I am a computer enthusiast and network engineer looking to work my way into electronics/circuitry as a hobby. (Read: "I'm a Novice")

I have a test environment of networking hardware (switches, routers, etc.) that I have to console into frequently. At the moment I have a single DB9 on the back of my computer and I am constantly having to go over to the equipment and move the console cable between devices as I need to access them. I was wondering if there was a device similar to a KVM that I might be able to use to switch between multiple RJ45 connections. (If you aren't aware, the console cable is a DB9 on the PC end and a RJ45 on the equipment end.) I have failed to find a One-to-Many switcher for this type of application, so I figured I would look into making one. However, as previously stated, I'm a bit of a novice. I don't know what components I would need or what the schematic would even look like.

I would like some advice as to where to start and what I might need to build a prototype.

Thanks in advance!

 

As I continued to search, I stumbled upon this. This is ultimately what I would like to accomplish. A simple switch that sends the signal to a different RJ45 port. Thoughts?

 

You are using RS-232 aka com port, so you dont want to get anything specific for switching ethernet. Network equipment uses RJ45 for serial console because they already use that connector elsewhere and it just fits nicely in. Get something like this http://pd.prlog.org/40038586-model-7213-8-to-1-db9-switch-with-rs232-serial-remote.html and some more DB9 to RJ45 cables.

 

Thanks for the input kubeek! That's a good find and I will definitely be looking into it.

I'm still curious if it is possible to create a 'dumb' switch that does nothing more than send the electrical signals down a different path using RJ45 ports as the interfaces. If so, what would be needed?

 

Just a big clunkin mechanical switch and a bunch of connectors? Depends on how fancy you want to go and how much would the mechanical switch actually cost.
Doing it elctronically is not too hard either, especially if you need only tx and rx, and not the rest of the flow signals.