Laptops, Headless Servers and KVMs?

Administration of headless machines can be a pain, and working on multiple machines can also be a bit of a bother. KVM boxes solve some of the problem, but sometimes finding a keyboard and a monitor to lug around to these machines is most of the problem. Is there a portable solution that might solve both of these problems? Wouldn't it be nice to carry around a specialized laptop that could act as both a portable display and input device? Does something like this currently exist? KJH1138 asks: "I am looking for a hardware/software combination that would allow me to use my laptop as the KVM for a headless server before, during, and after OS configuration. What I have in mind would be a server KVM/USB to laptop serial/USB connection, with software on the laptop to provide KVM control of the headless device, with or without an OS. A PC Anywhere or Linux equivalent wouldn't work since they would require the headless system to already have an installed OS. I would prefer a Linux-based solution on the laptop, but would settle for a Windows option. I simply don't want the clutter of a keyboard and monitor."

PGillingwater has a similar desire: "Like many regular readers, sometimes I need to visit a customer site to diagnose equipment, like firewalls or routers. More systems these days use VGA output and keyboard input, which means having to scrounge a display and keyboard, then looking for a spare power socket in the machine room, which is not always easy! I am wondering if anyone has seen a laptop which also allows VGA input and keyboard output. This would be a cool idea. Use it as a normal laptop most of the time, then hijack the video and keyboard to connect to other systems when you need it."

Comments

What we do...

[grub]

If we can't ssh to computers or telnet to equipment (switches, etc) we have an OpenBSD laptop which we can use as a console via a serial cable and kermit. That's assuming a unixish system, though. If you're only running Windows on servers then why not install TightVNC and control it from your desktop? Assuming the machine is still on the LAN, of course. If it's not you'll probably just reboot it anyhow.

Wow

[cca93014]

1337 bytes in body

Er, w00t?

Wimp

[Odo]

> Is there a portable solution that might solve both of these problems?

Yes. Real techs just stick their tongue in the video port and jiggle a paperclip in the keyboard port. Only amateurs need dedicated hardware.

VGA2USB

[DaHat]

Recently when trying to figure out why my PC in the livingroom (plugged into the TV) wasn't displaying any video, I longed for a easy device I could plug into my laptop to display video... rather than have to lug a monitor out to the livingroom.

Sure enough, a company makes just such a device, the .

It does nothing for your mouse and keyboard needs, but this (I think) solves the biggest issue of your question.

Have you considered...

[farzadb82]

KVM over IP ? - I think some one has already mentioned this previously, however, they mentioned the plugin card variety. You can also purchase a stand alone box, similar to a regular KVM, however, it routes the Keyboard, Video and Mouse via IP to any machine that is network capable. The client is supplied either as a windows binary or as a Java applet (when you browse to the maintenance webpage. You can, in theory use a wireless PDA or laptop with a java enabled web browser to connect directly and control these devices.

Re:Pardon my ignorince but ...

[ctr2sprt]

The issue with network-based server management is that it isn't suitable for a large data center. For instance, a typical webhosting setup might have a couple hundred (or thousand) servers - the ideal target for remote management, because it's wildly impractical/impossible to put them all on KVMs. Each server will have one NIC for the "public" network, the one connected to the Internet. To help lock down remote access for SSH etc., you will also have a private network. We're already up to two distinct networks here, you'll note. Now add a third one for management, which incidentally is also going to require DHCP. The cost for building yet another discrete internal network - and managing it! - is going to be nontrivial. It's usually cheaper, and about as effective, to buy a couple cheap-ass carts and put monitors and keyboards on them. It means your NOC staff has to get off their asses every now and then, but... Is sparing them that really worth the $10k+ it will probably cost in network hardware (not to mention cabling nightmares)?

Serial consoles are great, but not for PCs. In a big DC, you will not have the root password to every server. You will be logging in via some special authentication mechanism like SecurID and then doing sudo su (or just ssh public keys). So getting a login prompt is not going to be helpful; you'll have to reboot the server. On real Unix hardware, you can usually do this by sending a hardware break and typing "reboot" (or similar). This will work even if the OS is crashed or thrashing or whatever. On a PC, no dice, because it's purely the software which handles the serial connection. So you have to hit the reset button, which will probably solve whatever issue was going on anyway (while simultaneously destroying any in-memory logs of what the cause might have been).

For us, in our DC with about 5000 servers, the worst servers to manage are actually the real Unix hardware, but that's only because we have just the one laptop (and because the Unix servers are all disasters held together by spit and baling wire, but that's another story). Also the laptop sucks ass and keeps breaking because it's 6 years old and has been dropped several times. That's something else to keep in mind if you're looking for a laptop-based solution: People Will Drop It. Not only that, if they have to step away from the server for a second, the laptop will get left on the floor, where some unwary soul will step on it or wheel a crash cart over it. Laptops are expensive, even secondhand. A crummy 15" CRT and keyboard will set you back $100, if that, and if they're on a cart that can be wheeled around they won't get dropped (often). Just make sure to buy monitors with fully-removable video and power cords, so when someone wheels the cart off without unplugging it you won't wreck the server's video connector and pull the PDC out of the rack.

Re:RTFA

[LinuxHam]

Typical Slashdot.... 99% of posts are unresponsive and off topic.

No, typical Slashdot is a bunch of kids answering a serious question before ever setting foot in an enterprise environment.

Two choices: first, an IP KVM installed in each rack. But you still have to address the power switch and media. Another poster mentioned PXE booting. It works, but takes effort to build all the different images you want to have handy, and what do you do for a hung box 1,000 miles away? Or once you address the power question, the NIC is bad?

Second: IBM (and others) offer remote systems management cards that not only give you full remote KVM on the server the card is installed in, but they also give you access to the system power and screen captures of blue screens that may have occured before the server rebooted itself to recover. They can also present virtual floppy and CD-ROM drives to their host servers. Finally, if you don't want to run 10/100 and do IP allocations for each management card, you can daisy chain up to 24 servers together over RS-485 and use any one of them as a gateway to the IP network.

One IP address. Full remote KVM access to up to 24 servers at a time. Access to the system power. Access to screenshots of blue screens that may have tripped a reboot. Full hardware and software alert forwarding directly handled by the gateway card or passed on to enterprise systems management environments via numerous methods. Virtual floppy and CD-ROM drives. If you still absolutely insist on going onsite to the box, you can sit at a desk in the corner and get an IP.

For christ's sake be a professional, dammit! I love all these answers about using distros configured to put the console on a serial tty when the submitter clearly described needing to be in the box before the POST splash is up. Another year of not having to worry about my job if this is the competition.