[Simh] terminal multiplexers

[Armistead, Jason BIS]

Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:

>DEC's DECserver, Xyplex Maxserver, Annex terminal servers, and Xylogics (for the ones I have touched and remember) all converted telnet into
> real RS/EIA-232 lines. (telnet client -> host serial, or serial terminal -> host telnet server)

The early DECservers like the DECserver 100 & 200 models only spoke LAT protocol to host systems, and required a MOP boot file download to get up and running.  The early models had a Motorola 68000 CPU inside them, and just enough firmware in EPROM to do some basic startup diagnostics and complete the MOP boot.  The later DECserver 90M (introduced circa mid 1990s) was one of the first to support Telnet in addition to LAT, and had all their firmware on board.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECserver for a bit of an overview of the various models and capabilities.

I originally used DECserver 200s running LAT on our VAX/VMS systems, but I believe it was also available on PDPs (running RSX ?) and Ultrix / OSF/1 / Digital Unix, and nowadays there is even an open source LAT and MOP daemon implementation for Linux.

The DECservers 200s were rock solid performers in our engineering offices and on the factory floor.