Serial to IP Converters

Serial-IP converters (more commonly referred to as Terminal Servers or Device Servers) are hardware devices which convert serial asynchronous data from an RS232, RS422 or RS485 port to TCP/IP or UDP packets. These converters or adapters are typically found in 1 port or multiport models and include a 10/100 Ethernet network interface.

Compact Serial-IP Device Servers 1, 2 and 4 serial ports 10/100 Ethernet RS232, RS422 or RS485 interface DB9, RJ45 and DB25 connectors   1U Rack-mount Serial-IP Terminal Servers 4 to 48 serial ports 10/100/1000 Ethernet RS232, RS422 or RS485 interface

What to consider when choosing a Serial to IP converter

Serial async start/stop characters in 7, 8 or 9 bit formats are received by the Serial-IP converter and then encapsulated in TCP or UDP packets. These packets are then forwarded to a remote software based IP socket application, another serial device connected to a peer Serial-IP converter on the network or to a virtual COM port redirector software utility like Perle’s TruePort.

Perle’s TruePort COM port redirector appears as a local serial COM or TTY port to a serial application including RS232 control signals. This enables a serial based application to communicate directly over an Ethernet connection without changes to the application software. TruePort is supported on all major operating systems such as Windows, Vista, Linux, Solaris, SCO and Unix and is included with all purchases of Perle IOLAN serial-IP converters (Terminal Servers).

In order to ensure that the original serial data stream is received by the other end point, it is important that these Serial-IP converters have sufficient processing power to handle high throughput serial data. They must also have the ability to properly packetize the data onto TCP/IP packets.

Perle’s IOLAN Terminal Server and Device Server family with TrueSerial technology greatly exceeds the performance of all other similar Serial-IP converters on the market and provides the most authentic serial connection across a TCP/IP Ethernet network. A wide selection of models are available in both compact and rack sized form factors.