HWIC

[peteryouhannafawzy]

what is the difference between HWIC-16A and HWIC-2T ?

[Peter Paluch · Accepted solution]

Hi,

HWIC-16A is a module that provides 16 asynchronous serial ports of the EIA-232 type, with each port carrying 230.4 Kbps at most. This device is most commonly used for terminal server applications or for high-density analog modem termination. The terminal server is the most common application - it allows you to access remote devices' consoles through telnetting to a terminal server and selected TCP port - each TCP port corresponds to a unique line on this HWIC-16A module. This module contains two special connectors. These connectors are used to attach a so-called octal cable (also called "octopus") that allows you to connect up to 8 devices. With HWIC-16A module, two octal cables would be used to connect to the consoles of managed devices.

See more here:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/1800-2800-3800-series-16-port-async-high-speed-wan-interface-card/product_data_sheet0900aecd80274416.html

HWIC-2T is a module that contains two asynchronous/synchronous serial ports. Depending on the cable type, this module supports various serial standards: X.21, V.35, RS-232, RS-449, EIA/TIA-530. The maximum communication speed in synchronous mode is 8 Mbps. This module was most often used in WAN connectivity applications - leased lines running HDLC, PPP, or Frame Relay access.

See more here:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/high-speed-wan-interface-cards/datasheet_c78-491363.html

Best regards,
Peter

[peteryouhannafawzy]

Thanks peter so much , but i need to know what is the terminal server ?

[Peter Paluch · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Okay. Imagine you have a lab with routers and switches, and you have connected a topology to practice on. Ideally, you should connect to these routers and switches via their consoles to maintain administrative access all the time, even when you do a mistake. You could use Telnet or SSH directly to these devices, but this type of access would only be available if the topology is configured and running properly.

So there is another solution. Take one extra router and put the HWIC-16A card into it. Then, use the octal cable to connect this HWIC-16A card to individual console ports of the devices in your lab topology. Finally, configure the router with the HWIC card with a public IP address and connect it to the internet. Note - there are no network connections between this extra router and your network topology, just console connections going from the HWIC card to the consoles of the individual devices in the lab.

Now (obviously, some small additional configuration would be needed), when you telnet to the IP address of the extra router and its TCP port 2001, you will automatically start talking to whatever device is connected to the HWIC card, line 1. When you telnet to the IP address of the extra router, TCP port 2002, you will automatically start talking to the device connected to the HWIC card, line 2, and so on, up to the TCP port 2016.

The extra router described here is the terminal server. Its purpose is to allow you to access consoles of other managed devices through connecting to the IP address of the terminal server and a specific TCP port that is tied to a particular line and thus the device connected to that line. There are dedicated terminal/console server devices from different vendors (HP, Lantronix, Tripplite, Opengear, Digi, ...), or you can build them using the HWIC-8A and HWIC-16A modules and Cisco routers.

Best regards,
Peter

[peteryouhannafawzy]

Peter Thanks a lot for your help , its really helpful.