[PLUG] Headless servers

david yrn4dsl at attbi.com
Thu Nov 21 03:28:01 UTC 2002


On Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:36:54 -0800
Galen Seitz <galens at seitzassoc.com> wrote:

> > Hey,
> > 
> > I remeber someone mentioning a while back about not having a server
> > complete until it had a serial connection (I believe it was Mr.
> > Heinlein) and I was wondering how this worked out exactly?  What is the
> > serial connection for?  And, is it supposed to take the place of a
> > mouse, keyboard and monitor, or something else?
> > 
> 
> All of the above.  Or is that none of the above?  By running a serial 
> console, there is no need for a keyboard, monitor, mouse, or video card.
> Most management of the system is done via ssh.  For things that can't be
> handled over the network, there is a serial connection which allows
> access via getty/login.  The other end of the serial connection could
> be a simple as a plain old ascii terminal connected to a mechanical
> switch that allows selecting among multiple systems.  A fancier setup
> might use some sort of serial port concentrator.
> 
> It should be noted that the BIOS of typical PC motherboards is lacking
> in this department.  Usually server/high end motherboards are the only
> ones that support BIOS interaction via a serial port.  If anyone knows
> of inexpensive exceptions to this rule, I'd like to hear about them.
> 
> galen
> 

This review mentions the tyan mpx board has a bios setting to redirect video output to the serial port.

http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2002q4/mpx-boards/index.x?pg=2

I hear it's about $200, more expensive than your basic board, but it sounds great for a 'nix box. Anybody have one? Opinions?




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