[NTLUG:Discuss] OT: console server

[Stuart Johnston]

Fred James wrote:
> Stuart Johnston wrote:
> 
>> Fred James wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> Stuart Johnston wrote:
>>>
>>>    
>>>
>>>> Fred James wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      
>>>>
>>>>> All
>>>>> I have four UNIX boxes sitting together, that I should like to be able 
>>>>> to telnet to a console server for (male DB9 serial ports), and I should 
>>>>> appreciate any suggestions toward a cost effective solution - I don't 
>>>>> need GUI, color, or any thing fancy like that.  Thank you in advance for 
>>>>> any help you may be able to offer.
>>>>>   
>>>>>
>>>>>        
>>>>>
>>>> I don't have any actual experience doing this but from what little I know, you can either:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Buy a console server from someone like Cyclades for ~$800
>>>>
>>>> 2) Buy a 4-port serial card (~$100) and setup a linux system to act as the console server.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      
>>>>
>>> Stuart Johnston
>>> 4-port serial card?  Are those manufacturer, OS, BIOS, or any such 
>>> dependent?  For example, I have available for the experiment a spare HP 
>>> Pavilion 6630 (Intel Celeron 500MHz. 64 MB SDRAM, 10.2 GB hard drive, 
>>> CD-ROM and floppy).
>>>    
>>>
>> I think they are pretty standard.  Come to think of it, since you only need 4 ports and your PC may 
>> already have 2, you could just get a dual board which are cheap and easy to find.  Or even 2 dual 
>> boards would probably work if the PC doesn't have any.
>>
>> For example:
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220010362033
>>  
>>
> Stuart Johnston
> Sorry to be such a bother, but I have never used any of these, so ... 
> any IRQ or address issues ... for example, I can open multiple telnet 
> sessions to the box with the extra serial ports, would I be able to 
> address all of the serial ports at once (one for each telnet session, up 
> to at least a max of one session per serial port)?

I can only guess but I would say that yes, it would work fine.