OpenCS

From Hackstrich
Revision as of 12:38, 3 October 2012 by SarahEmm (talk | contribs) (Very rough initial notes.)
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OpenCS will be an open-hardware (and open-source) console server project.

Specs

  • 1U rack-mount chassis with 8 slots (4 front, 4 back) connected by an internal backplane
    • Slots will ideally all be equivalent so users can put power/ports where they want them, can be filled with:
      • a PSU (up to two per system)
      • a controller (up to two per system)
      • an expansion module (lets you chain more chassis, up to two per system)
      • an I/O module (gives you serial ports)
  • SPI between modules with module select pins shifted by one by the backplane for each slot* Fully-expanded base chassis would be two PSUs, two controllers, and 4x 8-port RS232 modules.
  • Controllers will have an Ethernet port and two serial ports on them (console/aux)
    • Probably PIC32-based makes the most sense
  • I/O modules will have up to 8 serial ports on them
    • Probably CPLD-based makes the most sense