TTY "Serial" Terminal over USB?

I have a few servers in a rack that like to drop their network connection, requiring a restart and/or handheld intervention. I purchased a Linksys NSLU2 and installed Debian on it in order to create a serial terminal. However, with USB-Serial converters running in the $30 range I'd really like to use USB (I have plenty of USB cables).

Is there a way to get Ubuntu Server to listen for "serial" terminals on a USB port? I doubt I'll coax the BIOS into talking to me over USB, but can I at least convince Ubuntu to do it?

Solution 1:

Tell mingetty or whatnot to connect to ttyUSB<n> in inittab.