[clug] Console Server recommendations?

[Robert Edwards]

On 08/03/11 08:11, Nathan O'Sullivan wrote:
> On 07/03/11 19:46, jm wrote:
>>
>> if your able to define the problem a little more we might be able to
>> give some recommendations. I'd also be interested in hearing about
>> other brands out there.
>
> We have two racks in a commercial datacentre stuffed with servers,
> switches, firewalls, routers, etc. We normally access a management VLAN
> via VPN, and configure the devices over IP.
>
> However we recently had a misconfiguration incident that left the
> network inaccessible, so what I'm looking for is a backup method to
> access that hardware remotely that is not dependent on the network; the
> obvious (only?) answer being to hook up the serial port interface on all
> our hardware.
>
> We can get a phone line installed, so the plan at the moment is to run
> an ADSL modem into a Opengear device.
>
> Regards
> Nathan

What about a small laptop (Asus etc. with Flash drive), a 3G modem and
a couple of USB-serial adaptors?

Use DynDNS, then you can log into the laptop over SSH and then into
your front-line routers and switches over the USB-serial links.

Once you get your front-line stuff back, you can start logging in
remotely to fix other stuff up.

Also, put the laptop onto your internal network so that you can
directly connect to other internal systems (including some with serial
connections to other internal switches and routers etc.)

All assuming you get good 3G signal in your data centre and that your
3G plan is cheaper than an ADSL plan with phone line rental etc.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.