Digi Passport

Digi International's Digi Passport is a combined serial console server and KVM appliance for the remote access and management of data center servers and network devices. The Linux-based appliance ships with from 4 to 48 RJ-45 RS-232 ports, which facilitate direct connectivity to the serial console ports of Cisco and Sun devices (via CAT5 cabling) or to the console ports of other devices via separately available adapters.

Connectivity to the device from the PC workstation is through standard Ethernet connections (the device includes two Ethernet ports and can be connected to via standard Ethernet or dial-up) and the workstation interfaces with the serial console applications of the target machines via the vendor's RealPort software, Com Port redirection software that is included with the device purchase and enables a machine (multiple O/S platforms are supported, including Windows) to launch serial communications over their standard Ethernet connections. Multiple such serial communication channels are supported over a single TCP/IP connection.

In addition to serial console connections, the device also includes the vendor's freeKVM technology, which enables the workstation to connect to the graphical desktops of target servers over Ethernet connections. Such remote sessions are enabled via Microsoft RDP, Virtual Network Computing (VNC), XManager for UNIX, "... as well as the ability to define other methods."

Other features of the device include:

- Support for IPv6

- Support for Perl scripting

- Optional dual power supplies

- Optional internal modem

- Web-based GUI or CLI management

- ALOM, ILOM, and IPMI support

- Configurable E-Mail/Pager alerts, and SNMP traps

- SSL connectivity

- RADIUS, TACACS+, LDAP, Active Directory and Kerberos authentication support

- Auditing and logging capabilities

- Automatic Device Recognition, which allows the console to poll devices and auto-configure itself with the target device's name and OS version

New features in the latest release of Digi Passport include additional support for Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC), Integrated Lights Out (iLO), and Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH); support for Server Technology's CDU switched power management; the ability to automatically determine the baud rate of discovered devices and autoconfigure freeKVM; and support for additional virtualized server platforms with freeKVM.

Digi Passport is available now; street pricing ranges from about $1,150 to $3,870. Contact Digi International for further information.