Following in the footsteps of Rocketport comes the next generation in serial port communications. RocketPort is the line of serial port expansion cards and peripherals that has been used with PCs for years. The manufacturer of RocketPort, Comtrol Corporation, is now introducing a multi-port serial Internet server that provides Internet connectivity to legacy serial port systems. DeviceMaster Real-Time Server (RTS) is a server appliance platform that allows developers to extend Web services to systems with serial ports.

At the core of DeviceMaster resides Comtrol's multi-port serial management ASIC. The ASIC is Comtrol's proprietary high-performance serial processor for sustained, simultaneous data throughput at 230 Kbps across all ports. The server appliance offers 4, 8, or 16 serial ports through DB9 or RJ45 connections, depending upon the model. It supports RS232, RS422, RS485, or socket protocol communications. DeviceMaster runs on a 44MHz ARM7 processor and uses the eCos embedded operating system from Red Hat. The server comes standard with 8MB of RAM and 4MB of nonvolatile flash storage. LAN connectivity is provided through a 10/100Base-T RJ45 port.

DeviceMaster contains a system watchdog with automatic reset to keep the system alive if the software crashes. The server has a Web-based interface for setup and configuration that is accessed through standard browsers. Remote access can be achieved through Comtrol's NS-Link software that accesses DeviceMaster's ports or through telnet sessions using Comtrol's SocketServer software. DeviceMaster includes SNMP for system monitoring and a SMTP email client for event or alarm notification.

DeviceMaster is a development platform that allows programers to customize the software for their applications. Development tools include the Comtrol's DeviceMaster developer kit and GNU tools from Red Hat. The system contains a customizable Web server that supports Java applets. Events for email notification can also be modified per system specifications.

Pricing and Availability

The DeviceMaster RTS is currently available. Model pricing:

(For access to more than 4,500 other hands-on product reviews on all variety of wired and wireless appliance and consumer devices, go to the iAppliance Web Portal Page. )