Some Consideration Before Selecting The Perfect Console Server

If there are lots of console servers in a room then each machine would need a serial console. However, it is difficult to acquire serial terminals, beside they are very expensive. At the same time, there are various affordable solutions available that provide for the console server to have access if the network or a machine breaks down.

It is important that remote access facility is available with the console server. It does not matter if the computers are placed in the office or in other parts of the world. The logging facility is also necessary so that console commands can be checked to determine if there had been problems. The console server is needed most when there is a network failure. These are the times when the device must be functioning through the remote access even when the network is not working.

KVM Switch
KVM switch is a very good solution if hardware components are being used for the server PC. With the help of this device multiple consoles can be controlled using a keyboard, a monitor and a mouse. While not too much space is required in this technique, it functions only with the PC hardware. It means that controlling communication gears is not possible with this.

Scroll-back options and quality logging is also missing with the KVM switches, which makes it necessary to use other methods to handle the alerts. One of the big disadvantages with the KVM switches is that the device is unable to run with serial-only devices. This means that even if there are lots of PC servers in a room, some kind of serial console server solution would still be needed.

Serial Switching

Single terminal console may be used by some users who may switch between servers if needed. One can either use a serial switch or connect it directly into the required machine. There may be difficulties when switching between servers, beside serial switches are very expensive.

If all the computers are placed locally then a serial switch provides a good solution. At the same time, there are some disadvantages. It would be difficult to determine what type of arrangement for DTE DCE headshells are needed to complement the hardware leads. Even for a veteran network administrator it may take several minutes to do leads matching with the breakout boxes, all the while there may be complaint from the users about the downed server. Additionally access capabilities or remote logging are not available.

Terminal Server Hardware
Generally the console server machines and the serial ports are designed for reverse telnet connection. This way a user is able to telnet to a particular IP and connects to that computer or console server. This technique is very affordable and in this, one can use any old terminal server.