Matt Some open software would really keep a lot of this stuff out of the trash. I have Cyclades and Lantronix stuff on a shelf that works. I got tired of maintaining a box-in-the-middle to deal with ssh ciphers.
On Thu, Dec 18, 2025 at 7:43 AM Matt Brennan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Up until recently I was using the Raritan Dominion SX II models. Dual PSU, > dual NIC, and configurations ranging from 4 to 48 ports. However, Raritan > has just discontinued that as of June. It is unclear how long they will > continue to provide security patches. > > They are recommending customers switch to the ZPE Systems Nodegrid Serial > Consoles. It looks to be much the same, but I haven't had a chance to test > one yet. The only difference I've noticed is the ZPE device seems to have an > embedded 5G cellular module. > > > On Thu, 18 Dec 2025 at 09:34, Andrew Latham via NANOG <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> Dan >> >> I have stacks and stacks of serial console servers. Today I mostly use >> an https://www.coolgear.com/product/32-port-rs-232-usb-to-serial-adapter >> with some pictures of the guts at >> https://lathama.net/Tech/Hardware/USB-32COM-RM if interested. It is my >> solution to a quick build of an https://freetserv.github.io/ >> >> (I have seen some things) >> >> On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 5:51 PM Dan Mahoney via NANOG >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > Hey there folks. >> > >> > Dayjob has historically used USB TTY pods attached to real BSD machines to >> > talk to our cisco consoles, with the amazing benefit that with a program >> > like Vixie's rtty (or conserver) you can also capture the output of those >> > consoles in real-time, and perhaps use that data to identify a connected >> > device. >> > >> > As a bonus, because the rackmount devices have real DE-9's on them, it >> > means they work with any kind of cable you get (not just your standard >> > rj45 cisco rollover like you might get with a Cyclades thing -- and you >> > don't have to come up with the weird-ass mappings for rj45-serial like you >> > might need like our ME4012 NAS (the serial cable is a stereo plug), our >> > smart power strips (it's either a stereo plug, or an rj12), or something >> > like an older brocade switch (it's a DE9, but it's friggin ODD, and I >> > think it may also be the wrong gender). >> > >> > It also means, since you're running a real OS, you have patches as long as >> > the OS is supported (so you're not stuck with "gee it only speaks >> > rsa1024"), versus some EOL appliance. But it's also 2u, and since we're >> > recently buying a lot of Dell hardware, that's Super Overkill for a dell, >> > so I'm evaluating maybe just going "Appliance". >> > >> > If we stick with an existing unix box for this, I'd want something with >> > proper IPMI/OOB (so Rpi is out) but maybe the dumbest, shallowest-depth >> > atom64 supermicro you can find, in the event you need to do a reinstall or >> > catch a hung system. >> > >> > Are there things that other folks are using that are "easy" to work with >> > that you've found to have Long firmware lives, decent warranties and low >> > hassle? Does anything these days actually have DE9s on it? >> > >> > -Dan >> > >> > (You may have also seen my note earlier about the Cisco ASR920, which has >> > RS232 pins in a USB-A header. No, not via a PL2032 chip inside the host >> > that provides a virtual serial...direct txd/rxd/gnd/cts etc, on the USB >> > pins. I've seen things you people would't believe) >> > _______________________________________________ >> > NANOG mailing list >> > https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/5VV3B6CVSW3KVIFFU4GOF5V5FAI625IG/ >> >> >> >> -- >> - Andrew "lathama" Latham - >> _______________________________________________ >> NANOG mailing list >> https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/CPBVORP6B7P5ZJ6CN4TX4YZNFYWZMGSC/ -- - Andrew "lathama" Latham - _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/XO632KYOOBNTAWCUJVFW4QXGS2XBPJGJ/
