[time-nuts] Serial port server .. any interest in a write up on using ?

Pete Lancashire pete at petelancashire.com
Tue May 22 18:51:08 UTC 2012


Some comments

The make and model I'm using is

Digi www.digi.com

http://www.digi.com/products/serialservers/portserverts#overview

I've used the 1, 4 and 16 port. The 1 and 4 are the same design.

USB

There are USB serial port servers, I have one that is 4 ports. But
like anything USB it requires the computer to be close. For me I have
two locations where my gizmo's are not near the PC. The other is at
times I want to be able to run Lady Heather or Trimble Studio from my
Laptop which maybe out on the porch while having a beer and operating
the BBQ :-)

Group buy

The model I've been using is still made but even the 1 port model is
over $100. The 4 port model shows up on the E quite often
and I've been able to get them for as little as $20. The 16 port model
was $5 at a local used PC store.

Cards (Internal)

For me pretty much the same as USB, and the other for me is the PC I
have on the bench has only 2 short length PCI slots.
One is taken up with a GPIB card an the other a data acquisitions
card. Another is I have two benches. With a network attached
setup I can access my serial stuff from either bench.

This is my setup your mileage may very like in many setups.

Also past experience has not been pleasant with these things. If your
100% Microsoft and never update past XP you may be
OK

Other makes, Lantronix, Cyclades, etc.

Other then Cyclades 48 port servers, Digi is the only other vendor
I've worked work. Hence not disqualifying anyone else
just what I've used.

Terminal servers are simple boxes.  You just Telnet to the port.

Some are, some like the current generation Digi's go beyond that. For
example the software that makes a port on the
Digi look like a COM (uSoft) or TTY (*nix) port. They even do things
like create port tunnels, where a serial port on two
box 'look' like the same port. One thing I like with the ones I have
is you can for example set port 1 to emulate a COM
port, port 2 to respond as a telnet session, port3 to only use SSL so
you can safely use it over the Internet, etc. And if
you really careful, you can have multiple network sessions telnet for
example to one serial port. Something I've not
yet tried.

Cost

Pretty much how good you are at finding stuff, where you live, etc.

My 16 port unit was $5, the most I've paid is something like $40 (1/3
of it shipping) for a 4 port models.

I will be adding a wiki to my yet to be developed website and will
make a page on what I've implemented, I'd love
to see what others have done with different makes and models,
specially in emulating COM/TTY ports.

Before that I'll write up a short summery for this weekend.

-pete



On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 7:55 PM, Pete Lancashire
<pete at petelancashire.com> wrote:
> Like many time-nuts I have quite a few devices that communicate to the
> outside world with a serial port. And like many I have more then one.
> In a past life I use to have to connect to sometimes a 100 RS232 in
> one location. A popular device is called a terminal server or
> concentrator. They would take from 1 to 48 RS232 ports on one side and
> let you talk to them via an Ethernet interface. I so far have twelve
> RS232 ports in use.
>
> Now that the need for such devices has diminished, these terminal
> servers are showing up, sometimes for pennies.
>
> One brand and model Digi's TS family of models I and have verified
> they work with Lady Heather and Trimble Studio on a Windows XP PC.
>
> Digi offers for free a program that makes each RS232 Port look like a
> COM port, and after configuring the terminal server, and this driver,
> you just just fire up Lady Heather pointing to the correct "COM Port".
>
> Other RS232 ports on the terminal server can either be COM ports, or
> one can be connected to via Telnet of for security SSH. For example I
> have an Odetics on one port
> and I just enter telnet ts4a (the DNS name I gave one of the terminal
> servers) 2003 (the IP port associated with the third RS232 port).
>
> So if this is of interest to anyone I'll go into more detail, models, setup etc.
>
> -pete
>
> -pete




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