Socket over RS232 based network

Hey,

I have four PCs (with Fedora Core 5) all connected to a single router
(See Figure 1) to access to internet as well as each other's
resources. They also run some Socket based applications which are
using TCP/IP and UDP (point-to point and broadcast UDP).

|R|<------------------------------->Internet
|O|<----->[PC1]
|U|<----->[PC2]
|T|<----->[PC3]
|E|<----->[PC4]
|R|

Figure 1- Current system architecture

I want to change this system architecture; PC1 will stay connected to
the router but all the other PCs will be connected to each other via
RS232 ports in daisy chained manner as shown in Figure 2.


Internet<--->[Router]<--Ethernet-->[PC1]Com3<--->Com2[PC2]Com3<---
>Com2[PC3]Com3<--->Com2[PC4]

Figure 2- New system architecture


(Note..Com1 of all PCs are connected to some external instruments and
therefore they are going to be part of the network.)


QUESTIONS:
1--How can I change my system configuration of PC1,2,3,4 so that I can
replace the ethernet based network to RS232 based network (yes, it
will be much slower) while still being able to use my existing TCP/IP
and UDP applications?

2--Is it also possible (how) to connect one more additional computer
PC5 ( ...[PC4]Com3<--->Com2[PC5]) with Windows XP to this RS232 based
network?

Regards,

Miem Chan

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:50:01 -0800, Miem wrote:


> 1--How can I change my system configuration of PC1,2,3,4 so that I can
> replace the ethernet based network to RS232 based network (yes, it
> will be much slower) while still being able to use my existing TCP/IP
> and UDP applications?

Seems overly complicated but it can be done. PPP is usually the protocol
used for serial communication. Create peer to peer PPP coms between
the serial ports. Your tcp and udp applications remain unchanged, but you
will have to deal with routing issues.

Dan