Specifications

©
2002, David K. Z. Harris
40
Pg. 40
© 2002
David K. Z. Harris
Console Server App. Costs
Ø Software can be free
² Commercial solutions ARE available
Ø Can be run on an existing CPU
² You may want to use a dedicated box
Ø Security policy may require a
dedicated CPU
Ø Serial cards in the server versus
using Terminal Servers
There are many free solutions available, depending on the features that you
want. There are at least two commercial applications available to you. (Aurora
Technologies, Computer Associates) Our favorite free application is
Conserver, available at http://www.conserver.com/
You can often use free software on an existing server, as the needs of the
software themselves do not require much memory or CPU.
However, shared machines often mean security vulnerabilities in the other
applications, which could allow unauthorized folks to see the logs (or tamper
with them). A shared system often means more users that have legitimate
access to the machine, which can be another vulnerability.
If security and integrity of the logs is a concern, you should consider
purchasing a dedicated machine, installing a hardened OS, and limiting the
number of folks who have login access to the CPU.
Adding multi-port serial cards to a machine increases power consumption, heat
output, and (depending on the card) can also increase CPU load.