I've seen this implementation before.  At my last job, it was a two fold
solution.   A remote power boot device and a serial console.  As for
inexpensive, that's a whole other issue.  What some people consider
expensive doens't match others.

If you are looking for a virtual reset button, you should only need to
look at the remote power boot devices.  Something like this: 
http://www.avocent.com/web/en.nsf/Content/Cyclades_PM

There are definately others out there.  We picked this one because of
the amp load per circuit and costs.

Serial Consoles are a great thing depending on the application and need.
If you are managing a set of servers that you can't drive to, or
response times are imperative; this can create a suitable solution.
This can also be used for remote monitoring during installs via
tftpboot/kickstart/diskless image selection.

The flipside:  This creates additional security considerations.  You've
just created an additional access point to your machine/s, and aa access
point to power remotely.  A definate consideration to be applied to the
deivce/s you implement.

Mark



On Sat, 2006-09-02 at 18:32 -0500, Alex wrote:
> Sorry if this is a little OT, but I thought it might be an appropriate 
> question for this audience...
> 
> Has anyone had much experience with RS232 (serial) <-> Ethernet  adapters? 
> Or what do you use to remotely manage a Linux server?
> 
> I'm looking for something inexpensive that will give me remote access to 
> the  serial port  and hopefully the capability to manually reboot the 
> machine (e.g. push the reset button).
> 
> I've recently seen how GRUB and the Linux console can be directed to a 
> serial port,  and I was quite impressed...
> 
> Thanks
> 
> -Alex


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