Network USB

Network USB is the program with which one can work with the remote USB devices over a local network or Internet as if they were connected directly to a local PC. Usually, when one needs to use any USB device (like scanner, flash-memory, etc) he/she plugs it into USB port of your computer. But for all that, the device is accessible only for the computer it is plugged into. And what if someone else needs to use the same USB device? All one has to do is to install USB over Network Server on the PC where USB devices are plugged in. USB over Network Client must be installed on the PCs you want to give access to those very USB devices you've already plugged in. That's all.

USB over Network general features:

Allows to work with remote USB devices as with local ones
Unlimited USB devices can be shared on server
Unlimited USB devices can be accessed from client
Wide variety of USB devices is supported
Auto-sharing of new USB devices
Auto-sharing exclude list
Auto-connecting of USB devices which got shared on the server
USB devices safe removal is supported

Compatibility: Developed for Linux and Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, 2000, 2003 Server, Server 2008, USB v1.1 and USB v2.0, hardware Universal Serial Bus controllers, Hyper-Threading Technology, multiprocessor platforms, true Plug-and-Play.

What I liked about the program: there is no need to move USB devices from one computer to another or occupy others' PCs to work with USB device, no need to buy additional expensive equipment, USB over Network Client is free.

Wiki: COM IP

Today I will tell about COM IP software which allows to make serial data available on a TCP/IP network. How it works: the program creates virtual serial ports and redirects all serial data to specified TCP-port of remote IP-address. Any serial communications software can use these virtual COM ports, like typical hardware COM ports to send and receive serial data over a local network or the Internet. COM IP can be used to pass serial data across a local network or over the Internet using the Telnet protocol (with the COM Port Control protocol specified by RFC 2217) and the raw TCP connection protocol as well. The COM Port Control protocol (RFC 2217) is used also for accessing any serial device attached to a serial device server.

Program's general features:

Redirects virtual serial port data to a TCP/IP network
Unlimited number of virtual serial ports can be created simultaneously on a single computer
Telnet protocol (RFC-2217) support
Raw data transmission support
Preset serial port control signals for raw data protocol
Fixed COM port settings for virtual COM port
Broken network connection recovery (auto-reconnect)
Extra strings sending on port opening/closing

The program is compatible with Full Microsoft serial.sys, PnP and WMI technologies, Hyper-Threading Technology, VMware, wide variety of TCP/IP-based serial device servers.

What I liked about the program: user-friendly interface, virtual serial ports can be created and removed without computer reboot, smooth workflow.

Network Port

Network port is a serious issue much talked over. On the recent tech forum I've visited everyone was concerned on the serial network problem of accessing remote serial devices over local network So this post is dedicated to solving the most urgent issue on the software platform today - serial network. Today I will tell about serial to ethernet program - Network Serial Port Kit. The program allows to share and access serial devices over local network or the Internet. In other words it allows you to work with any serial devices connected to remote computers as if they were connected directly to your PC.

Using Network Serial Port Kit you can share physical serial port with a connected device and then access this device from any other computer over local network or the Internet. At the same time, virtual serial port is created on the computer from which you want to access the serial device and it's the exact copy of the remote physical serial port with the connected device.

Data is forwarded over the network from the physical serial port to the virtual serial port and vice versa. An application on the local computer works with the serial device via the virtual serial port as if it was plugged into this very local computer.

You can easily use this network port program for creating virtual null-modem connections over network. In other words, you can connect two communications applications running on different computers by means of virtual null-modem cable over network. At that, virtual serial ports are created on both computers and they look like physical serial ports for communications applications. Data written to local virtual serial port are automatically forwarded to remote virtual serial port and vice versa.

General features:

Allows to work with remote serial devices over local network or the Internet

Allows to create virtual null-modem cable over local network or the Internet

Virtual serial ports look and work like real physical ports

Once created virtual serial ports are operable at each system startup

Unlimited number of serial devices can be shared simultaneously on a single computer

Unlimited number of serial devices can be accessed simultaneously from a single computer

Virtual communication is more fast and reliable than using real null-modem cable

Broken network connection recovery (auto-reconnect)

Network latency compensation

The program is compatible with PnP and WMI technologies, Hyper-Threading Technology, VMware.

What I liked about the program: user-friendly interface and hot virtual serial port creation and removal, without computer reboot., smooth workflow.

Virtual Serial Port

I studied a lot of information on how to create virtual ports and stuck into Virtual Serial Port Kit. So a few words about this program. Virtual Serial Port Kit creates virtual serial ports and connects them via virtual null-modem cables. All the data written to one virtual serial port is immediately read from the other one, and vice versa. With Virtual Serial Port Kit your applications can exchange data just like they do via hardware serial ports and real null-modem cables.For example, you can create pair of virtual serial ports (e.g. COM7 and COM8) and connect two applications to them. All data that the first application writes to COM7 is read from COM8 by the second application, and vice versa. So as you can see the program is very useful and essential.

Program's features:

Full hardware serial ports emulation
Virtual serial ports look and work like real hardware ports
Serial data bitrate (transmission speed) emulation
Once created virtual ports are operable at each system startup (prior to user login)
Real serial ports are not occupied
Real null-modem cables are not required
Virtual communication is more fast and reliable than via a real null-modem cable

Virtual Serial Port Kit is compatible with: full Microsoft serial.sys, PnP and WMI technologies, Hyper-Threading Technology, VMware.

What I liked about the program: user-friendly program interface, I created virtual COM ports, removed them without any computer reboot, one click enable/disable button for all virtual serial ports feature, virtual serial ports were controlled directly from my own application using command-line, virtual serial ports can be also controlled directly from your own application using Dynamic Link Library (OEM license).

Serial Port Activex. Port Control.

Today I will tell about Serial Port Control, the program which in the easiest way allows any application to control serial ports. The control comes in different forms such as serial ActiveX control, .Net component and Borland/Builder component. It allows to use native component in different developer environments. With the event driven architecture there is no need to check ports periodically if there is new data. Simply define a function for needed event and process the data. The most candy thing is that no programming required. One can just drop a control on a form in any development environment and compare this to writing thousands of lines of code.

The things I like about Serial Port Control:

-Unlimited number of serial ports can be controlled simultaneously.
-Powerful and intuitive interface to make serial port communications easy.
-Delivers all the capabilities of the Win32 Serial Communications API and eliminates its complexity.
-Works with all types of serial ports, including USB adaptors, Bluetooth, IR, or any virtual port.
-Full buffered data transfer.
-Gives full control of status line and handshaking states.
-Comes with example applications (Visual Basic, Visual Basic .Net, Visual C++, Visual C#, Borland Builder, Borland Delphi).
-Serial ports are controlled directly from your own application.

Serial Port Control is compatible with Windows 98/Me/NT/XP/2000/2003 Server, Hyper-Threading Technology, VMware.

Serial Port Splitter

I have recently discovered this program and it sounds to be rather good. From the title of this post you must already know its name. Serial Port Splitter. What the program can do: first, it's a true virtual serial port driver. The program runs as system service, so COM ports are available at each start-up of a system automatically. In general the program shares one serial port among several applications. Three main features: splitting, sharing and joining. The splitting feature creates virtual COM ports that are the exact copies of specified physical COM ports. All the data written to physical COM port get to all virtual COM ports. Data written to a virtual COM port get to physical COM port. In such a way, by means of virtual COM ports, several applications can exchange data simultaneously with the same device connected to a physical COM port. At the same time, there is a possibility to configure ports access permissions, COM ports settings and so on. With the sharing feature any physical COM port, being shared, can be opened by several applications simultaneously.And finally with the joining feature it creates virtual COM port and forwards serial data from it to several physical COM ports. If there is a necessity to limit access to a serial port for several applications, for example in case there is a program which is only to read data from the COM port and some programs need full access to a serial port, Serial Port Splitter can easily do it.

What I liked about the program: good OS support that is WinNT 4.x,WinXP,Windows2000,Windows2003,Windows Vista Starter,Windows Vista Home Basic,Windows Vista Home Premium,Windows Vista Business,Windows Vista Enterprise,Windows Vista Ultimate, Install and Uninstall support, very attentive and professional support team.
What I didn't like: serial data of one COM port can be shared only.
This program is one of the best and most reliable ones on the software market.

USB to Ethernet.

In this article we will talk about USB virtualization: USB to Ethernet. Usually, when you need to use any USB device (like scanner, flash-memory, etc) you plug it into USB port of your computer. But for all that, the device is accessible only for the computer it is plugged into. And what if someone else needs to use the same USB device? You can unplug USB device from your PC and give it to another user. Though this decision has some disadvantages: according to different circumstances, not always there is a possibility to give USB device to another user, even for a while or not always there is a possibility to allow someone else to work with that USB device on your PC (especially if another user is in the another office, city or country). It is also possible to purchase the same USB devices additionally but it will depend on the cost of the device and quantity required. I have found and already used such program as USB to Ethernet and after some time decided to share it with you.
A few words about the program: it allows to work with the remote USB devices over a local network or Internet as if they were connected directly to your local PC. The program is available also for Linux, but I personally used it for Win.
What I liked about USB to Ethernet: smooth workflow, enhanced user-friendly interface, does what it says. What I didn't like: well, honestly I personally was pleased with everything. Perhaps other users can share their comments on this topic too.

Wiki: how to create and control virtual serial ports.

There has been a lot of issues on how to create serial ports. In this article we will outline the main softwares which create and control serial ports fully and easily. Serial port virtualization is in great demand on the software market that’s why more and more issues arise on how to create and control serial ports. All softwares were properly tested by the author.

Virtual Serial Port Kit. Virtual Serial Port Kit creates virtual serial ports and connects them via virtual null-modem cables. There are three main features of this program. First, it connects serial applications via virtual serial ports. All the data written to one virtual serial port can be immediately read from the other one, and vice versa. Second, it is a true virtual serial port driver. Virtual serial ports look and work exactly as real hardware serial ports. And third, it runs as system service. Just configured, virtual serial ports are available at each system startup automatically, even prior to user logon.

Virtual Serial Port Control. Virtual Serial Port Control creates virtual serial ports and controls them fully. The program is a true virtual serial port driver. Virtual serial ports look like exactly as real hardware serial ports for communications applications. Virtual Serial Port Control is a powerful ActiveX control. The control is ready to use in ANY ActiveX enabled developer environemnt linke Microsoft Visal Studio, Borland Builder, Borland Delphi. With event driven architecture there is no need to check ports periodically if there is new data. Simply define a function for needed event and process the data.

Virtual Modem. Virtual Modem uses Internet instead of direct phone calls to connect regular communications software. The program allows any modem communications applications to interact via LAN or the Internet. Application "dials" remote IP address instead of making a dial-direct call. There are no charges for phone calls. Virtual modem can be used anywhere in the world where Internet access is available.

Virtual COM Port Kit CE. Virtual COM Port Kit CE creates virtual COM ports and connect them via virtual null-modem cables. Program’s features are the same as with the Virtual Serial Port Kit, the only difference is that the program is also available for Windows CE (ARM, MIPS, SH3, SH4 and x86). In general, the program connects serial applications via virtual COM ports. All the data written to one virtual COM port can be immediately read from the other one, and vice versa. Virtual COM ports look and work exactly as real hardware serial ports.