Specifications

©
2002, David K. Z. Harris
15
Pg. 15
© 2002
David K. Z. Harris
Terminal server advantages
Ø Admin can operate many
consoles at once
Ø One serial port per socket-based
session
Ø Easy to cut-and-paste between
sessions
Ø Different administrators can talk
to many different attached
devices at one time.
It’s common to open many windows to different ports, so you can copy and
paste between them.
Many administrators can work with different hosts simultaneously, from
different workstations, rather then waiting in line to use a shared terminal or
laptop.
Only one person can be connected to each port at any given time. This is
normally a good thing, as it can prevent two administrators from making
configuration changes at the same time, providing that you make it a policy to
make changes from the serial console. If another person tries to connect to a
busy port, the connection is refused, with a message to the user.
There is a downside to this, however, in the case that one administrator
connects to a port, and then goes to lunch, or home. With the idle session still
connected, nobody else can connect to that same port. (Someone with
administrator privileges on the terminal server needs to log onto the terminal
server, and reset that serial port to break the connection.)