Getting rid of all your serial consoles

If you work with UNIX servers that have serial consoles, and have terminals attached to each one, free up some space with a console server.

I’ve worked at companies with several hundred UNIX servers with each having their own serial attached terminal.   However, there is a better solution which many companies are utilizing.

Enter the console server.  Whether you have one server, or several thousand, a console server can make your life better.

There are two main uses for a serial console server.

  1. Eliminate the need to have one serial terminal connected to each system
  2. Provide the ability to access the console over the network (from your desk, from home at 2am, or from a beach in Cancun).

How does this work?  A serial console server is a hardware device that, with the very basic configuration, has one or more serial ports as well as a network connection.   The UNIX servers are connected to the serial ports, the network connection to your network, and then from any computer on the network, you can then access the console of any of your UNIX servers.  Typically this is with Telnet, SSH, or via a Web Browser.

Optionally, you can also add a few serial terminals to the console server so you can just hop on a terminal, select the port (server) you want to connect to, so you don’t have to run back to your desk.  You can also attach modems so you can dial-in (if everything else fails) to your console server to gain access to your consoles.

There are many more things you can do with console servers, and their usage is not limited ot just UNIX servers.  Network equipment such as routers, firewalls, load-balancers, or anything with a serial console port, can also be used.

Personally, I have an older Cyclads TS-1000 (16 port serial console server) that I purchased on eBay several years ago.  I use it in my lab to connect to the consoles of my servers and network gear.

Some companies that I would recommend, based on my past use, include:

Since these are serial console servers, they are best suited for UNIX hardware that have serial consoles.   For PC-Based UNIX/Linux servers, that have a standard Video/Keyboard/Mouse console, a KVM is best suited for these.  However, a few servers allow the console to be redirected to serial, which could allow a serial console server to be used for them as well.

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This entry was written by theunixguy, posted on February 27, 2009 at 4:52 pm, and filed under Tips and Tricks and tagged .

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