SUMMARY: VT100 compatible terminal question

[Daniel E Singer]

On Thu, 23 May 2002, Daniel E Singer wrote:

 > Is anyone out there still using vt100-type dumb terminals to
 > monitor/manage stuff like network equipment?
 >
 > If so, what's a good source for such devices?  Cost *is* a factor.
 >
 > If not, what are your alternatives?  (I know you can often use telnet
 > or similar, but that doesn't help in certain situations.)

Many thanks to all those who replied! (see below)  I'll answer most
with a single <COMMON REPLY>, below, and will answer individually
(also below) to a few.

<COMMON REPLY>
Many people provided info about using PC serial ports, and/or using
terminal servers.  These are useful info, but not the solution I'm
looking for.  I just want dumb terminals for plunking down in any of
various network closets, to use occasionally to, eg, change a switch
port setting.  Don't want disk drives, operating systems, network
access (already have that), etc.  But thanks, some of this info might
be useful down the road, or to others on this list.
</COMMON REPLY>

On Thu, 23 May 2002, Jim Ray wrote:

 > From: Jim Ray <jim@neuse.net>
 > To: Daniel E Singer <des@cs.duke.edu>,
 >      NC*SA Email List <ncsa-discussion@ncsysadmin.org>
 > Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 16:14:51 -0400
 > Subject: RE: VT100 compatible terminal question
 >
 > COM port on a PC does the same thing and is a whole lot easier to set up.
 >
 > However, if you're really interested, I used to have two in my Charlotte
 > warehouse that I can give you...

Thanks!  I'll email you off list to see if we can arrange something.


On Thu, 23 May 2002 burnett@pobox.com wrote:

 > On Thu, 23 May 2002, Daniel E Singer wrote:
 >
 > > If so, what's a good source for such devices?  Cost *is* a factor.
 >
 > Seen them at the state surplus auctionhouse in Raleigh, try the Duke
 > surplus, try ham radio group fests in the area, or try ebay.

Maybe I'll try Duke Surplus.

 > > If not, what are your alternatives?  (I know you can often use telnet
 > > or similar, but that doesn't help in certain situations.)
 >
 > I seem to remember a UNIX or DOS app that take over a standard PC's
 > serial port and emulates a VT100. Don't remember anything other than its
 > existence, though.
 >
 > Check the teminal emulator questions& answers on
 >
 > http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
 >
 > for lots of info.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Thu, 23 May 2002, Steven Hartman wrote:

 > I have a similar need, but for embedded systems as part of our accelerator
 > control system. I generally get by by taking a laptop to the system and
 > running kermit. In a pinch, I use an old sparc classic (no monitor or
 > keyboard) running a stripped down install of solaris 7 plus sshd which I
 > can leave connected to the terminal port of the system (good when I can't
 > physically be in a radiation controlled area and I need to see what's
 > going on). Ssh to the classic and then run 'tip'.
 >
 > Since this is fairly common in accelerator controls environments, follow
 > this thread to get a few terminal server recommendations:
 >
 > 	http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/tech-talk/2001/msg00603.php

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Thu, 23 May 2002, Jay Cuthrell wrote:

 > Sadly, yes... you didn't say how many but let's assume more than a few...
 >
 > 1) Router -- Cisco router with octal/rj45 cables to serve as a terminal server with ssh enabled
 >
 > 2) Appliance -- http://www.digi.com/ia/products/termsrvrs.html
 >
 > 3) Browser -- http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/management/confmanagement/swc/
 >
 > 4) DIY -- Linux box with digi board (see link from 1)
 >
 > 5) Cheap -- cables from free COM port(s) of Wintel (Hyperterm), Linux (minicom) to devices
 >
 > Oh... and don't forget that you need to enforce a log out policy for your consoles and explore all security options for each physical and logical connection.  Console access is how most password recovery procedures take place for network equipment.  While useful, this adds risk if you don't harden each connected host and secure the perimeter to the terminal server. Think of any TCP/IP connected concentrator as another way to get into a room with the hardware. YMMV.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Thu, 23 May 2002, Stephen Joyce wrote:

 > It's possible to build a serial console-server out of a PC or sparc box
 > and a multiport serial card (I used one from Aurora,
 > http://www.auroratech.com).  I have set up one of their 16-port cards with
 > screen and some creative scripts to manage a cluster of sun servers.  It's
 > been awhile, but I think that the aurora card was around $1K.  PC's are
 > cheap, and if you prefer unix, Sun Blade 100's are under $1K, and used
 > Ultra 5's and 10's can be had for $250 or less.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Thu, 23 May 2002 Stephen.Schaefer@emis-intl.com wrote:

 > I'd like to make a plug for the free software conserver (BSD flavor
 > license, see conserver.com).  We use Cyclades Cyclom-Y serial ports on a
 > generic PC running Linux.  The linux box is configure not to require
 > *any* network services, so that when, say, the name server is down, you
 > can still get to the name server's console.  Network access (when the
 > network is up) to the linux box is via ssh, and only admins get accounts
 > there - and again, everything is local, so that you can still get in
 > when the NIS server or the NFS server is down.  Conserver keeps logs of
 > all the serial line traffic, and I can't express how fabulous that is
 > for things that would fly off the screen otherwise, either due to
 > verbose other stuff or due to its having appeared at 8:00pm and gotten
 > slowly shifted off.  I haven't had any trouble with
 > xterm/gnome-term/linux console emulation of the VT100.
 >
 > There are gotchas with break signals and suns; tell me that those are
 > the intended target, and I'll spew on that topic as well.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.

Also, from the conserver CHANGELOG file:

version 7.1.0 (Jul 26, 2001):
        ...
        - Client -l option totally broken in 7.0.3 - patch by Daniel E.
          Singer <des@cs.duke.edu>

;^)  We already use conserver where we have need for something like that!


On Fri, 24 May 2002, Stephen Dorsett wrote:

 > We typically end up with various orphaned laptops as they become
 > obsolete. They work fine for this purpose, but they are more
 > complicated (and failure-prone) than what Dan is asking for. I was
 > actually in this same situation, looking for the same hardware a
 > couple of years ago, and was shocked by what dumb terminals sell for
 > new. I guess there is limited market for them so the economy of scale
 > is blown.
 >
 > One laptop and a A-B (C-D-E-F...) switcher could do the trick. I love
 > simple, inexpensive solutions.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Fri, 24 May 2002, Cooke, Brent wrote:

 > Dan, I've an old Raritan ConsoleSwitch I used with a Wyse terminal for
 > accessing Sun consoles in the Data Center.  It uses a DB25 port for the
 > terminal and has twelve RJ45 ports for the consoles.
 >
 > I've replaced it with a terminal server, so let me know if you're
 > interested.

See <COMMON REPLY> above.


On Fri, 24 May 2002, Tom wrote:

 > I saw an ad in the back of the current issue of Nuts and Volts (tabloid size
 > hobbyist electronics mag, can find at Borders) for these Zenith terminal
 > keyboards that have a VGA connector and a serial port. You attach a VGA monitor
 > and you have a VT100 compatible terminal. They were new-old-stock (old stuff,
 > new in the box) and cost $49.

Tom, this sounds like a really nice solution - we have lots of old, working VGA
monitors around!  Can you provide any more details from the add, such as a
URL or phone number?


Again, thanks to all who replied.

Dan

-- 
Daniel E. Singer, System Administrator
Dept. of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham NC 27708 USA
	"Non cognosco. In hoc tantum laboro."