Small update on console servers: Having actually tried, HW Software VSP is the thing to get for adding a virtual COM port to Windows. You need to get the singleport version, and then point it at the ‘telnet’ protocol port on your ser2net server. Now you can change the baud rate and other settings in your Windows app (e.g. Hyperterminal) and the settings are passed through to the remote serial port.
Finally you can virtualise that application with the weird serial hardware!