Tech?Update!: USB Device Server

The USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection standard allows the attachment of many different peripherals to PCs and notebooks. For example, the popularity of disk drives for saving and archiving data and for regular back-ups is growing rapidly.

Modern multimedia devices such as PDAs, cell phones, and MP3 players, are connected to workstations via a USB interface. Meanwhile there exists a great number of USB devices which can be attached to a computer, ranging from laboratory devices and gauges, to printers, scanners, and multifunctional peripherals as well as to telephone systems.
Until recently, technical reasons allowed only the connection of USB devices locally or via a USB switch. USB is a master/slave bus which requires a USB host controller. Traditionally, this host controller is installed in a PC or notebook. The USB peripheral can only be operated when the computer to which it is attached is in operation, too. As a rule such locally connected devices can be accessed by one user only. The utilization of such devices is further restricted by the recommended maximum length for USB cables - five meters - for connecting the peripheral to the PC or USB switch.
If users access USB devices via a network connection they can use them much more flexibly and mobile, too, as there are no location-based restrictions. Users benefit from three major advantages:

• Virtual USB Cable Extension: USB device servers work like a virtual USB cable extension via the network and enable users to utilize USB devices without spatial restrictions.
• Availability of a USB Device for Several Users: As USB device servers can be configured so that several users can access the same USB device via the network it is not necessary to buy one for each user. In this way USB investment returns can be easily maximized.
• Secure and Exclusive Access to USB Devices: If a user does not want to share his USB device with others but wants to use it exclusively and protected from unauthorized access while remaining spatially flexible and mobile, he can use a USB device server. A secure point-to-point connection ensures that only a designated user can access a certain USB device, just as if it were locally connected.

Based on many years of experience in the development of network solutions SEH has developed a USB device server product line. The models myUTN-50 for Ethernet and Fast Ethernet networks and myUTN-52 for fiber optic networks are "plug&play": They can simply be attached to the network, no special drivers are required. The connected peripherals can then be transparently managed, just as if they were locally connected.

Thanks to the SEH UTN Manager that is installed on the PCs, the devices are quickly and easily installed. They can be configured so that only one user can access them like a local peripheral. It is also possible to allow several users to access the same USB device. If a user no longer needs to access this device, he will have to release it so the next person can access it. Users configure and manage myUTN-50 and myUTN-52 via the browser-based myUTN Web Control Center.

For more information please refer to our whitepaper "USB Device Server - Accessing USB Devices via the Network" and to the Internet.