NPort 6000 Series
Introducing Serial Port Operation Modes
4-3
Real COM and Secure Real COM Modes
The NPort 6000 comes bundled with Real COM drivers for Windows systems and TTY drivers for Linux systems.
Real COM mode includes optional data encryption using SSL.
In Real COM mode, the bundled drivers are able to establish a transparent connection between a host and a
serial device by mapping the serial port on the NPort 6000 to a local COM/TTY port on the host computer. Real
COM mode supports up to 8 simultaneous connections that enable multiple hosts to simultaneously collect data
from the same serial device.
One of the major conveniences of using Real COM mode is that it allows you to use software that was written
for pure serial communication applications. The Real COM driver intercepts data sent to the host’s COM port,
packs it into a TCP/IP packet, then redirects it through the host’s Ethernet card. At the other end of the
connection, the NPort 6000 accepts the Ethernet frame, unpacks the TCP/IP packet, and then transparently
sends the data through the serial port to the attached serial device.
ATTENTION
Real COM mode allows several hosts to have access control over the same NPort 6000. The drivers that come
with your NPort 6000 control host access by checking the host’s IP address. Please refer to the Accessible IP
List section in Chapter 9, System Management Settings, for more details.
Reverse Real COM Mode
Real COM mode will not work when the NPort 6000 is using a private IP address, as is the case with GPRS
applications, or if the NPort 6000 is in a dynamic IP address environment. In either of these cases, the remote
host/server will not be able to connect to the NPort 6000.
Private IP address application
