[98977] in RedHat Linux List
RE: hardware question for gurus
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Charles Galpin)
Wed Nov 11 13:45:22 1998
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:42:51 -0500
From: Charles Galpin <cgalpin@lighthouse-software.com>
To: Michael Jinks <redhat-list@redhat.com>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Sorry I should have said standalone. They are currently planning on
implementing this with an HC11 board (w/ motorolla 68000 chip). Ithink it
needs to be smaller and cheaper than a 386 though.
===== Original Message from Michael Jinks <redhat-list@redhat.com> at
11/11/98 1:12 pm
>Charles Galpin wrote:
>>
>> Guys
>>
>> I friend is trying to do something with a custom solution that I'm sure is
>> available as COTS product.
>>
>> Simply put, he needs something that can control two serial (DB9) ports with
>> one input. the input can be anything widely available like an ethernet
>> (RJ45) port, another serial port (or parallel).
>>
>> I imagine it would be very similar to a multi printer port, but w/ serial
>> ports.
>
>If I understand your meaning, there are lots of "multiport" cards that
>you can drop into a PC expansion slot. They range in size from 2 or 4
>serial ports up to very many, I think I've seen some that were
>expandable up to 256 ports. The cards can be "smart" (needs a driver,
>does some funny on-board switching that the main system doesn't have to
>deal with) or "dumb" (just shows up as more tty's on the system, use
>"setserial" to initialize). Most of them have the option of using a
>single IRQ for all of the ports, which is handy on AT style systems.
>
>In the "smart" multiport category, I like Cyclades cards for ease of use
>and long-standing Linux cooperation. We use an 8-port one on our PPP
>dialup system and I've never had a complaint about it.
>
>If your friend needs a free-standing unit that's nothing more than a
>couple serial ports and a control line, then I'm useless. He might be
>best off with a little overkill, like a 386 with a netcard and some
>serial ports running a minimal Linux, rather than trying to build a
>strictly adequate solution from scratch for more money and trouble.
>
>--
>Michael Jinks
>mailto:michael@twopoint.com http://www.twopoint.com
>Systems Administrator, Two Point Conversions, Inc.
>
-- Charles Galpin <cgalpin@lighthouse-software.com>
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