Mag-Stripe Devices for a LAN? 19
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.
Re:Magnetic Encoders are Expensive (Score:1)
Of course this doesn't do much to answer the original question, but with more things to choose from, a usable solution may present itself more readily.
Something like... (Score:1)
this [computerwise.com], perhaps? Available with your choice of stripe reader/barcode reader and has a relay output that could control the door unlock mechanism. It doesn't sound like it would be too hard to write a little app that would check to see if the card had access to the door, and log the event.
Of course, I;m sure there are complete solutions available already that may or may not be cheaper than rolling your own.
Aside: why is it that people seem to be too lazy to spend a few minutesGoogle begofore sending in AskSlashdot questions?
tini board+serial mag reader? (Score:3)
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.
Perhaps roll your own? (Score:5)
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 [embeddedether.net] 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 [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!
How about serial readers and a LAN connected... (Score:2)
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:
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
Magnetic Encoders are Expensive (Score:1)
Re:Magnetic Encoders are Expensive (Score:1)
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Serial lan server and serial readers. (Score:3)
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.
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neat idea (Score:1)
I've came across these in my research (Score:1)
How about ... (Score:2)
Re:Suggestion.. (Score:2)
Re:My College uses AT&T CampusWide (Score:1)
Are you sure? The specs for the stripe readers listed at the second link [att.com] you provided describe the readers as communicating either throuch standard 9600bps serial or via RS-485 multidrop. RS-485 as a standard does not specify connector-type, and it is not uncommon to use twisted-pair cable and RJ-45 connectors for RS-485.
So your campus may have what LOOKS like a LAN connection for the stripe-reader, but is probably a separate circuit that goes direct to the VAX.
And a good thing, too. I could just imagine someone sniffing the traffic between the stripe-reading security system and the VAX ... spoofing card identities ... unlocking doors to restricted areas ... getting unlimited copies on the Xerox machine in the library ... adding large $ balances to their cards ...
Suggestion.. (Score:3)
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 [emjembedded.com] 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.
My College uses AT&T CampusWide (Score:2)
The overview is here [att.com] and the product listing is here [att.com].
Good Luck!
Re:Magnetic Encoders are Expensive (Score:1)
Yeah, but that's a two-edged sword. It's cheaper for you to make the card, but it's also cheaper (and easier) for someone to copy. All you need is access to a real card for long enough to photocopy the barcode and bingo! you're in the building.
Most secure buildings I've seen use magnetic proximity cards that you hold up to the reader, not pass through a slot. Where I work it's a separate card (ProxCard II by HID Corporation) that hangs behind the badge with our name and photo; where my wife works it's integrated into the badge itself. The badge has a mag stripe but I've never seen it used. The proximity cards are virtually impossible to pirate (it's far easier to use human engineering to get around this system -- you know, walk through the door behind a real employee).
You could also build a system perhaps more secure than that (cheaper, too) using an i-button [ibutton.com]. They even make rings that hold i-buttons for this very purpose. Not as convenient as the badge/card idea, but just as effective and far geekier! :-)
Re:Magnetic Encoders are Expensive (Score:1)
Re:My College uses AT&T CampusWide (Score:1)
As far as running the system over a LAN, sure you can, and lots of schools do, using terminal servers. However, the final connection between the RS-485 converter and the reader is hard-wired. Using terminal servers isn't the greatest idea, because when the Ethernet network goes down or traffic gets heavy, the readers go offline and stop working until communication is restored.
Almost all 'fraud' occurs when people lose cards, don't report them lost (leaving them activated), and others get the cards and use them. Sniffing traffic and spoofing is pretty much impossible, due to the way the readers authenticate and communicate with the server. (Hasn't happened anywhere yet that I've heard of, and the system's been around 10+ years.)
AT&T CampusWide - minor correction (Score:5)