A gadget like this, (for example the Tibbo DS100 Serial Device Server) is nothing more than a standard serial port, that can be located anywhere in your network. It can be accessed by any computer in the network by installing a "Virtual COM Port" in the operating system - drivers for Linux are available. This way, the serial port is no longer stuck with the computer, it can be anywere in the (inter)net - very useful (yes, even forwading through routers and stuff possible!).
In my case, the ZM box is very far from the location where I'd put a panel with LEDs and Switches - and if Serial is the way to go, this Serial Device Server would be my solution.
Check it out: http://www.tibbo.com/ds100.php Extensive documentation is available.
Applications: alarm visualisation, ptz, remote controlling, external event trigger capturing...
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Serial over LAN - Serial Device Server
Serial over LAN - Serial Device Server
v1.25.0 + Ubuntu Linux 12.04 Server
Re: Serial over LAN - Serial Device Server
You may access your serial port over LAN with the software solution http://www.eltima.com/serial-over-lan.html. It doesn't need any hardware devices to work with your existing COM ports, and may even create virtual ones.