I haven't used one of those in a decade but I really liked the minis I had back then.
Glad to see they're still around. How is the software these days? On Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 8:01 PM Mel Beckman via NANOG <[email protected]> wrote: > We use the AirConsole line extensively: > > <https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole> > Airconsole - the only Serial Adaptor you'll ever need - Get Console Shop< > https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole> > get-console.com<https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole> > [get-console-shop-logo-1429842958.jpg]< > https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole> > > Tiny little brickey things that you can link together using daisychain > cables and physical sliding interlocks. All the connections are RS45, so > you do need various kinds of adapters, but those are available. Natively it > speaks Cisco, but we have cables for HP and Juniper that interoperate as > well. > > Internally, it’s basically a linux box. You get SSH pass-through to > virtual serial ports with, so just SSH to a pre-configured TCP port number > to connect to a given serial port in an AirCosole stack. A web GUI is nice > for configuration. Plus it supports Wi-Fi connectivity, so they are super > handy for portable use with tablets and smart phones too. Very well > thought-out features such as unattended buffering, and dozens of knobs and > dials. > > Airconsole Enterprise Server (previously "Private Server") is a VM > appliance designed to provide NOC operators with remote “NASA Screen” > infrastructure, creating a simple aggregation point for remote serial > console access. I’ve used that in SCADA deployments for direct control > outside of WonderWare.  > > We are constantly finding new tricks these things can do. > > -mel beckman > > On Dec 17, 2025, at 4:52 PM, Dan Mahoney via NANOG <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hey there folks. > > Dayjob has historically used USB TTY pods attached to real BSD machines to > talk to our cisco consoles, with the amazing benefit that with a program > like Vixie's rtty (or conserver) you can also capture the output of those > consoles in real-time, and perhaps use that data to identify a connected > device. > > As a bonus, because the rackmount devices have real DE-9's on them, it > means they work with any kind of cable you get (not just your standard rj45 > cisco rollover like you might get with a Cyclades thing -- and you don't > have to come up with the weird-ass mappings for rj45-serial like you might > need like our ME4012 NAS (the serial cable is a stereo plug), our smart > power strips (it's either a stereo plug, or an rj12), or something like an > older brocade switch (it's a DE9, but it's friggin ODD, and I think it may > also be the wrong gender). > > It also means, since you're running a real OS, you have patches as long as > the OS is supported (so you're not stuck with "gee it only speaks > rsa1024"), versus some EOL appliance. But it's also 2u, and since we're > recently buying a lot of Dell hardware, that's Super Overkill for a dell, > so I'm evaluating maybe just going "Appliance". > > If we stick with an existing unix box for this, I'd want something with > proper IPMI/OOB (so Rpi is out) but maybe the dumbest, shallowest-depth > atom64 supermicro you can find, in the event you need to do a reinstall or > catch a hung system. > > Are there things that other folks are using that are "easy" to work with > that you've found to have Long firmware lives, decent warranties and low > hassle? Does anything these days actually have DE9s on it? > > -Dan > > (You may have also seen my note earlier about the Cisco ASR920, which has > RS232 pins in a USB-A header. No, not via a PL2032 chip inside the host > that provides a virtual serial...direct txd/rxd/gnd/cts etc, on the USB > pins. I've seen things you people would't believe) > _______________________________________________ > NANOG mailing list > > https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/5VV3B6CVSW3KVIFFU4GOF5V5FAI625IG/ > _______________________________________________ > NANOG mailing list > > https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/VSUHLK3NNXAY6L3XMMIURWBJRMCDCVHQ/ _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/2P4F46CBCHKW763W5MCE4JIOZS6LXBQG/
