In the IT field, COM-port servers (also known as serial-port servers) are devices that transport data between TCP and serial connections. There are many applications.
- Networking of devices with a serial interface but without a network interface.
- Remote maintenance of devices that can only be configured via a serial interface.
- Virtual extension of a connection between two devices with serial interfaces over a network.
Most devices feature a serial interface that can be used to carry out configurations or to connect to a modem. In some cases the interface is used for neither of these scenarios, and yet a COM port server is required somewhere in the vicinity of the device. In such cases the device can use its serial interface as a COM-port server, thus saving the investment in an external COM-port server. Where an application is to support the configuration of these devices via their serial interfaces, then some models are able to provide additional serial interfaces with the use of CardBus or USB adapters. This enables multiple instances of the COM-port server to be operated in one device.
