Allied Telesis AR400 Series Router - Manual (Page 24)

24 AR400 Series Router User Guide
Software Release 2.6.1
C613-02021-00 REV D
What is the GUI?
The GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a web-based device management tool,
designed to make it easier to configure and monitor the router. The GUI
provides an alternative to the CLI (Command Line Interface). Its purpose is to
make complicated tasks simpler and regularly performed tasks quicker.
The GUI relies on an HTTP server that runs on the router, and a web browser
on the host PC. When you use the GUI to configure the router, the GUI sends
commands to the router and the router sends the results back to your browser,
all via HTTP.
A great example of this is the ease with which you can configure an ISDN link.
The tasks you may perform using the GUI are not as comprehensive as the
command set available on the CLI, but for some protocols, a few clicks of the
mouse will perform many commands. Great examples of this are the ease with
which you can set up the firewall on the AR450S, including policies, interfaces
and rules, or configure an ISDN connection on the AR410.
The GUI is stored on the router in the form of an embedded resource file, with
file extension
rsc . Resource files are model-specific, with the model and
version encoded in the file name.
Accessing the Router via the GUI
To use the GUI to configure the router, you use a web browser to open a
connection to the router’s HTTP server. Therefore, you need a PC, a web
browser and the router. Supported browsers and operating systems, and the
settings you need on your PC and browser, are detailed in the following
section. Router setup is detailed in “Establishing a Connection to the Router” on
page 26.
Browser and PC Setup
The GUI requires a web browser installed on a PC. Table 3 shows supported
combinations of operating system and browser. A copy of Internet Explorer can
be found on the router’s Documentation and Tools CD-ROM.
Table 3: Supported browsers and operating systems
IE 5.0 IE 5.5 IE 6.0 NS 6.2.2 NS 6.2.3
Windows 95 !
Windows 98 ! ! !
Windows ME
! ! ! ! !
Windows 2000 ! ! ! ! !
Windows XP ! ! ! ! !