The LoRaWAN network we've worked so far was a hybrid network. 1
We've used it for all demonstrations since the beginning of this course. 2
In a previous video, we already explained what a hybrid network is, but we can briefly remind it. 3
It's when we use our own Gateway, but with a LoRaWAN server that doesn't belong to us. 4
In our case, we mostly use TTN as a Network Server. 5
But, there were also some demonstrations with Loriot or Actility. 6
Anyway, none of these are managed by our organization. 7
It wasn't set up on our premises, and we didn't have to care about the server administration and its 8
availability. 9
What we want now is to do the installation of our own Network Server and our own Application Server. 10
If we set up such a network, we'll have the full control of every part of the LoRaWAN transmission. 11
We'll have our own End-device. 12
We'll have our own Gateways and finally our own Network Server and Application Server. 13
And that's exactly the definition of a private network, since all entities will belong to us. 14
In some situations, having a private LoRaWAN network can indeed be a really good choice because 15
even if it requires a lot of effort to build it, we will end up with a complete confidential network with 16
no data transferred on public infrastructure. 17
Besides, we'll administrate our server, 18
that means that we can scale its capability as much as we want. 19
We can also be especially careful of its availability and on top of that, with a private network, 20
we don't need to pay any subscription fee to a provider, as it's the case with a hybrid network or 21
a public network. 22
So, for all these reasons, it can be interesting to set up a Network Server and Application Server 23
by yourself. 24
And apart from installing the server as we'll see in the next video, the only other configuration we'll 25
have to do is to modify the Gateway parameters. 26
Because from now on, our Gateway will have to point to the new network server. 27
Whereas before they forwarded the message to TTN, Actility or Loriot Network Server. 28
In the next videos, we'll present and explain in detail the installation and configuration of two LoRaWAN 29
servers. 30
First, we'll use Chirpstack. 31
... 32
Chirpstack is a project led by Orne Brocaar. He is the initial author and the main contributor of this LoRaWAN 33
server. 34
Then, after we will try The Things Stack. 35
The Things Stack is the one used by the community network called The Things Network, so it's the same 36
one we use in our demonstrations. 37
But of course this time it will be installed on our own server. 38
This Lorawan server is supported by The Things Industry, a big player in the LoRaWAN ecosystem. 39
Both are free, both are open source and they both have a strong and reliable community. 40
You will see that it's very comfortable to rely on a solid community of developers, professionals and 41
hobbyists. 42
But of course for both of them you can also have a commercial support. As a company, 43
if you're stuck with a configuration or if you need a special development, then you can contact them 44
for support. 45
Okay, so before starting the server installation, we need to speak about two things. 46
First, we need to speak of the Gateway configuration, because even if most Gateway are compatible 47
with all network servers, there might be some exceptions. 48
So, I just want to check that before we start. 49
And secondly, in another video, I want to present the different solutions 50
we have to set up the Network Server. 51
There are many possibilities, including using our own computer, but some options are easier to set up. 52
... 53
Anyway, we'll go through all the possibilities and I'm sure there will be at least one which will suit 54
you.