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The biggest advantage is space used and organization. The cable managment on a rack is phenomenal compared to sitting 4 or 5 boxes in a row and attempting to hit a switch then playing with power cords. 1U systems are around 2 inches thick. (1.75 inches or 44mm I think to be exact.) If I remember correctly, the U denotes 1.75 inches so to get the hight of the server, you would multiply that by the number in front of it. So a 4U chassis would be about 7 inches tall. If you had three 1U servers and two 3U servers, you would only need around 15-16 inches of space in hight plus any space between servers on the rack for the servers. I have seen them with around 1/4 inch space between them and a KVM over IP setup going to a 1U keyboard and monitor setup that slid out like a drawer like in this setup. The entire unit was only 30 inches tall sitting in a custom filtered positive air ventilation box and had some room for growth.

Of course most already built rack mount server systems are more reliable then off the shelf built systems or desktop servers but that is only because of the intended audience and the intentions of the manufacturer. If your building your own, there is no reason you can't get just as reliable of a setup or almost just as cheap of one as if you used desktop products. The main differences is going to be costs and space, you need to use Riser cards for some expansion and low profile add on cards but the biggest costs usually is the chassis/case and the custom challenges they present compared to other solutions like a tower or something.

Why hack at all? Just use an IP KVM switch. Full-remote, full-desktop.

Seriously. They make plenty of junk, but some of their products are very, very nice.

this one requires 6vdc at 2.5a. you can get that with a medium-sized sealed-lead-acid battery.

Ah, but the question talked about a lot of low end type servers at client locations, so using remote management ports may not be an option. Heck, some of my less critical servers don't have full remote management if the network interface is offline.

Being able to use a laptop as in place of a "crash cart" would save many admins many headaches.

It would also need to support connecting as a USB keyboard for my use though.

Sounds like a perfect application for a specialized PC Card or external USB 2.0 device, capture and digitize the VGA, and emulate a keyboard. I guess the closest product currently availible would be to use some of the IP KVM equipment.

While not cheap, a few of the entry level 1 port IP KVM swiches listed here would probably do the trick, but they still require power.

I stand by my initial comment. If you wanted support for a specific resolution, then just add that to your search query. I did, and I found this:

http://www.kvms.com/nav/item.asp?item=7071

What's this? Why it's a 2-Port DVI USB KVM Switch that lists support for 1920x1200 resolution in the specs. Thanks, Google!

I've used Avocent Outlook KVMs with multiple systems (2000, Linux, 98 and XP on the same kvm). (Sometimes called Apex Outlook) This one: 16 Port They even have a button you can press to resync the keyboard and mouse if they stop responding but that has never happened to me. It is a really nice KVM, if a bit pricey..