On Thu, Aug 10, 2000 at 07:10:50PM +0200, Feico Dillema wrote:

 > We need to setup a terminal server for a server farm, and try to find
 > out whether we can use an `ordinary' Intel PC running NetBSD for that. 
 > It would need 32 serial ports, so I'm looking for 8 or 16 port PCI
 > multi-port serial cards that are supported by NetBSD (or FreeBSD?) and
 > are easily available. If these are not to be found, then any hints and
 > tips to alternatives?

I like the Cyclades Z series .. the Ze is a PCI card with a MIPS CPU
on it, and you can plug up to 64 serial ports (16 per expander box)
into it with SCSI cables.  It's a little pricey, but it works really
well.  You can order it with 1 card + 2 boxes for 32 ports.

cz0 at pci0 dev 9 function 0: Cyclades-Z multiport serial
cz0: Cyclades-Ze, 16 channels (ttyCZ0000..ttyCZ0015), firmware 3.3.1
cz0: polling mode, 20 ms interval (2 ticks)

We're using them in production at Zembu on NetBSD.  Bill Studenmund and
I wrote the driver, so we could help out with any problems you might
have.

There's the Cyclades Y series, too, but they aren't as nice as the Z,
and I'm not sure of the port density on them.

-- 
        -- Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@zembu.com>