Serial and parallel port capacity
1 - 10 • • • Senstar 100 Installation guide
Serial and parallel port capacity
The Senstar 100 system is expandable to a maximum of 36 serial ports, to allow
you to connect devices to the system. Most primary devices are connected to the
Senstar CU via serial cable. The exception is a multi-station system which uses
standard off-the-shelf Ethernet networking components.
There is a maximum of 36 primary devices, and they are designated as follows:
•
34 ports are allocated to primary security devices.
•
One port is reserved for video switching (up to 16 VS per database, one
serial port, and one primary device designation in the site database are
required for each VS).
•
One port is reserved for multi-station operation (two CUs can be
connected via serial cable; two to 16 CUs can be connected via Ethernet
network). After connecting the first CU, each additional CU requires one
primary device designation in the site database. (For example, in a system
with four Senstar 100 CUs that are connected via Ethernet and one VS,
there is room for 32 security devices.)
Also, each CU allows the connection of up to eight secondary devices (serial
touchscreen, serial or PS/2 mouse, modem, serial and parallel printers, and event
input).
Ports provided
The Multifunction card (MFC) provides two serial ports. The computer
motherboard usually provides two serial ports (COM1 and COM2) for the
connection of secondary devices, and one parallel port for a printer interface.
The PCI version MFC serial ports cannot be used to
communicate with secondary devices.
Additional serial ports
If your total serial port requirement exceeds the standard number of ports
available, you can add one or more serial expansion cards to the system, for an
additional 4, 8, or 16 serial ports per card. Refer to
supported expansion cards.
