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We have a semi-large farm of Windose Boxen at a lights-out colo (Frontend application servers to most of the UNIX boxen). We just picked up the Rose Electronics Ultralink for remote management. We need this so we can do remote diags, like troubleshoot hardware, view POST, etc. We have Cyclades for the *NIX boxen, and our HP Netservers have the serial 'management' console that other people are boasting about, but that just won't cut it in a real-world production environment. A Console is a Console and a serial port is a serial port.

We're going to plug the Ultralink into our cascaded KVM tree and hope for the best. Initially looking at the unit, I have some gripes:

* No distributed authentication. It's gotta be local accounts. Can't hit my LDAP, NIS, NT Domain, or RADIUS servers.

* Client is a proprietary Win32 app. No JAVA, no browser. Cripes, not even ActiveX!

* Only one user at a time... including console. You have to log into the console to gain access (crappy for CEs out to fix a problem), and if the CE stays logged in, guess what? You can't access it remotely! We had to plug it into our intelligent PDU so we could remotely hard boot it if that happened.

* We have what must be version .99a ... we had to wait about 2 months to get it, and we must have been the first guinea pig to take shipment. I'm afraid to open it up to see if there is about 35 feet of spaghetti-wire patches.

Aside from these (minor) flaws, I think we'll be OK. Anything is better than booking a last-minute 606 mile flight to reboot a Windows box that shows 'It is now safe to power off your computer' because PCNowhere admin chose the wrong logoff choice. [don't laugh] (Although, there is Buckhead...)

We have a semi-large farm of Windose Boxen at a lights-out colo (Frontend application servers to most of the UNIX boxen). We just picked up the Rose Electronics Ultralink for remote management. We need this so we can do remote diags, like troubleshoot hardware, view POST, etc. We have Cyclades for the *NIX boxen, and our HP Netservers have the serial 'management' console that other people are boasting about, but that just won't cut it in a real-world production environment. A Console is a Console and a serial port is a serial port.

We're going to plug the Ultralink into our cascaded KVM tree and hope for the best. Initially looking at the unit, I have some gripes:

* No distributed authentication. It's gotta be local accounts. Can't hit my LDAP, NIS, NT Domain, or RADIUS servers.

* Client is a proprietary Win32 app. No JAVA, no browser. Cripes, not even ActiveX!

* Only one user at a time... including console. You have to log into the console to gain access (crappy for CEs out to fix a problem), and if the CE stays logged in, guess what? You can't access it remotely! We had to plug it into our intelligent PDU so we could remotely hard boot it if that happened.

* We have what must be version .99a ... we had to wait about 2 months to get it, and we must have been the first guinea pig to take shipment. I'm afraid to open it up to see if there is about 35 feet of spaghetti-wire patches.

Aside from these (minor) flaws, I think we'll be OK. Anything is better than booking a last-minute 606 mile flight to reboot a Windows box that shows 'It is now safe to power off your computer' because PCNowhere admin chose the wrong logoff choice. [don't laugh] (Although, there is Buckhead...)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

The Rose technology matrix switch to serve 1, 2 to 4 users is a quite good switch.
Blackbox also distributes them as "their own" switch.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack expandable) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports (pdf)
The 4 users * x ports (pdf)
The high-end series. (info)

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Everything blackbox has is all another brand of switch with the blackbox logo on it and sold on higher prices. For example, their matrix switch to hold 2 users is a Rose-Technology switch. It took me a long time to find it what kind of switch they were using and they seem to use Minicom and Rose (mainly). The only difference is the price and the ugly black logo put on another product.

If you are in need with a new switch you should look to these because the switch has up to 40m support without quality loss of the image; can use a line extender up to 300m and has a exclusive feature to protect your ports by groups and users.

For example user A can access all servers while user B can only look to server 1 and 2, user C can control server 1, 3 and look to server 8 but not control it, ....

It also has OSD and is expandable to more of these units.

The more-expensive unit (rack unit) is expandable in any way.

Look at the pdf for more info.

The 2 users * x ports
The 4 users * x ports
The high-end series.

Where I work we had a requirement to use a KVM switch with a bunch of Sun servers. IT had installed an Apex Outlook, and it just did not work. Out of 5 machines, only two would bring up a video display at all, and one on of those the top two inches of the display was line-skewed so badly it was unreadable. The vendor sent us a second Outlook, and when that wasn't any better, I did some research and we ended up ditching the Apex and buying a Rose Electronics Omniview. The build quality of the Rose system made the Apex look like shit, and, most importantly, it actually works as advertised. USB wasn't an issue for us, and we don't actually use the multi platform capability, since we only need the Suns on this switch, (to give Apex some credit, their regular switches work fine on the NT machines), but Rose claim to support it, and I'd be inclined to trust them. The Rose cabling system is a dream compared to the Outlook as well, with a single multi-tailed cable per machine with a proprietary D-25 plug at the switch and video/keyboard/mouse connectors at the other. Rose equipment is the shit. The only downside is the cost, about $1500 for a twelve-way switch, as I recall, plus $75 per CPU cable. When I consider how much of my fucking time I wasted trying to get the damned Outlook to work, though, it was well worth it to get a solution that actually functions as advertised.

Tony.

That website is for a reseller who didn't do you the favor of pointing you to the actual manufacturer's website.
Their actual website is http://www.rosel.com

We use the UltraMatrix models at work, and except for some keyboard port wierdness with our HP systems (which they flew an engineer from Texas to our site to write the custom firmware fix at their expense to fix) we haven't had any problems with these things. I like the way they can be cascaded (up to 250 feet apart even).

I have one of these both at home and work. The biggest gripe I have with them is that if you reboot a system or power one on, without letting it have the keyboard/mouse focus chances are pretty good that you'll get keyboard/mouse errors from that system until you do. If you're going to go Belkin, get the 8 port model. It doesn't seem to have that problem and you can do neat things like label the channels and daisy-chain multiple units together if you go over 8 systems. At work our "official" KVM switch is from Rose Electronics. These things really kick ass compared to the Belkins. You can have multiple heads hooked up to some models and daisy chain them together as well. The systems can be labeled for easy selection/remembering where you're at. We use the UltraMatrix models. Check out their product line at http://www.rosel.com