Re: Console Servers

[Mike Hammett]

There's always the WOOBM! 

https://mikrotik.com/product/woobm 




- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 

Midwest Internet Exchange 

The Brothers WISP 

- Original Message -

From: "Owen DeLong"  
To: "Mike Hammett"  
Cc: "Saku Ytti" , nanog@nanog.org 
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 7:05:36 PM 
Subject: Re: Console Servers 

Why am I picturing you rigging up a Particle Electron as a dongle to each 
device you want remote access to? 


Owen 






On Sep 19, 2018, at 02:21 , Mike Hammett < na...@ics-il.net > wrote: 


Except for AT&T, most incumbents here aren't also mobile wireless providers, so 
that is an option in most cases for truly OOB. 




- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 

Midwest Internet Exchange 

The Brothers WISP 

- Original Message -

From: "Saku Ytti" < s...@ytti.fi > 
To: "James Bensley" < jwbens...@gmail.com > 
Cc: nanog@nanog.org 
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 4:04:58 AM 
Subject: Re: Console Servers 

On Wed, 19 Sep 2018 at 11:54, James Bensley  wrote: 

> I forgot to mention, it also depends how "out" of band your OOB needs 
> to be. We use Ciena 6500s for our DWDM infrastructure and they have a 
> wayside channel (like various DWDM vendors), so it's a separate 
> channel over the same physical fibre. For anything except a fibre cut 
> it seems to work. 

This is gold standard for incumbents, as they don't have anything true 
out-of-band they can consistently buy, everything travels in their 
network at some point anyhow. 

-- 
++ytti 

Re: Console Servers

[Owen DeLong]

Why am I picturing you rigging up a Particle Electron as a dongle to each 
device you want remote access to?

Owen


> On Sep 19, 2018, at 02:21 , Mike Hammett  wrote:
> 
> Except for AT&T, most incumbents here aren't also mobile wireless providers, 
> so that is an option in most cases for truly OOB.
> 
> 
> 
> -
> Mike Hammett
> Intelligent Computing Solutions <http://www.ics-il.com/>
>  <https://www.facebook.com/ICSIL> 
> <https://plus.google.com/+IntelligentComputingSolutionsDeKalb> 
> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-computing-solutions> 
> <https://twitter.com/ICSIL>
> Midwest Internet Exchange <http://www.midwest-ix.com/>
>  <https://www.facebook.com/mdwestix> 
> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-internet-exchange> 
> <https://twitter.com/mdwestix>
> The Brothers WISP <http://www.thebrotherswisp.com/>
>  <https://www.facebook.com/thebrotherswisp> 
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSdfxQv7SpoRQYNyLwntZg>
> From: "Saku Ytti" 
> To: "James Bensley" 
> Cc: nanog@nanog.org
> Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 4:04:58 AM
> Subject: Re: Console Servers
> 
> On Wed, 19 Sep 2018 at 11:54, James Bensley  wrote:
> 
> > I forgot to mention, it also depends how "out" of band your OOB needs
> > to be. We use Ciena 6500s for our DWDM infrastructure and they have a
> > wayside channel (like various DWDM vendors), so it's a separate
> > channel over the same physical fibre. For anything except a fibre cut
> > it seems to work.
> 
> This is gold standard for incumbents, as they don't have anything true
> out-of-band they can consistently buy, everything travels in their
> network at some point anyhow.
> 
> -- 
>   ++ytti

Re: Console Servers

[Owen DeLong]

> On Sep 19, 2018, at 01:50 , Saku Ytti  wrote:
> 
> Hey,
> 
>> In some DCs I've done mutual OOB swaps with other telcos in the same
>> suite, this is usually cheap or free (excluding the one time xconnect
> 
> We consciously decided to not ask or accept OOB swaps, because of fear
> that they might be provisioned outside processes which might make it
> impossible to repair them through normal commercial processes, which
> would potentially cost lot of downtime and NOC's resources.
> 
>> Sometimes the DC provider has an OOB connectivity service that uses
>> separate transit providers than we use and this often cheap too. Again
>> this is often bespoke per DC/colo provider though.
> 
> MRC quotes I have 400USD Equinix, 288USD Terramark, 300USD Coresite.
> Compared to PSTN which we see at 90-150USD. This makes me less
> inclined to focus on HW CAPEX and optimise for HW/SW that tooling and
> people already support.

Your PSTN figure doesn’t include the cost of the XC to bring that POTS line
into your suite/cage/cabinet.

Once you add that in, It looks to me like you probably exceeded the OOB service
price in each of the cases quoted above.

>> The most scalable solution I've been involved in so far is VDSL. Here
>> in the UK lots of DCs are on-net for the national incumbent VDSL
> 
> I think WAN indeed is very market situational, and if you need to
> support world, it is beneficial to have solution which supports many
> WAN options, without needing external boxes and external power bricks.
> We try to do just ethernet, but even that is already being provided as
> copper, fibre and in one market with PPPoE, all which are non-issues
> by going with Cisco. I do wish I had second option, I do wish JNPR SRX
> would support async serial ports.

https://opengear.com/products/cm7100-console-server 


Has SFP network ports.

Owen

Re: Console Servers

[David Kotlerewsky]

+++ for Opengear. Manages PDUs and UPS, some models have GPS and 4G LTE 
options. If additional intelligence is needed for a lights out facility, 
Uplogix has an interesting solution as well.



Sincerely,

David K.

Sent from my mobile device, please excuse any typos or brevity.

From: NANOG  on behalf of Erik Sundberg 

Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 7:27:49 PM
To: Jun Tanaka; nanog@nanog.org; Alan Hannan; NANOG
Subject: RE: Console Servers

Perle IOLAN SCS series is great. We have them all over the United States.



From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Jun Tanaka
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 10:52 AM
To: nanog@nanog.org; Alan Hannan ; NANOG 
Subject: Re: Console Servers

How about SMART CS series by Seiko solutions?
https://www.seiko-sol.co.jp/en/products/console-server/
--
Jun Tanaka - NetComBB/S.N.I



CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or 
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you.

Re: Console Servers

[Andrew Latham]

Note: newer Lantronix don't require Java for the config interface at all.

Also note that you can organize OOBM and in band management with
https://guacamole.apache.org/ if needed.

On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 12:47 PM Jeremy Bresley  wrote:

> On 9/19/18 04:40, James Bensley wrote:
> > On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 14:38, Alan Hannan  wrote:
> >> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
> >>
> >> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I
> used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and
> they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and
> IM7100.
> >>
> >> General specs I'm looking for are:
> >>
> >>   * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
> >>   * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
> >>   * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
> >>   * 1U form factor
> >>   * redundant AC power
> >>   * access physical serial connections via local port #
> >>   * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
> >>
> > Hi Alan,
> >
> > I'd be reluctant to deploy Cisco 2800s (or similar) today unless there
> > is a newer variant, is there an ISGv2 variant with serial connectivity
> > that Cisco will be supporting for a few more years? I know OpenGrear
> > are expensive but in my current outfit, they do "just work" and the
> > few we had at my old place, again they did "just work".
> The ISR G2s do have several options for async available as do the
> current generation ISR4Ks.
>
> The ISR G2s (1900/2900/3900s) can take the HWIC-8A, HWIC-16A, or SM-32A
> for 8/16/32 ports (SM-32A only in 2911 and higher due to being a Service
> Module form factor)
>
> Data sheet:
>
> https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/1800-2800-3800-series-16-port-async-high-speed-wan-interface-card/product_data_sheet0900aecd80274416.html
>
> The ISR G2 routers were all announced for End-of-Sale a while back, the
> modules for them were also announced recently, but are still available
> for sale until Feb 2019.  They'll still be supported until Feb 2024.
>
> EOL Announcement:
>
> https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/network-modules/eos-eol-notice-c51-741231.html
>
> The ISR 4Ks have the NIM-16A, NIM-24A, and the SM-X-64A (16/24/64
> ports).  The SM-X is only supported in 4331 and higher due to the SM-X
> form factor, the 16/24 port ones support at least 2 modules in all
> ISR4Ks even the low-end 4221.  The NIM-16A and the SM-X-64A can use the
> same cables as the older async modules, the NIM-24A requires the newer
> low profile cable for 1 of the ports (can use it for all ports).
>
> Data sheet:
>
> https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/4000-series-integrated-services-routers-isr/datasheet-c78-739968.html
>
> Talk to your favorite SE or partner for more info and pricing.
>
> Jeremy
>
> Disclaimer, I do work for Cisco, this info is provided to the list as it
> was requested and hoping to clarify what's available.
>
> My personal $0.02: I've also used some of the older Opengear boxes in
> the past, they're solid, and Opengear are very good with customer
> suggestions/feedback.  Lantronix SLCs work once you get them configured,
> but their configuration web interface was intolerably slow (page
> refreshes would eat whatever you input into a second option box you
> clicked to change) and their built-in terminal required Java.  Benefit
> of Opengear is the other "things" you can do with them since they're
> Linux based (TFTP/syslog/etc). Benefit of a Cisco ISR is they're
> straight IOS (G2s)/IOS-XE (4Ks) so any configuration tool that can
> handle a Cisco box can work with them.
>
>

-- 
- Andrew "lathama" Latham -

Re: Console Servers

[Jeremy Bresley]

On 9/19/18 04:40, James Bensley wrote:

On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 14:38, Alan Hannan  wrote:

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.

Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.

General specs I'm looking for are:

  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
  * 1U form factor
  * redundant AC power
  * access physical serial connections via local port #
  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)


Hi Alan,

I'd be reluctant to deploy Cisco 2800s (or similar) today unless there
is a newer variant, is there an ISGv2 variant with serial connectivity
that Cisco will be supporting for a few more years? I know OpenGrear
are expensive but in my current outfit, they do "just work" and the
few we had at my old place, again they did "just work".
The ISR G2s do have several options for async available as do the 
current generation ISR4Ks.


The ISR G2s (1900/2900/3900s) can take the HWIC-8A, HWIC-16A, or SM-32A 
for 8/16/32 ports (SM-32A only in 2911 and higher due to being a Service 
Module form factor)


Data sheet: 
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/1800-2800-3800-series-16-port-async-high-speed-wan-interface-card/product_data_sheet0900aecd80274416.html


The ISR G2 routers were all announced for End-of-Sale a while back, the 
modules for them were also announced recently, but are still available 
for sale until Feb 2019.  They'll still be supported until Feb 2024.


EOL Announcement: 
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/network-modules/eos-eol-notice-c51-741231.html


The ISR 4Ks have the NIM-16A, NIM-24A, and the SM-X-64A (16/24/64 
ports).  The SM-X is only supported in 4331 and higher due to the SM-X 
form factor, the 16/24 port ones support at least 2 modules in all 
ISR4Ks even the low-end 4221.  The NIM-16A and the SM-X-64A can use the 
same cables as the older async modules, the NIM-24A requires the newer 
low profile cable for 1 of the ports (can use it for all ports).


Data sheet: 
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/4000-series-integrated-services-routers-isr/datasheet-c78-739968.html


Talk to your favorite SE or partner for more info and pricing.

Jeremy

Disclaimer, I do work for Cisco, this info is provided to the list as it 
was requested and hoping to clarify what's available.


My personal $0.02: I've also used some of the older Opengear boxes in 
the past, they're solid, and Opengear are very good with customer 
suggestions/feedback.  Lantronix SLCs work once you get them configured, 
but their configuration web interface was intolerably slow (page 
refreshes would eat whatever you input into a second option box you 
clicked to change) and their built-in terminal required Java.  Benefit 
of Opengear is the other "things" you can do with them since they're 
Linux based (TFTP/syslog/etc). Benefit of a Cisco ISR is they're 
straight IOS (G2s)/IOS-XE (4Ks) so any configuration tool that can 
handle a Cisco box can work with them.

Re: Console Servers

[Mike Hammett]

Except for AT&T, most incumbents here aren't also mobile wireless providers, so 
that is an option in most cases for truly OOB. 




- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 

Midwest Internet Exchange 

The Brothers WISP 

- Original Message -

From: "Saku Ytti"  
To: "James Bensley"  
Cc: nanog@nanog.org 
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 4:04:58 AM 
Subject: Re: Console Servers 

On Wed, 19 Sep 2018 at 11:54, James Bensley  wrote: 

> I forgot to mention, it also depends how "out" of band your OOB needs 
> to be. We use Ciena 6500s for our DWDM infrastructure and they have a 
> wayside channel (like various DWDM vendors), so it's a separate 
> channel over the same physical fibre. For anything except a fibre cut 
> it seems to work. 

This is gold standard for incumbents, as they don't have anything true 
out-of-band they can consistently buy, everything travels in their 
network at some point anyhow. 

-- 
++ytti 

Re: Console Servers

[Saku Ytti]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2018 at 11:54, James Bensley  wrote:

> I forgot to mention, it also depends how "out" of band your OOB needs
> to be. We use Ciena 6500s for our DWDM infrastructure and they have a
> wayside channel (like various DWDM vendors), so it's a separate
> channel over the same physical fibre. For anything except a fibre cut
> it seems to work.

This is gold standard for incumbents, as they don't have anything true
out-of-band they can consistently buy, everything travels in their
network at some point anyhow.

-- 
  ++ytti

Re: Console Servers

[James Bensley]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2018 at 09:50, Saku Ytti  wrote:

> I think WAN indeed is very market situational, and if you need to
> support world, it is beneficial to have solution which supports many
> WAN options, without needing external boxes and external power bricks.
> We try to do just ethernet, but even that is already being provided as
> copper, fibre and in one market with PPPoE, all which are non-issues
> by going with Cisco. I do wish I had second option, I do wish JNPR SRX
> would support async serial ports.

Agreed, this is where the Cisco's shine. We can insert a mixture of
ADSL/VDSL, Ethernet and serial cards into the same box. It's a nice
all in one solution that supports all our various OOB connection types
and the console connectivity, and we could connect a IP management
switch.

I mentioned earlier that OOB inside a DC is different to in a
telephone exchange, and the OP didn't mention which was required. I
forgot to mention that a third kind of OOB is for kit that is outside.
If you need temperature hardened and DC powered OOB kit your options
dramatically shrink and it's worth considering if you're in that boat.

Cheers,
James.

Re: Console Servers

[James Bensley]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 15:26, Saku Ytti  wrote:
>
> On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 16:39, Alan Hannan  wrote:
>
> > Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I 
> > used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and 
> > they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and 
> > IM7100.
>
> Out of curiosity, how do you connect them? I see quotes around
> 200USD/MRC for ethernet in US, implying 12kUSD 5 year cost on just
> connectivity, add rack rental, and power and Opengear price is maybe
> 10% of TCO?
>
> Personally I still prefer Cisco, as not to have new operating system
> to automate. Add conserver to connect persistently to each console
> port, so that you get persistent logs from console to your NMS, and so
> that you can multiplex your console sessions.
> It's hard to recover the CAPEX benefit if you need OOB platform
> specific OPEX costs.
>
> --
>   ++ytti

Hi Saku,

I forgot to mention, it also depends how "out" of band your OOB needs
to be. We use Ciena 6500s for our DWDM infrastructure and they have a
wayside channel (like various DWDM vendors), so it's a separate
channel over the same physical fibre. For anything except a fibre cut
it seems to work.

Cheers,
James.

Re: Console Servers

[Saku Ytti]

Hey,

> In some DCs I've done mutual OOB swaps with other telcos in the same
> suite, this is usually cheap or free (excluding the one time xconnect

We consciously decided to not ask or accept OOB swaps, because of fear
that they might be provisioned outside processes which might make it
impossible to repair them through normal commercial processes, which
would potentially cost lot of downtime and NOC's resources.

> Sometimes the DC provider has an OOB connectivity service that uses
> separate transit providers than we use and this often cheap too. Again
> this is often bespoke per DC/colo provider though.

MRC quotes I have 400USD Equinix, 288USD Terramark, 300USD Coresite.
Compared to PSTN which we see at 90-150USD. This makes me less
inclined to focus on HW CAPEX and optimise for HW/SW that tooling and
people already support.

> The most scalable solution I've been involved in so far is VDSL. Here
> in the UK lots of DCs are on-net for the national incumbent VDSL

I think WAN indeed is very market situational, and if you need to
support world, it is beneficial to have solution which supports many
WAN options, without needing external boxes and external power bricks.
We try to do just ethernet, but even that is already being provided as
copper, fibre and in one market with PPPoE, all which are non-issues
by going with Cisco. I do wish I had second option, I do wish JNPR SRX
would support async serial ports.

--
  ++ytti

Re: Console Servers

[James Bensley]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 14:38, Alan Hannan  wrote:
>
> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
>
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
> portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
> fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.
>
> General specs I'm looking for are:
>
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>  * 1U form factor
>  * redundant AC power
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
>
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
> of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
>
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and 
> so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!
>
> Thanks!
>
> -alan

Hi Alan,

Ah the trusty Cisco solution - yep, used the 2800 series quite a bit
for exactly this, just last year even I was deploying them. 16-32
serial connections for OOB console, an Ethernet port for an OOB IP
MGMT switch and VDSL for the WAN connection. You can also use low end
Juniper SRX devices for this (SRX200 series) and a cheap console
server, I've used SRX + OpenGear (not so cheap) console server just
fine. You just need a couple of central firewalls to terminate some
IPSEC tunnels (again, cheap SRXs have served fine as the crypto
throughput is typically low).

Some companies don't deploy anything into production which is not
vendor supported, so the 2800s wouldn't fly in that case. We used to
buy 2800s off ebay and 2nd hand tin sellers. However, for lab work
some companies are more relaxed, this is an example 2800 config that I
use for console access in the lab if you want:
https://null.53bits.co.uk/index.php?page=hwic-16a-terminal-server
I'd be reluctant to deploy Cisco 2800s (or similar) today unless there
is a newer variant, is there an ISGv2 variant with serial connectivity
that Cisco will be supporting for a few more years? I know OpenGrear
are expensive but in my current outfit, they do "just work" and the
few we had at my old place, again they did "just work".

Cheers,
James.

Re: Console Servers

[James Bensley]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 15:26, Saku Ytti  wrote:
>
> On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 16:39, Alan Hannan  wrote:
>
> > Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I 
> > used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and 
> > they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and 
> > IM7100.
>
> Out of curiosity, how do you connect them? I see quotes around
> 200USD/MRC for ethernet in US, implying 12kUSD 5 year cost on just
> connectivity, add rack rental, and power and Opengear price is maybe
> 10% of TCO?
>
> Personally I still prefer Cisco, as not to have new operating system
> to automate. Add conserver to connect persistently to each console
> port, so that you get persistent logs from console to your NMS, and so
> that you can multiplex your console sessions.
> It's hard to recover the CAPEX benefit if you need OOB platform
> specific OPEX costs.

For cheap OOB connectivity that scales, I've had some success with
VDSL for OOB console server connections. Note that I didn't say
"great"...

In some DCs I've done mutual OOB swaps with other telcos in the same
suite, this is usually cheap or free (excluding the one time xconnect
cost, in suite xconnects often have no recurring charge) but you need
to track them all, often every swap is bespoke, providers come and go
so you need to replace them, if it's free you sometimes don't get
maintenance alerts ;)

Sometimes the DC provider has an OOB connectivity service that uses
separate transit providers than we use and this often cheap too. Again
this is often bespoke per DC/colo provider though.

The most scalable solution I've been involved in so far is VDSL. Here
in the UK lots of DCs are on-net for the national incumbent VDSL
provider (BT). It means we can have the same style of connection to
most DCs, same physical presentation, same cost, it eases the contract
management for renewing them as we have one supplier etc. The biggest
problem I've experienced with this approach is getting the copper line
to the rack, some DCs charge a small fortune as copper pairs to a rack
is a bespoke service for them, some do it regularly.

I've just moved on from an LLU provider in the UK, a CLEC in US
terminology, we had about 1200 PoPs around the UK most of which were
telephone exchanges. If you want OOB in a DC it's different to a
telephone exchange (well it is here), seeing as the OP hasn't
mentioned if OOB will be in DCs/telephone exchanges/sailing boats/etc.
I think it's worth pointing out tjat VDSL is often not available
within an exchange here and maybe it's the same in the US.

Cheers,
James.

RE: Console Servers

[Erik Sundberg]

Perle IOLAN SCS series is great. We have them all over the United States.



From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Jun Tanaka
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 10:52 AM
To: nanog@nanog.org; Alan Hannan ; NANOG 
Subject: Re: Console Servers

How about SMART CS series by Seiko solutions?
https://www.seiko-sol.co.jp/en/products/console-server/
--
Jun Tanaka - NetComBB/S.N.I



CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or 
previous e-mail messages attached to it may contain confidential information 
that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person 
responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby 
notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the 
information contained in or attached to this transmission is STRICTLY 
PROHIBITED. If you have received this transmission in error please notify the 
sender immediately by replying to this e-mail. You must destroy the original 
transmission and its attachments without reading or saving in any manner. Thank 
you.

Re: Console Servers

[Jun Tanaka]

How about SMART CS series by Seiko solutions?
https://www.seiko-sol.co.jp/en/products/console-server/
-- 
Jun Tanaka - NetComBB/S.N.I

RE: Console Servers

[Ryan Hamel]

I just use a Raspberry Pi with USB to Serial adapters or old servers with 
PCI(-E) 8 port serial cards. They make it so easy to adapt to any environment, 
and it phones home to my conserver (https://www.conserver.com/) gateway. The 
total cost for hardware is less than $150.

Ryan

From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Christopher Morrow
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:04 AM
To: Sameer Khosla 
Cc: nanog list 
Subject: Re: Console Servers

a vote for (so far so good) the nodegrid ZPE devices.

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 8:54 AM Sameer Khosla 
mailto:skho...@neutraldata.com>> wrote:
My favorite are the lantronix SLC console servers.  Fairly bullet-proof, they 
are one of those devices that just work.  Can usually be picked up used ~$300 
for 32 or 48 port varieties in good condition if you aren’t in the biggest 
hurry.

Sk.


From: NANOG mailto:nanog-boun...@nanog.org>> On Behalf 
Of Alan Hannan
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:37 AM
To: NANOG mailto:nanog@nanog.org>>
Subject: Console Servers

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.

Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.

General specs I'm looking for are:

 * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
 * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
 * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
 * 1U form factor
 * redundant AC power
 * access physical serial connections via local port #
 * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)

Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?

I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and so 
far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!

Thanks!

-alan

RE: Console Servers

[Matthew Huff]

If anyone is looking for a product that is reasonably priced and is still being 
produced/update, the ADVA Optical (aka MRV, aka Xyplex) console servers still 
work great

https://www.advaoptical.com/en/products/network-infrastructure-assurance/lx-series

From their specs:
4, 8, 16, 32 and 48 serial ports
V.92 modem option
Single or dual power
120-240VAC, 50/60Hz: 0.5A per system
36-72VDC dual feed: 0.75A per system
2 x Ethernet
NEBS Level 3 certified

Re: Console Servers

[Christopher Morrow]

a vote for (so far so good) the nodegrid ZPE devices.

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 8:54 AM Sameer Khosla 
wrote:

> My favorite are the lantronix SLC console servers.  Fairly bullet-proof,
> they are one of those devices that just work.  Can usually be picked up
> used ~$300 for 32 or 48 port varieties in good condition if you aren’t in
> the biggest hurry.
>
>
>
> Sk.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* NANOG  *On Behalf Of *Alan Hannan
> *Sent:* Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:37 AM
> *To:* NANOG 
> *Subject:* Console Servers
>
>
>
> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
>
>
>
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I
> used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and
> they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and
> IM7100.
>
>
>
> General specs I'm looking for are:
>
>
>
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>
>  * 1U form factor
>
>  * redundant AC power
>
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
>
>
>
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in
> place of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
>
>
>
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators
> and so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is
> appreciated!
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> -alan
>

RE: Console Servers

[Sameer Khosla]

My favorite are the lantronix SLC console servers.  Fairly bullet-proof, they 
are one of those devices that just work.  Can usually be picked up used ~$300 
for 32 or 48 port varieties in good condition if you aren’t in the biggest 
hurry.

Sk.


From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Alan Hannan
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:37 AM
To: NANOG 
Subject: Console Servers

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.

Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.

General specs I'm looking for are:

 * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
 * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
 * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
 * 1U form factor
 * redundant AC power
 * access physical serial connections via local port #
 * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)

Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?

I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and so 
far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!

Thanks!

-alan

Re: Console Servers

[Tim Pozar]

I have been deploying Cyclades TS3000 boxes that I can sometimes find
for about $75 each on eBay.  The down side is the firmware is a bit old
so the SSH daemon doesn't really support current ciphers.  The other
downside is the CLI ia a bit cumbersome.

Tim

On 9/18/18 8:43 AM, Andrew Latham wrote:
> Alan
> 
> There are maybe too many options out there. The used Cyclades are the
> lowest cost entry point. An ideal solution might
> be https://freetserv.github.io/ but some assembly required. I have
> Lantronix OOB solutions in my lab. Most modern servers come with some
> SOL options so I will assume this is for networking equipment. The
> modern HTML5 interfaces are great and really do drop all the legacy Java
> requirements.
> 
> On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 8:38 AM Alan Hannan  > wrote:
> 
> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
> 
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little
> later I used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using
> Opengear and they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I
> use the CM7100 and IM7100.
> 
> General specs I'm looking for are:
> 
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>  * 1U form factor
>  * redundant AC power
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
> 
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use
> in place of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
> 
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port
> concentrators and so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so
> your input is appreciated!
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -alan
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> - Andrew "lathama" Latham -

Re: Console Servers

[Andrew Latham]

Alan

There are maybe too many options out there. The used Cyclades are the
lowest cost entry point. An ideal solution might be
https://freetserv.github.io/ but some assembly required. I have Lantronix
OOB solutions in my lab. Most modern servers come with some SOL options so
I will assume this is for networking equipment. The modern HTML5 interfaces
are great and really do drop all the legacy Java requirements.

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 8:38 AM Alan Hannan  wrote:

> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
>
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I
> used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and
> they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and
> IM7100.
>
> General specs I'm looking for are:
>
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>  * 1U form factor
>  * redundant AC power
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
>
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in
> place of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
>
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators
> and so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is
> appreciated!
>
> Thanks!
>
> -alan
>


-- 
- Andrew "lathama" Latham -

Re: Console Servers

[Louis Kowolowski]

++ for Opengear. Been happily using them for >10yrs.


> On Sep 18, 2018, at 9:26 AM, Merritt, Channing via NANOG  
> wrote:
> 
> Look into OpenGear, we’ve tested out a couple different products that we’ve 
> implemented in remote offices to replace our 2800’s.
>  
>  
> From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Mike Hammett
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:49 AM
> To: Alan Hannan 
> Cc: NANOG 
> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Console Servers
>  
> I'm deploying new to me Cisco 2811s for console and OOB access.
> 
> 
> 
> -
> Mike Hammett
> Intelligent Computing Solutions
> 
> Midwest Internet Exchange
> 
> The Brothers WISP
> 
> From: "Alan Hannan" 
> To: "NANOG" 
> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:36:33 AM
> Subject: Console Servers
> 
> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
>  
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
> portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
> fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.
>  
> General specs I'm looking for are:
>  
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>  * 1U form factor
>  * redundant AC power
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
>  
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
> of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
>  
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and 
> so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!
>  
> Thanks!
>  
> -alan

--
Louis Kowolowskilou...@cryptomonkeys.org
Cryptomonkeys:   http://www.cryptomonkeys.com/

Making life more interesting for people since 1977

Re: Console Servers

[Matt Harris]

I'm a big fan of Raritan's DSX2 gear.  Access to serial via ssh or web
interface, and the web interface is HTML5, not Java, which is a big
advantage if you ever want to use that.  I use a bunch of them in
production as well and they've been rock solid when I've needed them for
managing Cisco, Juniper, Ubiquiti, and other gear via serial.

Take care,
Matt

Re: Console Servers

[William Herrin]

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 9:36 AM, Alan Hannan  wrote:
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 9:49 AM, Mike Hammett  wrote:

> I'm deploying new to me Cisco 2811s for console and OOB access.
>

Agree. 2811, 2850s and 3845's are dirt cheap on ebay, the nm-32a's (and
HWIC-16a's) work just like you remember in the 2611s and the 2800 series
has enough processor and a new enough IOS to handle ssh acceptably.

Regards,
Bill Herrin


-- 
William Herrin  her...@dirtside.com  b...@herrin.us
Dirtside Systems . Web: 

RE: Console Servers

[Merritt, Channing via NANOG]

Look into OpenGear, we've tested out a couple different products that we've 
implemented in remote offices to replace our 2800's.





From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Mike Hammett
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:49 AM
To: Alan Hannan 
Cc: NANOG 
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Console Servers



I'm deploying new to me Cisco 2811s for console and OOB access.



-
Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions<http://www.ics-il.com/>
<https://www.facebook.com/ICSIL><https://plus.google.com/+IntelligentComputingSolutionsDeKalb><https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-computing-solutions><https://twitter.com/ICSIL>
Midwest Internet Exchange<http://www.midwest-ix.com/>
<https://www.facebook.com/mdwestix><https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-internet-exchange><https://twitter.com/mdwestix>
The Brothers WISP<http://www.thebrotherswisp.com/>
<https://www.facebook.com/thebrotherswisp><https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSdfxQv7SpoRQYNyLwntZg>

  _

From: "Alan Hannan" mailto:a...@routingloop.com>>
To: "NANOG" mailto:nanog@nanog.org>>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:36:33 AM
Subject: Console Servers

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.



Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.



General specs I'm looking for are:



 * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45

 * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)

 * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)

 * 1U form factor

 * redundant AC power

 * access physical serial connections via local port #

 * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)



Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?



I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and so 
far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!



Thanks!



-alan

Re: Console Servers

[Christopher E. Brown]

2811DC or 2811AC
NM32
modem module
4 octals
32port RJ45 bulkhead



On 9/18/18 05:49, Mike Hammett wrote:
> I'm deploying new to me Cisco 2811s for console and OOB access.
> 
> 
> 
> -
> Mike Hammett
> Intelligent Computing Solutions 
> 
> Midwest Internet Exchange 
> 
> The Brothers WISP 
> 
> 
> *From: *"Alan Hannan" 
> *To: *"NANOG" 
> *Sent: *Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:36:33 AM
> *Subject: *Console Servers
> 
> I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.
> 
> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I
> used portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and
> they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100
> and IM7100.
> 
> General specs I'm looking for are:
> 
>  * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
>  * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
>  * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
>  * 1U form factor
>  * redundant AC power
>  * access physical serial connections via local port #
>  * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)
> 
> Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in
> place of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?
> 
> I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators
> and so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is
> appreciated!
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -alan
> 


-- 

Christopher E. Brown  desk (907) 550-8393
 cell (907) 632-8492
IP Engineer - ACS

Re: Console Servers

[Saku Ytti]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 at 16:39, Alan Hannan  wrote:

> Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
> portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
> fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.

Out of curiosity, how do you connect them? I see quotes around
200USD/MRC for ethernet in US, implying 12kUSD 5 year cost on just
connectivity, add rack rental, and power and Opengear price is maybe
10% of TCO?

Personally I still prefer Cisco, as not to have new operating system
to automate. Add conserver to connect persistently to each console
port, so that you get persistent logs from console to your NMS, and so
that you can multiplex your console sessions.
It's hard to recover the CAPEX benefit if you need OOB platform
specific OPEX costs.

-- 
  ++ytti

Re: Console Servers

[Alain Hebert]

What we did (and it fits our needs)

    SeaLevel (SeaLink Familly) with a Zotak.

    We got both Win/Linux/BSD debugging/monitoring station (with 2 
1Gbps, 1 MGMT 1 Mirror) and up to 16 serials ports in 1U.


    ( With some DYI )

    I'm sure you can get a better density if you check with them.

-
Alain Hebertaheb...@pubnix.net
PubNIX Inc.
50 boul. St-Charles
P.O. Box 26770 Beaconsfield, Quebec H9W 6G7
Tel: 514-990-5911  http://www.pubnix.netFax: 514-990-9443

On 09/18/18 09:36, Alan Hannan wrote:

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.

Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later 
I used portmaster and was less so. Recently I've been using Opengear 
and they work fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the 
CM7100 and IM7100.


General specs I'm looking for are:

 * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
 * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
 * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
 * 1U form factor
 * redundant AC power
 * access physical serial connections via local port #
 * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)

Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use 
in place of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?


I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port 
concentrators and so far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your 
input is appreciated!


Thanks!

-alan

Re: Console Servers

[Mike Hammett]

I'm deploying new to me Cisco 2811s for console and OOB access. 




- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 

Midwest Internet Exchange 

The Brothers WISP 

- Original Message -

From: "Alan Hannan"  
To: "NANOG"  
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:36:33 AM 
Subject: Console Servers 



I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager. 


Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy. A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so. Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high. I use the CM7100 and IM7100. 


General specs I'm looking for are: 


* 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45 
* nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight) 
* gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok) 
* 1U form factor 
* redundant AC power 
* access physical serial connections via local port # 
* access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have) 


Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost? 


I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and so 
far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated! 


Thanks! 


-alan 

RE: Console Servers

[Stan Ouchakov]

Depending on the budget, refurbished Cyclades off ebay do the job well. Very 
solid and proven products, we still run few dated from 2003 …

-Stan

From: NANOG  On Behalf Of Alan Hannan
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9:37 AM
To: NANOG 
Subject: Console Servers

I'd like your input on suggestions for an alternate serial port manager.

Long ago I used Cisco 2511/2611 and was fairly happy.  A little later I used 
portmaster and was less so.  Recently I've been using Opengear and they work 
fairly well but the price is fairly high.   I use the CM7100 and IM7100.

General specs I'm looking for are:

 * 8 to 48 or more rs232 serial ports on rj45
 * nice-to-have software selectable pinouts (cisco v. straight)
 * gig-e ethernet port (100mbps ok)
 * 1U form factor
 * redundant AC power
 * access physical serial connections via local port #
 * access physical serial connections via local IP alias (nice to have)

Can you recommend a serial port server/concentrator that I could use in place 
of opengear for a better value and/or lower cost?

I'm just ignorant about the current market for serial port concentrators and so 
far web searches have not revealed ideas, so your input is appreciated!

Thanks!

-alan

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Mike Hammett]

Some RF knowledge helps. Picking a carrier and equipment capable of operating 
on a low frequency will help ensure it works. 

IE: In the US, not T-Mobile. Everyone else has near-universal network under 900 
MHz. 




- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 

Midwest Internet Exchange 

The Brothers WISP 

- Original Message -

From: "James Milko"  
To: "Randy Carpenter"  
Cc: "Michael Starr" , "nanog"  
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 10:38:15 AM 
Subject: Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers 

How is cell reception in multi-story data centers/carrier hotels? Good 
enough for remote management? 


JM 

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Brian Loveland]

We have >100 AT&T units deployed and about 35 Verizon units and have had
virtually no issues with call home via openvpn.  All opengear ACM7xxx
series.

We are using machine to machine plans from marketplace.att.com. Used to be
a great deal, the new plans are still “fair” and better than standard
consumer/business prepaid plans. We average around 100MB/mo/device, we
could probably improve that with some effort on keepalives etc.

We have had coverage issues in some sites but in the colos we are in it has
been fine.
In colo we usually also take “house” IP due to XC costs blowing out any 3rd
parties, and I have done DSL on PSTN XC before, but even in those cases the
LTE is still useful particularly for turn up where the colo house ip rarely
“just works”.

On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 12:56 PM Randy Carpenter 
wrote:

>
> Static IPs are useful for connecting to the "home" site. If our main
> office is offline for some reason, it is nice to be able to quickly connect
> via cellular OoB.
>
> I agree that other solutions (dial-home, or private network) make sense
> for satellite sites.
>
> thanks,
> -Randy
>
>
> - On Feb 7, 2018, at 12:47 PM, Chris Marget ch...@marget.com wrote:
>
> > Lots of references to static IPs from cellular providers for OoB access
> in
> > this thread. Why? It seems like a dial-home scheme is an obvious solution
> > here, whether it's Opengear's Lighthouse product, openvpn, or whatever...
> >
> > Do you all have a security directive that demands whitelisted IP
> addresses?
> >
> > I've got a handful of OoB systems that dial home via cellular, but only
> > after they've been poked by SMS. Opengear's auto-response facilitates
> that,
> > and I've done it with EEM (to start DMVPN) on Cisco ISRs.
> >
> > The main headache I've run into is that it's tough to get a SIM card from
> > ATT that does data and SMS: ATT's M2M plans don't allow SMS, and moving
> the
> > SIM from an iPhone to "a computer" causes the SMS capability to vanish.
> My
> > ATT OoB boxes (used only where Verizon is reported to not work) are
> online
> > all the time.
>

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Saku Ytti]

On 8 February 2018 at 06:48, Michael Rave  wrote:

> At all my sites I use Air Console with an OOB IP connection from another ISP. 
> Sometimes this is free since it is barely being used or I’m being charged a 
> very small amount . Other times I exchange an OOB IP connection. So I get one 
> from them and they get one from me through my network.

While I appreciate being thrifty, managing these good-will trades can
be challenging. The person who you collaborated with may be gone,
there may be no formal way to file complaint or escalate, so you may
find MTTR times being very high or even need to come up with entirely
new solution at arbitrary time.
I would definitely optimise for having real contract and circuit #
from provider who has normal product. Your situation may differ, but
in my situation MRC is dominated by fibre leases and electricity, and
IP-OOB WAN cost is immaterial.


-- 
  ++ytti

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Michael Rave]

> On 6 Feb 2018, at 23:34, Michael Starr  wrote:
> 
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
> for this group.

At all my sites I use Air Console with an OOB IP connection from another ISP. 
Sometimes this is free since it is barely being used or I’m being charged a 
very small amount . Other times I exchange an OOB IP connection. So I get one 
from them and they get one from me through my network.


Regards,

Michael Rave
Crossivity

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[David Hubbard]

We get static IP's to facilitate monitoring that the OOB remains online (easier 
to hit a non-changing IP than getting false positives for outage between an IP 
change and DDnS or whatever other type of update needs to happen), and it also 
makes IPSec VPN easy if your roving sysadmins know what IP to VPN into for a 
given site, when DNS may or may not be working.


On 2/7/18, 12:49 PM, "NANOG on behalf of Chris Marget" 
 wrote:

Lots of references to static IPs from cellular providers for OoB access in
this thread. Why? It seems like a dial-home scheme is an obvious solution
here, whether it's Opengear's Lighthouse product, openvpn, or whatever...

Do you all have a security directive that demands whitelisted IP addresses?

I've got a handful of OoB systems that dial home via cellular, but only
after they've been poked by SMS. Opengear's auto-response facilitates that,
and I've done it with EEM (to start DMVPN) on Cisco ISRs.

The main headache I've run into is that it's tough to get a SIM card from
ATT that does data and SMS: ATT's M2M plans don't allow SMS, and moving the
SIM from an iPhone to "a computer" causes the SMS capability to vanish. My
ATT OoB boxes (used only where Verizon is reported to not work) are online
all the time.

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Randy Carpenter]

Static IPs are useful for connecting to the "home" site. If our main office is 
offline for some reason, it is nice to be able to quickly connect via cellular 
OoB.

I agree that other solutions (dial-home, or private network) make sense for 
satellite sites.

thanks,
-Randy


- On Feb 7, 2018, at 12:47 PM, Chris Marget ch...@marget.com wrote:

> Lots of references to static IPs from cellular providers for OoB access in
> this thread. Why? It seems like a dial-home scheme is an obvious solution
> here, whether it's Opengear's Lighthouse product, openvpn, or whatever...
> 
> Do you all have a security directive that demands whitelisted IP addresses?
> 
> I've got a handful of OoB systems that dial home via cellular, but only
> after they've been poked by SMS. Opengear's auto-response facilitates that,
> and I've done it with EEM (to start DMVPN) on Cisco ISRs.
> 
> The main headache I've run into is that it's tough to get a SIM card from
> ATT that does data and SMS: ATT's M2M plans don't allow SMS, and moving the
> SIM from an iPhone to "a computer" causes the SMS capability to vanish. My
> ATT OoB boxes (used only where Verizon is reported to not work) are online
> all the time.

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Chris Marget]

Lots of references to static IPs from cellular providers for OoB access in
this thread. Why? It seems like a dial-home scheme is an obvious solution
here, whether it's Opengear's Lighthouse product, openvpn, or whatever...

Do you all have a security directive that demands whitelisted IP addresses?

I've got a handful of OoB systems that dial home via cellular, but only
after they've been poked by SMS. Opengear's auto-response facilitates that,
and I've done it with EEM (to start DMVPN) on Cisco ISRs.

The main headache I've run into is that it's tough to get a SIM card from
ATT that does data and SMS: ATT's M2M plans don't allow SMS, and moving the
SIM from an iPhone to "a computer" causes the SMS capability to vanish. My
ATT OoB boxes (used only where Verizon is reported to not work) are online
all the time.

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[chris]

I've been pretty successful doing this with VZW as they were the only ones
that I was able to get a static ip from fairly easily. Talked to tmo and
sprint a few times and their people would say it was possible but could
never get it done for whatever reason. It works well as long as you have
good signal, some buildings might be a little tough if theres alot of
obstruction.

hope this helps

chris

On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 9:34 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:

> Hello NANOGers,
>
>
>
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
> for this group.
>
>
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> Mike
>

RE: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Mann, Jason]

At the sites, are you installing external antennae's?

-Original Message-
From: NANOG [mailto:nanog-boun...@nanog.org] On Behalf Of Kenneth McRae
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 10:25 AM
To: Michael Starr 
Cc: nanog@nanog.org
Subject: Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

Yes.  I use Opengear with great success.  I use Verizon, T-Mobile & AT&T 
prepaid service depending on the area.  When integrated with Opengear 
Lighthouse, the console server is fully manageable via cellular service.

Kenneth

> On Feb 6, 2018, at 6:34 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:
> 
> Hello NANOGers,
> 
> 
> 
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular 
> service as a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data 
> centers? If not, what are the alternatives? If so, are there any 
> recommendations for pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this 
> is too trivial a question for this group.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your time,
> 
> Mike

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Kenneth McRae]

Yes.  I use Opengear with great success.  I use Verizon, T-Mobile & AT&T 
prepaid service depending on the area.  When integrated with Opengear 
Lighthouse, the console server is fully manageable via cellular service.

Kenneth

> On Feb 6, 2018, at 6:34 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:
> 
> Hello NANOGers,
> 
> 
> 
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
> for this group.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your time,
> 
> Mike

RE: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Edwin Pers]

Pretty bad bordering on unusable most of the time (steel and concrete buildings 
after all). 
I'm only setup in buildings we own, so I've been able to put antennas up on the 
roof for this.
At our more remote sites where there's no cell service at all I have POTS 
lines. KVMoIP is a bit painful at 56k, but it's usable.

Ed

-Original Message-
From: NANOG [mailto:nanog-boun...@nanog.org] On Behalf Of James Milko
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 11:38 AM
To: Randy Carpenter 
Cc: Michael Starr ; nanog 
Subject: Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

 How is cell reception in multi-story data centers/carrier hotels?  Good enough 
for remote management?


JM

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[David Hubbard]

Going to depend entirely on the data center.  I've got OpenGear boxes deployed 
in a variety of places, using Verizon LTE with static IP.  One Level 3 colo I'm 
in I had to buy a high gain directional antenna to get the signal strength up 
above -80, where below that you're lucky to get a reasonable SSH experience, 
but then I'm in a Switch colo in Vegas that has dramatically more customers and 
equipment,  and I get almost double that signal strength, inside a rack, inside 
a metal heat chamber, with the built-in antennas.  Just depends on the 
structure and proximity to a tower I'm guessing.

On 2/7/18, 11:39 AM, "NANOG on behalf of James Milko"  wrote:

 How is cell reception in multi-story data centers/carrier hotels?  Good
enough for remote management?


JM

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Pennington, Scott]

My $dayJob experience with cell to console in the larger locations has been 
poor, verging on unacceptable.



From: NANOG  on behalf of James Milko 

Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 11:38 AM
To: Randy Carpenter
Cc: Michael Starr; nanog
Subject: Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

How is cell reception in multi-story data centers/carrier hotels?  Good
enough for remote management?


JM

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[James Milko]

 How is cell reception in multi-story data centers/carrier hotels?  Good
enough for remote management?


JM

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Randy Carpenter]

We use the Oopengear ACM and IM series and they are great. My only current 
issue is that Verizon does not allow for static IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously. 
You can have one or the other, but not both. *facepalm*

One major point of advice with the Opengear: make sure the firmware is up to 
date. There have been some issues with cellular stability in some releases.

thanks,
-Randy


- On Feb 6, 2018, at 9:34 AM, Michael Starr ekim9...@gmail.com wrote:

> Hello NANOGers,
> 
> 
> 
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
> for this group.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your time,
> 
> Mike

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[James Cutts]

Michael, Let me know what you end up doing.  This is definitely something
I've considred for our DC

On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 11:16 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:

> Good call out — I didn’t put enough effort into searching previous
> conversations.
>
>
>
> > On Feb 6, 2018, at 1:59 PM, Andrew Latham  wrote:
> >
> > Almost exactly a year ago https://mailman.nanog.org/
> pipermail/nanog/2017-February/090293.html
> >
> >  historical notes first.>
> >
> >> On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 8:34 AM, Michael Starr 
> wrote:
> >> Hello NANOGers,
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular
> service as
> >> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> >> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> >> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a
> question
> >> for this group.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks for your time,
> >>
> >> Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > - Andrew "lathama" Latham -
>



-- 

*James Cutts*

Line2  | Director of Operations | (415) 223-5822 | Text
Me 
Do business on a second line.
iOS® , Android™
, Mac OS® ,
and *Windows® *

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Michael Starr]

Good call out — I didn’t put enough effort into searching previous 
conversations. 



> On Feb 6, 2018, at 1:59 PM, Andrew Latham  wrote:
> 
> Almost exactly a year ago 
> https://mailman.nanog.org/pipermail/nanog/2017-February/090293.html
> 
>  notes first.>
> 
>> On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 8:34 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:
>> Hello NANOGers,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
>> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
>> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
>> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
>> for this group.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks for your time,
>> 
>> Mike
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> - Andrew "lathama" Latham -

Re: Console Servers & Cellular Providers

[Andrew Latham]

Almost exactly a year ago
https://mailman.nanog.org/pipermail/nanog/2017-February/090293.html



On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 8:34 AM, Michael Starr  wrote:

> Hello NANOGers,
>
>
>
> I am wondering if people still use console servers with cellular service as
> a disaster out-of-band management solution in your data centers? If not,
> what are the alternatives? If so, are there any recommendations for
> pay-as-you-go cellular service? Apologies if this is too trivial a question
> for this group.
>
>
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> Mike
>



-- 
- Andrew "lathama" Latham -