Slashdot Mirror
Mag-Stripe Devices for a LAN?
bugaloo2 writes "Is there such a thing? I'm looking for a magnetic stripe (magstripe) card reader of some kind that can connect directly to our network and read/write data to a SQL table. There are dozens of different serial, usb, and ps2 style card readers to connect to a PC, but none that I have seen can connect directly to a LAN. If such a ghost does not exist on the market today, how would you (cheaply) implement an access card security system for several buildings using existing network infrastructure and hardware if possible that reads/writes to a SQL table for security access?" We did a related question not too long ago.
If this really is just a hobby thing and you're not looking at building thousands you might look at hooking up a tini board to a serial mag stripe reader.
t h/ index.html
d al l.htm
There's instructions on the tini board website:
http://www.ibutton.com/TINI/applications/sertoe
showing serial-to-ethernet conversion. Unlike the embedded ethernet card someone else mentioned tini comes with a jvm onboard, javaComm and networking support.
Add to this a port-powered swipe reader eg
http://www.magtek.com/products/card_readers/car
and you're off. The whole lot should cost you well under $300.
Havent tried this myself yet but a coworker has a tini on order I'm going to be programming for.
Start with a serial mag-stripe reader (many can be gotten for cheap from surplus electronics outlets like All Electronics).
;)
Add a Basic Stamp 2 from Parallax (or maybe your own PIC and extra EEPROM) and a MAX232 to communicate to the reader.
Connect that to one of these boards.
Write your own custom code to do real basic IP stuff for the networking (have fun!)...
Should be able to do all this cheaply - less than $300. Hard part is the coding, getting a small IP stack written to fit, and comm protocol code as well. It is more than possible though...
Finally, when you have it all done, got the VC's lined up stuffin' your pockets with cash, and you bring it to market - think of me, and send me a check of appreciation...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
How about serial readers and a LAN connected Data capture computer. I'm assuming that you've got a work-type location with CAT-5 strung all over the place. With DB25/DB9 to RJ-45 connectors you can run serial communications on the CAT-5. I use these myself to get out-of-band access to computers on my LAN and to remotely locate a serial printer.
The pieces are:
- A set of Serial mag strip readers,
- DB9/DB25 to RJ-45 converters,
- A Linux or FreeBSD box, the data capture computer,
The data capture computer lives in your wiring closet where it's connected to the LAN. It has a multiport serial card. The serial communication is carried on CAT-5 and is cross connected to the data capture computer via your patch panel. This connection uses the appropriate physical media converter for your multiport serial card.I would write a small C daemon which understood the protocol of the data collection devices. The daemon would be able to connect directly to a remotely located database over ethernet. When the data came in the daemon would read it compose the appropriate SQL query and hit the remote database. There would be one daemon per data collection device.
The advantages to this are:
If you can write a little C you could probably build a proof-of-concept prototype in a couple of days.
Chris
One more thing about iolan. Its pretty neat when you get it to work. All ports in the device are shown to the lan as socket ports. Say, i have (and i do have) bank of modems connected to the thingie and i want to use one of them from any machine to dial out. "telnet iolan 10001" does the trick and voilã, i have really dump terminal at my disposal. Ofcourse there's software to have these ports accessible as devices in unix fs but atleast on SCO environment that we have, it hasnt been working really well.
--
yush
This? Description: LANpoint Pro is a fully compliant PC in a compact, rugged case. It has no moving parts and its drip-proof case is built to last in harsh industrial environments. With a built-in 10BaseT Ethernet adapter and barcode decoding it comes ready to solve a multitude of data collection needs. [snip] The LANpoint Pro has a built-in barcode decoder for plug-in compatibility with barcode wands and laser scanners. It also has support for magnetic stripe readers and barcode slot readers.
I am wondering if one of the two way stand alone print servers will work. They tout 2 way to support Win Printers and many of them support serial printers. A prime example is the Intel NetPort express 3 port. It has 2 par. ports and one 2 way serial port. Intel even has them on sale in their test drive program at about $150. A quick search on google for netport express will bring up the info. A small amount of scripting should talk to the "serial printer" device and put the data into SQL. It could be programed to print a confirmation time and date stamp on a reciept printer on the same print server!
The truth shall set you free!
I haven't heard of such a box and I'm not sure if anybody's made one yet. There are building security systems, but they generally require a whole specilized set of hardware.
On the other hand, there are options. The best one would be to get a USB or PS2 magstripe reader and attach it to an embeddable computer -- Check EMJ Embedded for systems. It's $500-600 for a system with USB, Ethernet, serial ports, and a decently fast Pentium processor. That should get you exactly what you want.
Gentoo Sucks
AT&T Campuswide readers plug directly into our LAN and communicate with custom software on our VAX system. Not sure how much this helps, but it may be a jumping-off point.
The overview is here and the product listing is here.
Good Luck!
I'm a technician on a campus that uses the CampusWide system (Optim9000). AT&T actually sold off the CampusWide division to Blackboard.com late last year. This is the updated URL. The system runs on an HP-9000 server (HP-UX 10.x, soon 11.x), and uses its own proprietary network format and database (I think it's called Raima, but don't quote me.) It can run across a standard LAN, but for reliability, it's usually set up to run on its own separate network. CW is supposed to be releasing a piece of hardware that will allow readers to use IP addressing, but it hasn't materialized yet (they keep saying 'soon'). The system can handle point-of-sale, access control, digital photo-ID production/management(uses an Informix database and DataCard software/hardware to store pictures/print IDs) and scales upwards effortlessly. Our campus has well over 200 readers, 15,000+ cardholders, and 99%+ up-time. I know that USC, UCLA, Duke, Harvard, and around 400 other schools use this system. (Even Honda Motor Co. uses it at one of its plants.) It's not cheap, though. Hope this helps.