Why do client machines communicate with each other (4042400)

why do normal Netvault clients (not Backup Server or Smart Clients) communicate with each other using Netvault ports

All Netvault clients talk to each other using the standard Netvault ports and all are listed in each other's ~netvault/etc/machines.dat file.

The main reason for this is that all clients have the potential to be Smartclients and their status on the network cannot be changed just be adding a storage device to them. They are all therefore considered as 'Smartclients in waiting' from a comms point of view. A Smartclient obviously need to be able to communicate directly with whichever other client if data is being sent to it's device for backup. It also helps the Clients let the Netvault server know they are available. In the Servers client management they'll already be seen in the available clients list and it won't be necessary to search for them.

These UDP broadcasts are seeing are very much like "keep alive" settings.

When a client is installed, it will instantly send a broadcast to all of the network indicating "I am here".

Changing the "Keep Alive rate" & "Time between availability broadcasts" settings in the "Network Manager" tab of the Configurator may have an effect on reducing handshake traffic between normal clients.