What are serial switches?
Serial switches are similar to KVM switches in concept, only that they control serial devices instead of KVM ports of computers. These serial devices may be hubs, routers, fire-walls, “headless” servers, power distribution units (PDUs) and any network appliance that can be accessed through a serial port. Depending on the model, serial switches may offer direct (out-of-band) access, modem access, or IP access. Serial switches typically have RJ45 jacks for Cat5 connectivity to the controlled serial ports, and as a result will typically require some adapters (i.e. RJ45 to DB9 female).