Specifications

©
2002, David K. Z. Harris
6
Pg. 6
© 2002
David K. Z. Harris
What We’ll Cover
Ø Why console ports are good.
Ø Console Server hardware options
Ø Why worry about Serial BREAK
Ø Add-on hardware
² Telemetry, remote power control
Ø Benefits of logging servers
Ø Questions and Answer session.
There are lots of good reasons why administrators connect to the console ports
on their network. You probably know many of them now. We’ll discuss many
them briefly in class, as we review your options, both adding multi-port serial
cards to your hosts, as well as using Console Server Hardware to connect to
consoles around your network. We’ll look at the security issues, and discuss
ways to mitigate them.
We’ll consider whether you need to worry about Serial BREAK, and look at
optional serial-port-based equipment that you may want to add to your
network.
Finally, we’ll talk about how you can increase the value and benefits from
your new console access by adding a client-server application between you
and the terminal servers. In some cases, free software can add value to your
terminal server investment.
I’m planning on having time at the end for to open the floor for questions and
answers, to try to fill in any blanks you may still have. There will be a
Conserver BoF as well, Wednesday night, in case folks want to have a follow-
up, and to meet folks who couldn’t attend this tutorial.
We will not go deeply into physical-layer connectivity and debugging in this
class, due to time constraints, but I’ll be glad to address questions individually
after class, or at the BoF. There are also lots of links at the end of this
presentation that you should find useful for independent follow-up when you
get back home.