[c-nsp] Console connections

[Hunter Fuller]

We are trying a somewhat-radical new strategy. For our newest rack, we
bought a Raspberry Pi Model 3B. It has four USB ports, and into each port
we plugged a dual-headed USB to RS232 adapter, for a total of 8 ports.

So far, so good. The main benefits are ease of use (our team can use the
same tools they use on their laptops) and cost (100-150 USD total for the
setup I just mentioned).

The gotchas are that it only has one inbuilt Ethernet port and it does not
have built-in support for redundant power. But we are using this only for
emergencies, and we access the site once every few months anyway, so we
were willing to make that concession.

--
Hunter Fuller
Network Engineer
VBH Annex B-5
+1 256 824 5331

Office of Information Technology
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Systems and Infrastructure


On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 4:03 PM R. Benjamin Kessler <Ben.Kessler at zenetra.com>
wrote:

> We've deployed async HWICs/NIMs in Cisco routers for customers in hundreds
> of locations.
> Many/most were also pared with 4G cards provide an out-of-band connection
> back to a centralized data center.
>
> R. Benjamin Kessler
> PRESIDENT / CHIEF NETWORK GEEK
> ZENETRA CORPORATION
> CCIE # 8762 | CISSP | PCNSE
> P: (260)-271-4330 | M: (260)-437-5774
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cisco-nsp <cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net> On Behalf Of Robert
> Raszuk
> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2019 5:00 PM
> To: Nick Cutting <ncutting at edgetg.com>
> Cc: Cisco NSPs <cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net>
> Subject: Re: [c-nsp] Console connections
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> Indeed I was looking also at opengear but got a bit scared with limited
> software based pinout switching capabilities ... Some models can switch
> between X1 and X2 but is this enough ? Today we use avocent which claims to
> be soft selectable between RS485, RS422 and RS232 pinouts.
>
>
> https://opengear.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/216371943-Which-adapter-will-I-use-to-connect-to-various-types-of-equipment-
>
> In my case in those 10 racks are complete wild zoo of various eval
> equipment and just trying to avoid as much as possible per vendor console
> adapters going forward.
>
> Many thx,
> R.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 10:55 PM Nick Cutting <ncutting at edgetg.com> wrote:
>
> > We use lots of opengear.
> > Expensive - but awesome
> >
> > I did just roll out a cisco 4431 with 3 octal cables for a client
> > though, but opengear has way more features and supports 2 people at
> > once on the lines etc
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: cisco-nsp <cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net> On Behalf Of
> > Robert Raszuk
> > Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2019 4:28 PM
> > To: Cisco NSPs <cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net>
> > Subject: [c-nsp] Console connections
> >
> > This message originates from outside of your organisation.
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > What would you all recommend these days for min 8-12 port rack mounted
> > terminal servers  to talk to various vendor's router and switches
> > console ports ?
> >
> > For years I used cisco 2511 but now it is history .. so what's the
> > best cisco or not cisco successor for it ?
> >
> > It would be awesome if it would also have few KVM switch ports for
> > video&mouse to get them over IP, but this is just "nice to have" -
> > primary I need to get 10 async terminal servers.
> >
> > Any proven in action hints ?
> >
> > Many thx,
> > Robert.
> > _______________________________________________
> > cisco-nsp mailing list  cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
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> >
> >
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