Avocent Cyclades for Terminal, access servers

After going through the surprisingly easy initial configuration of the Avocent Cyclades TS-3000 Terminal server, I have to say, if you are still using a Cisco 2509 or 2511 for accessing your devices, you, one, overpaid for you access server, likely, and two, you are missing out on an insane amount of features, you could have. Add to that, the fact that it's a 48 port device, and the value is through the roof.

I picked two scratch and dent TS-3000's on Ebay for around $40 a piece, roughly 1/2 to 1/3 what a Cisco 2509 generally goes for. The CLI based initial config wizard to put it on my LAN was simple and took all of 5 minutes.

Because you use a serial rollover cable to connect to equipment, I can build my own custom cables, for around $0.25 a piece.

The web-based config options are extensive, as are the the security options.

All in all, a great device. There are a few people selling literally hundreds of them on Ebay right now. I may pick up 5-10 for the racks I sell.

And with the TS-3000, I can go back to running Putty Manager. I was missing my tabs...(I think I'll likely be ponying up for a Secure CRT license, though.

http://www.vandyke.com/