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It's 2004: What Are The Best Remote KVM Options?

Posted by timothy on from the stuff-that-has-to-work dept.

Tocano33 writes "Saw a story regarding this quietly residing in the /. Story Retirement Home (tm), but it was from over 2 years ago and wanted to see if anyone had some new insight. We have about a dozen servers in our one rack - not a terribly large setup. However, our admins are not located in the server room and while we can use RDP/SSH/VNC/etc for everyday maintenance, we need to be able to perform offline work and may need to evaluate POST information on bootup, etc. So we're currently looking at KVM options - IP based specifically (ie Raritan Dominion) but we're wondering if there are cheaper options and wanted to know what slashdot readers would recommend."

67 comments

  1. Dell by passthecrackpipe · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Dell 2650 server is nice little middle-of-the-road server, that comes witha kick-ass out of band management card, that will allow you to do all kinds of fun stuff, even when the host is switched off - it has a great PERL interface, so you can script it as well - i know that you probably don't have dells, etc, but you may want to check out out of band management cards as well as KVM solutions. They really rock.

    --
    People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
    1. Re:Dell by Timodious · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ...it has a great PERL interface...

      I really, really don't want to sound snobby, but I suspect that if you spell perl that way, you are not qualified to judge the interface's quality.

      Do you have direct knowledge of and experience with the API? If so, I sincerely apologize.

    2. Re:Dell by abradsn · · Score: 1

      I saw recently that Perl is now an accepted form of spelling.

    3. Re:Dell by passthecrackpipe · · Score: 1

      Yes, I have both direct knowledge as well as direct experience with the API, it is simple but cool, very functional, and "It Just Works(tm)". In a recent linux cluster project I delivered for a customer we used the cards as STONITH (hope I spelled it to your liking) devices, driven by PERL and SSH. They do VNC as well.

      And yes, you do sound snobby... ;-)

      --
      People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
    4. Re:Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it has a great PERL interface, so you can script it as well

      We have a few dell 2650s, and I do use the remote VNC server for management, but where is the perl interface? I've never seen any documentation for it.

    5. Re:Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/PERL/Perl/

    6. Re:Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His point is that Perl shouldn't be in all caps. It's not an acronym. See http://www.perl.org/about/style-guide.html or http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PerlIsNotAnAcronym.

    7. Re:Dell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, the cards are somewhat nice but:

      1) The web interface is incredibly sluggish.
      2) You can't configure s**t from the web interface (eg. SNMP traps, etc).
      3) The web-based console redirection only supports US keyboards (some characters are impossible to enter using an international keyboard). There is a telnet-based interface (hello? what about SSH?), but it needs to be enabled (and they don't advertise it at a lot).
      4) Console redirection doesn't understand eg. graphical GRUB interface.
      5) The cards are unreliable. Out of 4 cards, we've had two replaced (first one just stopped responding and there wasn't any way to boot the card, second one believes the system is powered down even though it is up).
      6) The Perl interface is 3rd party.

  2. RealVNC hardware by lullabud · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since everybody is already familiar with VNC, why not stick with it when you move to hardware?

    http://www.realvnc.com/products/KVM-via-IP/

    1. Re:RealVNC hardware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering it's $1k per port(!), I don't think it's a good solution. You can connect its single port to a KVM so you can control more machines, but that's just too much money.

      You can buy a motherboard with a real serial console for much much less.

    2. Re:RealVNC hardware by illtud · · Score: 1

      Considering it's $1k per port(!), I don't think it's a good solution. You can connect its single port to a KVM so you can control more machines, but that's just too much money.

      It's not $1k per port - it's $1k to IP enable your existing 8/16/32-way KVM.

      Most setups already have KVMs in place - this is way cheaper than ditching your existing KVMs for an IP-enabled one, and has quite a few bonus features, judging from the manual.

  3. KVMs mostly suck by GigsVT · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have gotten so pissed at my (not cheap) belkin KVM that I threw it across the room and then stomped it several times, ala Office Space.

    In general, KVMs suck balls. The manual ones are almost as reliable as the electronic ones. Half the time, depending on your keyboard and motherboard, it will cause your whole computer to lock up, loss of mouse control until you unplug and replug the mouse, etc.

    The KVMs we got for our artists to switch between their new G5s and their old G4s... they wouldn't work at all with the G5 keyboard. We ordered them new MacAlly keyboards, but some of the special buttons didn't work, so they are back to having two keyboards, directly connected to each computer.

    It's really outright fraud that Belkin can represent their products as a general purpose device. They should make a list of compatible hardware.. I'm sure it would be a very small one.

    Of course this is with direct KVMs. I have used the CAT5 based KVM deal from Cyberguys with great success. That device allows you to have a local keyboard, monitor and mouse, and a remote one, and both can be used at the same time, with the remote one up to a few hundred feet away. It isn't cheap though.

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    1. Re:KVMs mostly suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? I use Belkin Omniview Pro on around 50 servers, and everything has worked perfectly for me. There were some extremely old computers that freeze if you unplug the keyboard cables, but switching with the kvm works fine.

      I also used a cheap two port kvm from Iogear, and it also worked correctly, supporting windows keys, volume knobs, etc. The interface was strange though, in that if you accidentally press the wrong combination of keys, it will start cycling between ports. I have no need of the "feature" and there didn't seem to be any way to disable it. Otherwise it worked fine.

    2. Re:KVMs mostly suck by qqaz · · Score: 1

      Do you have any Dell Poweredge rackmount servers? We have a similar setup, but couldn't get the mice to work with the Belkins.

      We've since swtiched to a new Raritan KVM, which has been awesome. No problems with anything, whatsoever.

      --
      sup :cool:
    3. Re:KVMs mostly suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm using a...(fishes around under desk) TrendNet. It's one of those devices that I never have to touch and that never gives me a lick of trouble. Not only does it eliminate a couple of monitors from an already crowded desk, it also lets me leave a full set of connections by the side of my desk (for temporary hookups).

      Every geek should have one of these (get that hardware firewall first though...).

  4. Don't use PCs by beegle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a problem that has been solved by every hardware platform out there -except- the PC.

    Buy decent hardware. Use a serial console (perhaps hooked up to something like a Cyclades box). Move on.

    If you absolutely MUST use a PC, there are workarounds like watchdog cards or those dell boxes that basically have a second monitoring computer in them. Fundamentally, though, they are workarounds for an inadequate design.

    (In fairness, the PC design's adequate for its intended use: desktops. Using a PC in the server room is a bit like trying to attach a giant U-Haul trailer to a family car: It doesn't work as well as a truck, but you can't blame the car for that.)

    --
    --
    1. Re:Don't use PCs by HawkingMattress · · Score: 4, Informative

      it's not a pc issue, more a how many are you ready to cash for it one. Just buy a real server with redundant everything, tons of fans, integrated error reporting and a system which allows real remote administration (that is, even if the machine is off, or the network card is dead, or you want to access the bios, or you need to install an os but don't have the cd in the machine so you need to be able to use an image as a virtual drive)...
      We had those things for something like $4000 from HP, probably other vendors have similar things, but the bottom line is: it's really worth the money. We thought we couldn't afford that, but it already payed for itself in a few months because we didn't have to do anything on the machine since they were set up, plus not having to drive 50km everytime we really need physical access...

  5. Avocent by kzanol · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For infrequent use you could consider what we're using: Standard (8-port) KVM Switch that can be controlled by Keyboard + one Avocent KVM IP Switch in front of that. Not too expensive and works reasonably well as long as you don't need to access more than one box at a time.

    --
    you have moved your mouse, please reboot to make this change take effect
    1. Re:Avocent by ben_degonzague · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We use avocent where I work. Its great. The remote software allows you to view the console and have all the functionality. So, when you have to reboot into the bios or diagnostics to view an error message, you can just load up a program instead of driving 30 miles. Definetly would recommend it, saves time.

    2. Re:Avocent by Gudlyf · · Score: 2, Informative

      I second the Avocent KVMs. The newer ones allow you to cable between the switch and the KVM unit via Cat-5 cabling (and their special dongles, of course). They have dongles for Sun, PC (both USB and PS/2), and serial, and the remote software works on Linux and Windows.

      --
      Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
    3. Re:Avocent by platos_beard · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just curious, but what would frequent use be? I can see occasionally needing to get into bios settings or see pre-boot messages, but why would you need to do that frequently and not have to be on-site anyway?

      --
      What's a sig?
  6. Raritan! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You get a little KVM dongle that plugs into the back of the machine, you plug Cat 5 into that, and you're off to the races. All TCPIP based, and you can monitor/tinker from anywhere on the planet with IE.

    1. Re:Raritan! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? It can handle a 1600x1200 M through IE anywhere in the world?

    2. Re:Raritan! by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You run your servers at 1600x1200? Let me guess: Windows Server 2003? The high res allows you to better manage all of your GUI interfaces?

      As for your original question, I imagine that 1600x1200 would probably be possible on any display even if you had to use scroll bars.

  7. easy way by nuggetman · · Score: 1

    really long wires back to the room the admins are in

    --
    ...and that's all there is to it.
    1. Re:easy way by lakiolen · · Score: 0

      There's a reason why you can't buy a hundred foot (usb, ps2, vga, etc) cable from your local computer parts store. It's just a little thing dealing with ee. The more resistance you have (caused by long wires), the less power you will have at the end of the wire (P = IV V = IR -> P = V^2/R). Oh and you might want to throw in signal propigation degridation in there too.

      --


      What are you expecting to find here?
    2. Re:easy way by erpbridge · · Score: 1

      Excuse me sir...

      Can you point me to the nearest shop that sells a 15-mile keyboard, video, and mouse cable, that will stretch all the way across town... and by the way, also one that won't run through people's backyards? ...Thought not.

    3. Re:easy way by nuggetman · · Score: 2, Funny

      Excuse me sir...

      Can you point me to the nearest shop that sells a sense of humor? ...Thought not.

      --
      ...and that's all there is to it.
    4. Re:easy way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just a little thing dealing with spelling. "propigation degridation"?

  8. VNC... by fini · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... is the answer. What is the question ?

    As mentionned by lullabud in an earlier post , RealVNC has a 100% hardware solution that's fully independant of the machines. But it's the admins can walk to the rack for the occasional reboot, I'd stick to the pedestrian solution. You should never loose an opportunity to perform some physical activity in this line of business...

    --
    SNS Not Sig
  9. Robots by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 3, Funny

    Robots are the future. You don't want to drive 100 miles to a remote server for physical access? Just leave a robot there to do the work for you. In a lot of ways, a remotely controlled robot is very much like an enhanced kvm. It can control the computer directly, but it can also switch out CDs for you, or replace faulty hardware. They can't be beat.

    1. Re:Robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      I use "robots" for this type of work all the time. By "robots" I of course mean "cheap third-world labor".

    2. Re:Robots by HawkingMattress · · Score: 1

      But but... how do you access the robot remotly when it needs flashing ?

    3. Re:Robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      by having more robots of course...its robots all the way down.
      robots, i say. robots.

    4. Re:Robots by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      pairs of robots.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    5. Re:Robots by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 4, Funny

      A naughty pair of robots who constantly flash each other.

    6. Re:Robots by scupper · · Score: 1

      daleks or R2s?

    7. Re:Robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Benders. Bite our shiny metal asses!

  10. Short answer: spend the money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Long answer: spend the money. Then you won't have to stomp on your KVM switch like the earlier poster did. Start with Avocent. Stop with them if you can. Next, Raritan. Then Rose. Then Belkin. There are quite a number of KVM over IP solutions nowadays, so do the research, and spend the money. Or if you have Dells, get the new version of what used to be called the DRAC (Dell Remote Assistance Card), or if you have Compaqs/HP's, spend the money on the license for the ILO (Integrated Lights Out) software (formerly RIB-LOE Remote Insight Board - Lights Out Edition). With the ILO, you can see boot time in a web browser.

  11. I'm happy with our Raritan by SeattleDave · · Score: 3, Informative

    We bought a Raritan KX232 for close to $3,600. It services 32 ports over IP. Little integration dongles that connect to your PCs and talk IP over CAT5 close around $75/ea. The whole system works extremely well. The only issues we've had are that their management interface is currently an ActiveX control for IE (a Java one is promised soon) and that when I use Microsoft RDC to connect in to our network (through the firewall) and bring up a PC in the data center, mouse tracking is all messed up. Essentially I'm doing VNC at the remote desktop to a PC in the data center. It can be a little frustrating. But, the hardware is exceptional. We effectively trashed all our old Belkin crap.

    1. Re:I'm happy with our Raritan by ocooch · · Score: 1

      We bought 2 of them last month, works great. I am glad that a non-ActiveX option is coming.

  12. American Megatrends MegaRAC G2/G3 by LiteForce · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have an AMI MegaRAC G2 installed in one of my co-lo servers at The Planet (Dallas, TX).

    It is a standard half-length PCI card that is a looks like a ATI Rage XL graphics card to the host operating system with a VGA connector on the back of the card in case you really need to hook a monitor up to it.

    (you do need to be able to disable the onboard VGA on the server - if it has it)

    The real magic is with the cards' mini USB connector - cable it up to any USB port on the server and the card will emulate a USB keyboard, USB mouse and a USB CD-ROM (great for operating system re-installs if you prefer Windows!).

    On the internal side, the card has a feature connector that allows 'pass-thru' to the servers' reset and power jumper pins.

    Because of the feature connector, the card can perform a proper hardware reset and power-cycle via 'pass-thru' to the server PWR_ON/RESET pins if the server manufacturer actually has bothered to put standard pins on their server board like most OEM motherboards have - the card can survive short power outages with the aid of its' dinky onboard battery that can last 30 minutes without power.

    My only bugbear with the G2 is that it has a horrible tendency to fall over if it is 'unprotected' from the Internet - if you can protect it from unwanted traffic by ACLs on an upstream router, I can heartily recommend it.

    The G3 is meant to have an onboard firewall but my e-mails to American Megatrends over the last few days have been rudely ignored.

    Another thing...

    The firmware for both cards is based on uClinux and various other GPL'd softwares... no mention of any source on American Megatrend's website although they do quote the GPL license on their download page.

    So to sum up:

    High-quality card.
    Average firmware.
    Manufacturer has piss-poor GPL attitude.
    Manufacturer has tendency not to reply to e-mails.

    I hope this information is helpful to at least some readers.

    --
    "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wuntime ewwors!" - Elmer Fudd
    1. Re:American Megatrends MegaRAC G2/G3 by FlameSnyper · · Score: 1

      "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wuntime ewwors!" - Elmer Fudd, pwogwammer extweme.

  13. One word by The+Iconoclast · · Score: 4, Insightful
    IBM e-server bladecenter.

    Ok, so that wasn't one word, but it should be, "OMFGIBMe-serverbladecenter!!!~1~." They are sweet seriously.

    --
    Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
    1. Re:One word by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IBM Netbays are pretty cool too

  14. PC Hardware Serial Console card by asdfghjklqwertyuiop · · Score: 3, Informative

    this company makes hardware serial console cards for PCs. They're just PCI cards that emulate a VGA video card (text) and PS/2 keyboard. They also come with a remotely-triggerable pair of pins that you can hook up to the machine's reset connector. They'll get you into the BIOS, you can install an OS, etc... and they're only $350 which is quite cheap for this sort of thing in PC land.

    1. Re:PC Hardware Serial Console card by Clover_Kicker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Everyone should check out that site for the artwork, even if they don't care about the product.

  15. HP/Compaq by xrayspx · · Score: 1

    We make decent use of HP/Compaq Remote Insight (now Integrated Lights Out) boards. They work pretty well, allow remote power button, etc. The one thing that bothers me is that in the G2/G3 servers, they have started charging extra for a Remote Console license fee. What this means is that you can watch the boot through post, then the display shuts off and you have to guess. That means that if you have a Windows server which bluescreens or a Linux server which fscks every time it boots, you're kind of out of luck.

    All of this type of product I've used, HP/Compaq RIB/ILO and IBM BladeCenter remote management all have used VNC embedded into their stuff, it works well and is as reliable as you need.

    We investigated the Belkin IP based KVM, however since we don't have anyone within 1400 miles of our datacenter, and the datacenter could only supply us 110 through some hokey power converters which had a tendency to not only fry themselves but also the KVM they were plugged into, we abandoned that idea for exclusive RIB use and never looked back.

    --
    I like music
    1. Re:HP/Compaq by timster · · Score: 1

      As I understand it, the license is for graphics mode. So if you set your Linux server to use text only (and definitely not the framebuffer device) you should be able to use it. Windows of course is right out.

      --
      I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
    2. Re:HP/Compaq by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You only need the advanced license for remote graphics. Text mode works fine, so Linux/BSD shouldn't be a problem. The Windows BSOD is text, so you can see that if the server crashes (but you probably should set Windows to create a crash dump and reboot, rather than hang at the BSOD screen). For "normal" use, you wouldn't want to use iLO anyway -- use Windows terminal services instead.

    3. Re:HP/Compaq by xrayspx · · Score: 1

      That's absolutely true.

      We've never bought one of the licenses, so I didn't really know what exactly they say.

      --
      I like music
    4. Re:HP/Compaq by xrayspx · · Score: 1

      Terminal Services is the only way to go as far as remote administration goes.

      I have very little desire to remote control a window session over a RIB, but they are great for reboots and troubleshooting during the boot sequence.

      --
      I like music
    5. Re:HP/Compaq by bangalla · · Score: 1

      The remote console license also gives you features like remote floppy drive and remote CD-ROM. These are invaluable if you need to be able to access these devices outside of your OS for troubleshooting.

      All rack mount HP servers (The Density Line, DL) now have the remote insight board integrated as a standard feature, believe me, if you have 42 servers in a rack you do not want to be dealing with a KVM.

      Compaq/HP Remote Insight is the best out of band Remote management in the market.

      --
      I want to use these Mod points but I can't find anything Interesting, Informative or Insightful on Slashdot.
    6. Re:HP/Compaq by tubabeat · · Score: 1

      I have no problems getting a serial console on my G2's. Just added the following line to /etc/inittab

      S0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -r -s 115200 ttyS0

      (after the mingetty line - can't remember if I also had to install mgetty)

      I also added the following to the kernel 'append' options in lilo.conf

      console=ttyS0,115200

      Then you can use ILO's serial console to your hearts content. I also use this with BL10e blade servers.

      --
      "Linux is a serious competitor"
      - Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Microsoft Corp.
  16. Better Idea by vanourek · · Score: 1

    How about using a surveillance camera tied into an autonomous robot? That is much better and you don't have the unreliability of a PC to contend with. In addition, the robot can be used in a hazardous environment such as the CORPORATE WORLD.

  17. I thought that's what NOC-monkeys were for. by lythander · · Score: 1

    Robots are an expensive solution to any question. Until The technology is cheap and mature, they should just be used for bomb disposal and nuke-plant maintenance.

    This is a great job for an intern or any other entry-level employee. Don't automate away opportunities for newbies to learn! (At least this can't be outsourced yet!)

  18. Nope, no talk of KVM's in 2004. by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 2, Informative

    Er, yeah. There's been no talk of KVM's in AskSlashdot in 2004.

    Learn to search old stories first, you goon.

    1. Re:Nope, no talk of KVM's in 2004. by vanourek · · Score: 0

      I know you are, but what am I?

      Seriously though, some people have more important things to do than search the Slashdot archives all day. For example, combing your mother's hair... or going through puberty. Now you're angry at the world cause your mom's got a birds nest and the neighborhood kids call you peach fuzz.

    2. Re:Nope, no talk of KVM's in 2004. by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 1

      Nah, I'm bored at work. I can't beat up on my boss, so I beat up on /. Better than pushing someone in front of a subway or something, right?

  19. rack mounted keyboard and monitor console by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    on other topics why the hell are the above 3 x the price of a notebook.

  20. Re:Girl Robots by mcmonkey · · Score: 1

    This is gonna be the best prom ever.

  21. Try Avocent KVMs by weeboo0104 · · Score: 1

    We use some of these in our data center. They are IP based and might be cheaper than the ones you are looking at. http://www.avocent.com

    --
    It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
  22. IPMI by rimu+guy · · Score: 1

    How about IPMI?

    The marketing blurb goes something like this:

    [IPMI] will allow for remote monitoring, management and recovery capabilities, regardless of the status or health of the server. New features such as enhanced security using leading authentication and encryption mechanisms in combination with remote console viewing will help reduce operational risk by securing remote operations. Moreover, with IPMI being implemented at the silicon level, it deals with monitoring basic server parts such as power supplies, fans, voltage and temperature irrespective of the type or health of the CPU or operating system.

    Supermicro have a sub $60 daughter card (for their motherboards only) that seems to offer console access over LAN using 'out of band' bandwidth, whatever that is. There are other vendors offering 'IPMI-enabled' mobos as well.

    Has anyone used one of these? I'm considering getting a few cards for the SuperMicros I colocate. And wonder how the seial console access works over a WAN, getting it setup, securing it, etc. And what support, server-side, there is for IPMI based monitoring.

    --
    Hosting VPS servers with SSH console access

  23. hey by xbmodder · · Score: 1

    hmmm, get cross-over keyboard and a capture card....

  24. belkin RIPC sucks - KAVEMAN SUX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Both companies are not responsive with support and the KVM over IP functions are junk.

    The raritan folks are cool, i met some of them at the tech data convention in canada this year, looks like a solid product. The avocent looks not bad either.

    You will PAY ALOT MORE $$ to have a KVM-OVER-IP in one box than having an Remote IP device that connects to the modern KVM's.

    Kaveman sucks bad. crashes. They have been working on firmware to fix it for half a year.
    Belkin, the tech support answer was "Try another computer". Umm yeah, you got a rack of 16 computers and that's a great answer. Stupid.

    Learn to support your products folks, or expect to get nailed to the cross when the reviews hit the major boards and (other)webhosting forums.

  25. HP KVM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/prolian tstorage/rack-options/scs/index-kvm.html

  26. Digital V6 Kaveman - KVM over IP by TeeJS · · Score: 1

    I've had great luck with an 8 port KVM over IP switch bu Digital V6 (http://digitalv6.com/)

    Reasonable cost - works with VNC, or a java applet.

    I also bought the integrated power control - I can now cobtrol the mouse/keyboard as well as cycle power from just about any web browser.

    --
    T.J. Schmitz - the man, the myth, the legend - o