The Four Port

The Four Port is a compact quad-port server offering a full complement of industry standard network protocols and system features.  It connects up to four RS-232 devices to a TCP/IP-based Ethernet network  (it "network-enables" the serial devices).

The Four Port can operate as a terminal server, a print server, or a remote access server.  Its most popular usage, however, is to connect legacy serial devices (or more modern serial devices that do not have network ports) to a network so that those devices can be monitored and controlled remotely.

The Four Port is small and very easy to configure.  You can have it operational in minutes.  It comes with an external wall-mount power supply and user manual.

Uses

Network-Enabler:

A legacy serial device can be network-enabled by connecting its RS-232 port to The Four Port.  A host (such as a PC) connects to The Four Port through the network with Telnet or with a raw TCP connection.  The serial device can now be monitored and/or controlled from the host.  Any data entered at the host is sent to the serial device and any data from the serial device is sent to the host.

Serial-Line Extender:

A Four Port can make a network connection to another One/Two/Four Port to act as a serial-line extender.  The devices attached to the RS-232 ports operate as if they were connected by a simple RS-232 cable.

A single Four Port can also be used with redirector software running on a host (for example, a computer with  a Unix-like or Windows operating system).  The redirector software allows programs written to communicate with serial ports to run on a networked computer.

LAN-to-LAN Connector:

Two Four Ports can be connected via their RS-232 ports to serve as a link between two separate LANs.

Proxy SNMP Agent:

The Four Port can be programmed to parse input data from a serial device and to form it into a user-defined SNMP Management Information Base (MIB).  The Four Port can then be queried by one or more network management stations (such as HP OpenView) to retrieve the data.  The Four Port can also send SNMP traps to alert users of abnormal operating conditions.