[PLUG] Serial console with grub

[CurtisE]

>Okay, I was raised on windows and missed out on all this cool oldtimey
stuff.
>What do you do with this? How does the remote part work, is it connected by
a
>serial cable to another PC? Is this meant to replace a NIC?

Um, no it's not intended to replace the NIC.

Here's a nice example of it's usefulness I did in a previous life (old
timer) while administering a bunch of UNIX servers.

I connected the serial console port of each server to a terminal server,
which is accessible via a remote access server (dial-in, reverse telnet).
Then when my pager goes nuts while I'm at the beach (or a ball game or
whatever) because one of the servers crashed and needs a manual fsck or
something else requiring console access, I connect my PDA to my cell phone
or an analog line, dial in and fix the problem with minimal disruption to
the activity at hand.

Of course, you could also hang a modem directly on the serial port, but then
you would have to dial in even when you're in the office, or swap the modem
our for a VT100 terminal.

Either way, copious security measures are in order when hanging your servers
off of the public telephone network...

CurtisE
Unemployed SIG member :(