[CentOS] usb to usb comm ports - possible? how?

I have an i686 mono core system configured as a CentOS-5.2 server.  It has
one DB9P RS-232 serial connector and six USB connectors.  The DB9p is
configuered as STTY0 for the attached MultiTec MT5638ZBA fax modem.  I
would very much like to connect my MS WindowsXPpro laptop, which only has
USB connectors, to this server via telnet or ssh over a direct connection.

Is there a way to connect / configure a comm port to a raw USB port in
windows / centos and to use a direct cable connection between the two? Or,
is a usb to serial converter device required at both ends?

I expect to use either puTTY or hyperterm as the windows client.  What I
need to know is:

Is this is even possible?

How do you configure the tty ports on CentOS for this to work?

How do you configure the comm port on MS-WinXPpro?

What cable does one require?

I have never had this problem before since all our hosts have previously
come equipped with two serial ports.  However, the next generation
machines apparently have no RS-232 serial ports at all, just six usb
ports.  So, this problem might as well be faced now as later, when it is
unavoidable.

Regards,


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