ESL Settings for Control & Security
What are LAVA Ether-Serial Links?
Ether-Serial Links are network devices that install serial ports on Ethernet networks. The serial ports in an Ether-Serial Link send information to an Ethernet, by converting it to an IP-compatible format and sending it out the Ethernet side of the Ether-Serial Link. Data moving the other direction, from the Ethernet side of the Ether-Serial Link to the serial device, undergoes the same process in reverse.
Ether-Serial Links are among the most versatile of network devices. With them, you can access and control serial ports across a network, as simply and easily as if they were right in the box of the PC beside you. You can extend a serial connection to any distance, even across the Internet.
Ether-Serial Links assign IP addresses to their serial ports, making it possible for a single PC to control many serial devices, or for many PCs to access a particular serial device. The ports of a Lava Ether-Serial Link are conventional serial and Ethernet ports.
Extend the reach of serial ports, without a network
An Ether-Serial Link can be connected directly to a PC's network interface card using an Ethernet crossover cable. In this configuration, a one-to-one relationship exists between the Ether-Serial Link and a PC. The serial ports of the PC have the serial ports of the Ether-Serial Link added just as if they were in the PC itself. The 50 foot cable limitation of RS-232 no longer exists!
Access and control a serial device across a network
Here's where things get interesting. An Ether-Serial Link makes it possible to attach a serial device anywhere on a LAN or WAN. Simply attach the serial device you wish to network-enable onto an Ether-Serial Link, and connect the Ether-Serial Link to a network switch or hub. Install the Ether-Serial Link driver on any system that you want to use to access the Ether-Serial Link's ports. This driver installs the Lava Discovery Protocol, which can automatically detect and access Ether-Serial Links on the same network segment. Supply a gateway address, and Ether-Serial Links can be made available to the LAN or WAN as a whole, across switches or routers. Access to the Ether-Serial Link's serial ports can be restricted to specific network users, or open to the network as a whole. Whatever a PC could do through its internal serial ports? controlling factory equipment, operating POS devices, or monitoring a security system, for example - can now be done transparently across a network.
Access and control a serial device across the Internet
The power of the serial networking really shows when it is used to tap the infrastructure of the Internet or a company intranet. In this application, Ether-Serial Links are configured with both IP and gateway addresses, and become available anywhere the Internet reaches. Now that's power! Connect Simply.
LAVA Computer MFG headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, designs and manufactures serial parallel I/O boards and Ethernet-to-serial device servers widely used in Point of Sale, Kiosk, Gaming, Industrial Automation, Hospitality, Telecom, Security & Access Control industries. With well over a million LAVA products built into workstations, servers, and POS systems since 1984, LAVA I/O boards and Ether-Serial Links are trusted by resellers, distributors, OEM's and system builders in over 47 countries worldwide. Designed for lifetime performance, each LAVA connectivity link is individually tested and covered by the LAVA Lifetime Warranty.
(Ether-Serial Link)
LAVA Ether-Serial Links are versatile networking devices. The following tips can help you get the most from our serial device servers:
1) LAVA Ether-Serial Links configure easily with one IP address assigned to the unit in the following ways:
2) LAVA Ether-Serial Link configurations can be password protected using LAVA's easy-to-use embedded web server. In addition to password protecting the Ether-Serial Link unit, each serial port can be password protected individually.
3) Serial ports on LAVA Ether-Serial Links are seen as true native COM ports by Windows. They appear in Window's Device Manager just like the internal COM ports in your PC. That means that ANY Windows software that communicates with a COM port (and even DOS applications running in Windows) can communicate with the COM ports of a LAVA Ether-Serial Link - even over the Internet!
4) The LAVA Ether-Serial Link is easily configured for operation across a gateway and over the Internet with its intuitive WAN port configuration.
5) If you have a serial-only printer and Ethernet-enabled ECRs, the ECRs can share the serial printer because the LAVA Ether-Serial Link can make that printer a network device.
6) LAVA Ether-Serial Links can be assigned a "friendly name", as well as an IP address. For networked checkouts for example, this name can be used to easily identify a checkout station with a name such as "Back door" or "Susan's checkout counter."
7) LAVA's unique port binding technique keeps LAVA Ether-Serial Link ports connected, even on networks with non-static IP addresses. Ether-Serial Links come in RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, and TTL configurations, with DB-9 or RJ-45 serial connectors.
8) LAVA Ether-Serial Links are available with optional wall mount (DIN rail) brackets. This versatility makes warehouse setup, for instance, a breeze! Connect Simply.
Settings for Control & Security
Ether-Serial Link Security
As network devices, Ether-Serial Links need to be secure from inadvertent changes, disruptions, and malicious interference. To that end, LAVA Ether-Serial Links have a password-protected administration allowing Links on a network to be secured against unauthorized network configuration. Essential device settings, such as device name, IP address, network submask, and gateway address, cannot be changed without authorized access. At the same time, users who need to access and configure individual ports on a link can do so, with the administrator's permission. The Ether Link administrator can allow a user to modify their port's operating mode and parameters as needed. In the event that multiple users are accessing the same port, the administrator can also lock the port against being reconfigured or reset, thus preventing one user from overriding or locking out another user.
The administrator can set access to the ports of an Ether-Serial Link to restrict use to a trusted set of IP addresses, configurable in a wide number of ways. Ports can be disabled, enabled, and reconfigured on a port-by-port basis without disrupting activity on the link as a whole.
Port Modes
Ether-Serial Links have multiple modes of operation. As well as operating as basic remote serial ports, Ether-Serial Links have a number of other port modes that permit them to be used in numerous versatile, powerful, and cost-reducing ways. Users who want to communicate with an Ether-Serial Link across gateways or routers can easily configure a port on an Ether-Serial Link to operate in RFC 2217 mode. This allows serial port configuration commands and serial data to be sent to an Ether-Serial Link using the RFC 2217 framework for serial port control over Telnet. For those not familiar with RFC 2217 (the Telnet COM Port Control Option), the text of the actual RFC (Request For Comments) is available at 
www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2217.html or at any number of other sites.
An Ether-Serial Link can also act as a raw client or raw server. These are non-driver modes, allowing connections to be established regardless of operating system. In these modes the Ether-Serial Link acts as either a client, initiating communication with a pre-assigned server, or as a server, presenting its data to a client request.
Modem mode lets two Ether-Serial Links effectively operate as a modem connection across a network, a WAN, or the Internet. This "modem eliminator" mode can provide great savings by avoiding the high costs of long distance or leased phone lines.
A pair of Ether-Serial Links can also operate as a long serial cable when in cable extender mode. In this mode, the Links are connected to the PC by their serial ports and the Ethernet side of the Links forms the "cable.?
RAS server mode provides an interface to shared network based interconnections (Remote Access Services).
The variety of modes available to Ether-Serial Link users now enables these devices to fill almost any serial-to-network adapter need.
Bound to Connect: Robust Ether-Serial Link connectivity
One of the strongest features of LAVA Ether-Serial Links is virtually invisible, most of the time. The driver for LAVA Ether-Serial Links lets PCs "bind" to the ports on the Ether-Serial Link in a number of ways. Port binding establishes a particularly robust connection between a PC and the port on an Ether-Serial Link. The market for "serial port hubs," "serial device servers," "serial terminal servers," "Ethernet-serial converters," and other similar devices is crowded with "me-too" devices. It's safe to say that most of these devices will work. But questions to ask prior to making a purchase include:
LAVA's solution answers these needs via virtual port binding.
Basically, port binding works like this. Data travelling between the COM port on an Ether-Serial Link and the PC communicating with that port needs a TCP/IP connection. This connection involves sending data to the IP address and desired port of the Ether-Serial Link. That's fine, as long as the IP address is valid, and matches an actual Ether-Serial Link. But "what if the IP addresses of the network are not static (as when IP addresses are supplied by a DCHP server)" In such cases, the PC needs other methods to establish and maintain communications with its target, because a given device cannot be counted on to always have the same IP address.
Fortunately, other device identifiers exist on networks. One is the MAC (Media Access Control) address of a device. All network devices, regardless of type, size, or manufacturer, must have a MAC address, a number that is unique for every device. In addition, LAVA Ether-Serial Links also have user-definable device names. These identifiers, in conjunction with LAVA "Discovery Protocol," enable all LAVA Ether Serial Link devices on a subnet to respond to a LAVA-specific broadcast issued by a PC (with the LAVA driver running). Think of this as a hail to all Ether Serial Links in the neighborhood - they will reply with their IP address, MAC address, and device name.
Once the PC has received answers to its hail, LAVA software can match up the information it receives with the information already known, according to binding "rules" that the user of an Ether-Serial Link can set up. These rules will enable a connection to be re-established if, for example, IP addresses on a network change, or one Ether-Serial Link is replaced with another intended to serve in the same capacity. The bottom line is LAVA Ether-Serial Links intelligently maintain their connections. Connect Simply.
LAVA Computer MFG headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, designs and manufactures serial parallel I/O boards and Ethernet-to-serial device servers widely used in Point of Sale, Kiosk, Gaming, Industrial Automation, Hospitality, Telecom, Security & Access Control industries. With well over a million LAVA products built into workstations, servers, and POS systems since 1984, LAVA I/O boards and Ether-Serial Links are trusted by resellers, distributors, OEM's and system builders in over 47 countries worldwide. Designed for lifetime performance, each LAVA connectivity link is individually tested and covered by the LAVA Lifetime Warranty.
Ether-Serial Links: Ether-Serial Nitty Gritty
Why continue to use dedicated PCs as serial port servers? LAVA Ether-Serial Links (remote serial port devices for Ethernet networks) provide a simple way to deploy serial ports over Ethernet for cost savings and increased reliability. Programs that communicate using serial ports on a PC can also directly access and control the serial ports of a LAVA Ether-Serial Link. Specialized networking software or program re-design is not required.
Serial ports once limited by the 50-foot cable requirements of RS-232 serial communications can be deployed at any distance, even over the Internet. Understanding the technology and design of LAVA Ether-Serial Links makes it clear why these devices are the "best of breed" among serial-to-Ethernet technologies.
An Ether-Serial Link is the most versatile and hassle-free means of sending serial communications over an Ethernet, while eliminating the obstacles to network serial technology. Other network serial products require:
The LAVA Ether-Serial Link makes none of these demands on system integrators as it is engineered to be intuitive for end users. While many network serial products are rooted in Ethernet, LAVA takes a different approach. Serial ports inside LAVA Ether-Serial Links are designed from the outset to be serial ports - so they appear as native COM ports to the end user.
What's the difference? An Ethernet interface to a serial port isn't the same as a remote serial port accessible over Ethernet. While it's true that once implemented, both technologies will do the same thing, it's also true you can hammer nails with a screwdriver.
Serial ports in a LAVA Ether-Serial Link are true native COM ports. They appear in Windows Device Manager as internal COM ports, just like in your PC now.
ANY software that needs to communicate with a COM port can communicate with the COM ports of an Ether-Serial Link. This means even software running in a DOS window in Windows. Few, if any other serial-to-Ethernet devices can make that claim.
At LAVA, we view the Ethernet in the same way as the PCI bus - not just as a transport medium for data transmission, but as a tool to make hardware to Connect Simply.
For this reason, LAVA Ether-Serial Links use the Ethernet in much the same way as serial port expansion cards use Plug and Play on the PCI bus. PCs running LAVA Discovery Protocol can automatically detect Ether-Serial Links on their Ethernet subnet. With proper permissions, they can be configured to use those serial ports, with no manual input of network parameters or device settings.
Communications Reliability & Security. Data exchanges between the PC and the LAVA Ether-Serial Link are sent through the network over TCP/IP. The TCP protocol, by design, provides reliability for the data transfer. LAVA's data transport protocol adds additional data integrity, along with a specialized layer for an added dimension of security. Data integrity is also handled by the nature of serial connection itself, with its attendant error checking, flow control, handshaking, and buffering.
Configuration and control commands are handled by the LAVA Discovery Protocol. This protocol has a 24-byte security key that secures access to LAVA Ether-Serial Links, preventing unauthorized admission. By design, LAVA Discovery Protocol commands expect acknowledgments, guaranteeing integrity and successful execution, despite the fact they use UDP'a protocol that does not expect acknowledgment of receipt of data.
At the application level, any required encryption or special data handling procedures can be easily implemented. In addition, standard Internet security procedures can be introduced on the network side as required.
The LAVA Discovery Protocol & the Ether-Serial Link Driver Explained. Ether-Serial Links carry data over the Ethernet using standard Ethernet packets and TCP/IP. LAVA Ether-Serial Links use another type of communication?the LAVA Discovery Protocol to exchange instructions and manage information from PCs. This protocol, in combination with the Ether-Serial driver, makes LAVA Ether-Serial Links powerful yet easy to use.
The LAVA Discovery Protocol is installed as a part of the driver that handles communications between Ether-Serial Link ports and programs running on a computer (such as POS software, industrial control software, or any software that communicates with a serial port). Everything between the software accessing a serial port and the Ether-Serial Link is handled by the LAVA driver transparently. Your operating system sees the PC as having additional serial ports. These ports operate just like any other serial port.
The LAVA Discovery Protocol can:
The structure of the LAVA Discovery Protocol also provides "device permanence" for Ether-Serial Link configurations. Once it has been installed, a LAVA Ether-Serial Link will maintain or re-acquire its operating parameters through a power on/off cycle. Similarly, a PC will retain its "installed" Ether-Serial Link ports after rebooting.
Establishing Communications. LAVA Ether-Serial Link communications use a defined Ethernet packet structure to communicate between host PCs and a LAVA Ether-Serial Link. Initial contact is made when a PC broadcasts a message to MAC addresses that are recognized. This broadcast will invoke a response from any LAVA Ether-Serial Link that accepts broadcast from an issuing PC. Just as with a PCI board, an Ether-Serial Link has a LAVA Vendor ID and a Device ID. In its response to the initial broadcast, the Ether-Serial Link will include identifiers. Communications between the Ether-Serial Link and the PC can be established.
The LAVA Discovery Protocol Datagram. A LAVA Discovery Protocol datagram is an Ethernet packet that can contain such information as the identities of the sender and recipient of the datagram. It includes commands to:
Using the LAVA Discovery Protocol, an Ether-Serial Link can provide detailed information about:
In addition to a Windows-based management interface for Ether-Serial Links, many of the capabilities of the LAVA Discovery Protocol are presented in HTML pages served by an embedded web server in the Ether-Serial Link. This powerful and easy-to-use interface is available anywhere a TCP/IPs connection to the Ether-Serial Link exists. Connect Simply!
LAVA Computer MFG headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, designs and manufactures serial parallel I/O boards and Ethernet-to-serial device servers widely used in Point of Sale, Kiosk, Gaming, Industrial Automation, Hospitality, Telecom, Security & Access Control industries. With well over a million LAVA products built into workstations, servers, and POS systems since 1984, LAVA I/O boards and Ether-Serial Links are trusted by resellers, distributors, OEM's and system builders in over 47 countries worldwide. Designed for lifetime performance, each LAVA connectivity link is individually tested and covered by the LAVA Lifetime Warranty.
Ether-Serial Links are network devices that install serial ports on Ethernet networks. The serial ports in an Ether-Serial Link send information to an Ethernet, by converting it to an IP-compatible format and sending it out the Ethernet side of the Ether-Serial Link. Data moving the other direction, from the Ethernet side of the Ether-Serial Link to the serial device, undergoes the same process in reverse.
Ether-Serial Links are among the most versatile of network devices. With them, you can access and control serial ports across a network, as simply and easily as if they were right in the box of the PC beside you. You can extend a serial connection to any distance, even across the Internet.
Ether-Serial Links assign IP addresses to their serial ports, making it possible for a single PC to control many serial devices, or for many PCs to access a particular serial device. The ports of a Lava Ether-Serial Link are conventional serial and Ethernet ports.
Extend the reach of serial ports, without a network
An Ether-Serial Link can be connected directly to a PC's network interface card using an Ethernet crossover cable. In this configuration, a one-to-one relationship exists between the Ether-Serial Link and a PC. The serial ports of the PC have the serial ports of the Ether-Serial Link added just as if they were in the PC itself. The 50 foot cable limitation of RS-232 no longer exists!
Access and control a serial device across a network
Here's where things get interesting. An Ether-Serial Link makes it possible to attach a serial device anywhere on a LAN or WAN. Simply attach the serial device you wish to network-enable onto an Ether-Serial Link, and connect the Ether-Serial Link to a network switch or hub. Install the Ether-Serial Link driver on any system that you want to use to access the Ether-Serial Link's ports. This driver installs the Lava Discovery Protocol, which can automatically detect and access Ether-Serial Links on the same network segment. Supply a gateway address, and Ether-Serial Links can be made available to the LAN or WAN as a whole, across switches or routers. Access to the Ether-Serial Link's serial ports can be restricted to specific network users, or open to the network as a whole. Whatever a PC could do through its internal serial ports? controlling factory equipment, operating POS devices, or monitoring a security system, for example?can now be done transparently across a network.
Access and control a serial device across the Internet
The power of the serial networking really shows when it is used to tap the infrastructure of the Internet or a company intranet. In this application, Ether-Serial Links are configured with both IP and gateway addresses, and become available anywhere the Internet reaches. Now that's power! Connect Simply.
LAVA Computer MFG headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, designs and manufactures serial parallel I/O boards and Ethernet-to-serial device servers widely used in Point of Sale, Kiosk, Gaming, Industrial Automation, Hospitality, Telecom, Security & Access Control industries. With well over a million LAVA products built into workstations, servers, and POS systems since 1984, LAVA I/O boards and Ether-Serial Links are trusted by resellers, distributors, OEM's and system builders in over 47 countries worldwide. Designed for lifetime performance, each LAVA connectivity link is individually tested and covered by the LAVA Lifetime Warranty.
