Sealevel Systems Introduces Complete Family of Ethernet to Serial Device Servers

Sealevel announces the SeaLINK™ family of serial device drivers, the easiest way to connect serial devices directly to an Ethernet network. Now, networking devices together is easier than ever, even using legacy equipment never intended to be LAN/WAN compatible.

SeaLINK products use industry standard TCP/IP protocol allowing almost any host to access serial ports as easily as if the ports were PC cards physically installed in the host. Available in 8,4,2, and 1 port versions, each port can be individually configured via software as RS-232, RS-422, or RS-485, enabling connectivity to a variety of devices including data acquisition/monitoring equipment, PLCs, and retail/point-of-sale devices. Once connected to the network, the serial devices can be controlled and monitored over the Internet if desired.

Based upon a powerful embedded microprocessor, SeaLINK products are able to communicate over multiple ports at sustained rates up to 230Kbps. Customization is available to offload application-specific tasks, such as data collection, to the SeaLINK; allowing the host to periodically upload data, thereby increasing the host’s performance. Several mounting options including DIN Rail are available for SeaLINK, allowing easy mounting close to the target I/O.

All SeaLINK products are simple to install and easy to configure. The included software works under a wide variety of operating systems including Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, Windows ME, Windows 98/95, and Linux. Standard serial operating calls are transparently redirected to the SeaLINK, which operates as a virtual COM port, not only guaranteeing compatibility with most serial devices but also enabling backward compatibility with existing code.

SeaLINK products are available as multi-interface RS-232/422/485, RS-422/485, or RS-232 only.