Serial Tunneling over IP and Working with Remote Ports

Serial port tunneling is a technique used to connect serial devices over a network using a process called encapsulation. In serial communication, devices and applications transfer data in packets. Encapsulation transforms a serial data packet into a TCP/UDP packet by adding a small amount of identifying information in a TCP/UDP header.

Once the header has been added, the packet is encapsulated and can be transmitted over a TCP/UDP connection. When the packet reaches its destination, the header is removed and the serial packet is received by a device or application. The process of adding a header to a serial packet, sending the packet, and removing the header is called serial tunneling.

There are software and hardware solutions for serial port tunneling.

Software tunneling solutions use a host computer as a connection point between the serial device and the network. Unlike hardware connectors, software solutions are cheaper, and will not experience specific hardware issues. We suggest Serial to Ethernet Connector as a practical way to create a serial tunnel.

On the other hand, hardware solutions pass serial data packets through a separate device where they are encapsulated before being transmitted over the network. Another device removes the encapsulation header before delivering the data packet to a serial device or application.

A software solution like Serial to Ethernet Connector offers more flexibility than a hardware alternative and does not require any changes to the existing network infrastructure. The software creates virtual serial ports that emulate physical serial interfaces. Computers can easily communicate with remote serial devices and applications without installing additional hardware.

Serial to Ethernet Connector (SEC) will work in various situations to address multiple business requirements. It is a true cross-platform solution that supports Windows and Linux systems, enabling you to maximize the value of your serial peripheral devices.

The following are several uses for Serial to Ethernet Connector.

Share a serial device on your network by installing SEC on the computer attached to the device. Other computers can access the device over the network via the virtual serial port as if directly connected to the peripheral.

Two applications on different computers that cannot be connected via a null-modem cable can communicate with SEC. The software is installed on both machines and the applications can transmit data over the virtual serial ports SEC creates without a physical cabled connection.

Remote serial devices can be controlled locally using SEC. With the software installed on the local computer, you can access the remote device over Telnet and enjoy the same functionality as with a direct physical connection.

Before you start setting up Serial to Ethernet Connector, you will need to find some information about your network and the devices or software that will be connected. Following are some tips on finding the information you need to configure SEC.

• You need the IP address of the local machine connected to the serial device so it can be contacted over the network. The Windows ipconfig command or the ip command on Linux systems will provide the computer’s IP address.
  
  
• The IP port used by the application needs to be available. You can check its status with the Windows netstat command or the ss command in most Linux distributions.
  
  
• When connecting to a device you can consult its user manual to find parameters such as baud rate, parity, and stop bits.

Typically, two types of hardware solutions are utilized to create a serial tunnel. These solutions have different capabilities and can address various usage scenarios.

Device servers - A device server is a piece of hardware that allows serial data to be sent over the network. One device server is connected to the device or application that is sending serial data. The device server encapsulates the data and transmits it over the network. It is received by another device server that is connected to the receiving device or application. The second device server removes the TCP/UDP header and delivers serial data to the receiver.

Serial hubs - A serial hub is used to connect multiple serial devices to a local area network (LAN) to facilitate the sending of serial data over a wired or wireless Ethernet connection. Serial hubs can be used to manage the serial ports on firewalls and other infrastructure components. They also provide a solution for connecting computers to remote network-connected serial devices with the same functionality as a direct physical connection.

If there is a computer close to the device that you need to tunnel, then a software solution is always preferable. Only go for hardware if the serial device is located far enough away, or in an environment not suitable for computers, since some tunneling hardware can work in broader temperature ranges. Overall, Serial to Ethernet Connector should be suitable in most situations.