Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) Switches

tyen writes "I have accumulated a bevy of computers, and need to ditch all the monitors/room heaters on them save one. A KVM switch is the ideal way to do this, except every brand I have encountered working at a client site faced reliability problems. Anyone out there using a KVM switch they are pleased with? "

A better idea...

Rather than put all of your computers on a toggle type device, why not instead network them? That way, you could detach all of their monitors and keyboards and stuff save one, which will be your main console. All it needs to be is a nice setup running X11, that way you can run programs and administer all of the systems from once central location while having the versitility of each system's terminal on the screen at the same time!

Of course the problem with this is that it only works if the system is Unix or VMS. But bringing all of them together and still having seperate terminals for your Windows machines is still a nice space saver.

Tomauri products

Tomauri [tomauri.com] has some great products, some of which I have used with success. To start, get good cables for your monitor such as Tomauri's "high density coax-style monitor cables" ... SKU 5378, 5373 or 5375 for 6, 10 or 15' lengths (from Blue Diamond). Prices from ~ $15 each ... (maybe less if you know someone -- I can't give you the real cost price because of the regulations as a reseller).

The switch box I recommend most is the Masterview 4 way automatic file server switch box. It can set you back about $225 but the features are great: It has built in monitor/mouse/keyboard emulation (so the PC senses each as being connected even if they aren't) and uses keyboard hotkeys to switch between machines. Supports both PS/2 and AT keyboards. SKU: 3074.

PS, Tomauri SKUs can be ordered from most wholesalers like Merisel and Ingram as well. If you're talking to your local computer sales people, just tell them the Tomauri #'s and ask for a price. You could always get your own account by calling 1-877-4-TOMAURI

- Michael T. Babcock <homepage [linuxsupportline.com]>

100Mbps LAN + vnc

I've tried the KVM thing. It didn't work very well, especially since I like high resolution displays (1280x1024+). I also had problems with video signal degradation, 'cause some of my cables wound up being REALLY long.

Then I found vnc [att.com].

My house is already networked with 24 ports of switched 100Mbit goodness. vnc was the icing on the cake. Cross-platform. Arbitrary window geometries and color depths AND I could still see what was going on with my main machine(s). With the price of a 2-node 100Mbit ethernet kit hovering just over $100US, I don't know if I'd ever bother with KVM

Caveat: I've tried vnc with machines that quite a bit slower than anything I have (the slow ones were 24MB RAM P200s with generic NICs and video cards), on a 10Mbit LAN. I won't say the word painful. I will say that you should maybe keep a newsreader or something open while you wait.

Still there's a certain joy in being able to play xdoom from a Windows box. I can do that. It's cool.

You *need* an Aten MasterView Plus switch

I researched this question long and hard, and finally found the best solution. I've got anywhere from 4 to 8 computers of varying OS'es in my computer room at any one time, and not enough monitors (or electrical outlets). I wanted one decent monitor (the Sony CPD-G500 [sony.com]), one keyboard (I've got a stack of genuine IBM Selectric keyboards from the 80's) and one mouse for all of them (without relying on forwarding X11 packets). So I looked for KVM switches.

After asking the guys at work (the Eudora software lab at Qualcomm has about 50 computers in it, and many KVM switches), I finally found the best switch: the 4 port MasterView Plus Switch [aten-usa.com] from Aten.

It has an amazing resolution (1920 x 1440 @ 75Hz -- take a long look at the resolution/refresh rate of other switches), and drives my high-res monitor perfectly (the Belkin I borrowed from work forced me into 1280 x 1024, which is not why I paid US$1200 for my monitor; the display also seemed fuzzy, which sucked). It's a smart switch, meaning you can reboot a machine without having to switch to that machine (the keyboard/mouse are kept active, so the machine thinks it has what it needs). It does PS/2 and serial mice/keyboards, and the lights on front also tell you what machine you're using. Another very cool feature is that it will even keep the capslock/numlock/scroll lock status the same when you switch between machines.

And to top it all off it has the coolest accessory of any KVM switch ever: a stainless steel foot pedal switch [aten-usa.com]. You'll really like this. If you are the type that uses keyboard shortcuts, you'll really impress your friends with the foot switch. Your hands never leave the keyboard. I've even got my Aten KVM switch tucked out of sight, and it doesn't bug me at all because I can hit the pedal when I need to switch. It's very cool.

Get the Aten, you'll like it a lot. It's fairly pricey (about US$250), but worth it.

-B

NO! MULTITECH! 9 ports! ~$440 with all cables!

I use a rare unknown unit made by Multitech. Its called the Multitech Multiarray switch. It is rack mountable (I love rack mount!). It comes out of the box ready for 9 ports, and 3 of them can be chained without stealing the 9 ports on each. Not only this... the actual connectors on the unit are 25 pin ports. So if you used good sheilded Male to female 25 pin "serial/parallel" cables you can extend out the distance between the switchbox and the devices. It does NOT have keyboard support for changing the port. and after about a year, I accidently broke the up/down toggle switch. So after about 8$ in radio shack parts, I have a 20' corded remote control.. with the up/down buttons on it. a 1/8th inch stereo jack in the back of the box, a 20' stereo headphone extension cable, project box and two nice square pushbuttons... We have it in the rack in the dining room. Works great for all the PCs in the racks... the unix machines we have tied to a portmaster.... I would definitly say for the buck its awesome. Of course the other day my roomate found a 4 port Belkin like box in a dumpster. It works fine. Just my luck. But I am still happy with my switch. The cables teh switch comes with are about 6' in length... and have PS/2 style keyboard connectors and 9 pin mouse connectors... so a handfull of PS/2 to AT adaptors might be in order. I coudln't find that many ports for that amount of money. I didn't really care about having the keyboard macro... hitting a long key sequence.. its easier to reach over and hit up or down. I like to roll thru them quick. It also uses a 7 segment LED display to show the port (0 thru 9.. 0 being passthru to the next switchbox). I would have posted this under its own heading... but I guess anon cowards can't post new topics. - Tele Monster / www.757.org