- Icon-PEP
- Cobalt
For other devices, three options are available:
- Red/Black has an open design that allows for third party device drivers to be implemented by partners or customers. Isode supplies an open source C++ reference driver on Github to facilitate development of such drivers.
- Isode can quote for device driver development for a specific device with a clearly specified management interface.
- For SNMP managed devices with suitable MIBs, customers or Isode can develop abstract device specifications.