Serial to RJ45 connection to Brocade FWS 648S 48port Switch

Question

this is going to sound really dumb, but I've forgotten how to connect and manage a switch if the console interface is serial and the other end is an RJ45. The switch I'm working on is a Brocade FWS 648G 48 port switch and it has a serial port as it's console interface and the RJ45 goes in my laptop - obviously this doesnt create a COM port ( Do i need some kind of converter to USB? ) Anyway, usually on older laptops I remember using hyper terminal but they took this away on windows 10. Just a question really on how any of you manage a switch like this ( im used to cisco where the console port is the rj45 jack and the serial end has a serial to usb adapter on and use putty). Again apologies for the dumb question, thanks in advance.

Here is an image to show what I mean - https://i.stack.imgur.com/A3mEC.jpg

Answer 1

Normally the DB9 serial end goes to a switch and then another serial connector to your laptop. If your laptop doesn't have a serial connector, you need to use something like a USB-Serial adapter where it will have a male DB9 connection that will link with the cable connected to your switch.

Sometimes newer models will allow you to use a RJ45 connectors to the switch with a serial connection going to your laptop which seems what you have, so you might be using the wrong cable if your Brocade switch does not have a console port that is RJ45.

Just be careful because each vendor seem to do their own cables and even though they look the same, the pinouts might be completely different. For example, I have an extreme networks cable and a HP cable that do not work together, but a cable to the Cisco switches seems to work.

In regards to Hyper-Terminal, this can still be found floating around the Internet. But most people will use free clients such as Putty or Tera Term which can do serial, telnet, ssh, etc.

Hope this helps you on your quest.

SleepyMan