Hi all, Has anyone seen something like this before: I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free LCD, keyboard & mouse to connect to a server (no network access, reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully there's an open power socker in that cabinet. So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an LCD, keyboard, mouse & power. Surely someone has, or may still, build something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to the server's VGA & USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM? -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532
On 13/10/2010 19:31, Rudi Ahlers wrote:> Hi all, > > Has anyone seen something like this before: > > I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician > goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free > LCD, keyboard& mouse to connect to a server (no network access, > reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully > there's an open power socker in that cabinet. > > So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an > LCD, keyboard, mouse& power. Surely someone has, or may still, build > something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to > the server's VGA& USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM? >Many servers have network console capability these days. HP's iLO (Integrated Lights Out) and Dell's DRAC functions. You can just boot up the laptop, connect a network cable to the iLO port and the Laptop, set the IP, and use a browser to get a Java application that includes a console (OS independant). Most medium to large scale datacenter deployments will have a seperate management network to which these iLO and DRAC systems are constantly connected to for OOB management.
Rudi Ahlers wrote:> Hi all, > > Has anyone seen something like this before: > > I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician > goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free > LCD, keyboard & mouse to connect to a server (no network access, > reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully > there's an open power socker in that cabinet. > > So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an > LCD, keyboard, mouse & power. Surely someone has, or may still, build > something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to > the server's VGA & USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM? > >I was looking for something like that. http://www.aten.com has a bunch of devices that might work for you. It's unclear from their web page weather any of the single port devices will do what you want, though they definitely have multiport kvms that are accesible over TCP. I have no experience with their products. <http://www.aten.com/products/productList_altusen.php?pcid=2006041110563001&psid=20060411131311002&layerid=subClass1> Nataraj
On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 12:31 PM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi at softdux.com> wrote:> Hi all, > > Has anyone seen something like this before: > > I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician > goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free > LCD, keyboard & mouse to connect to a server (no network access, > reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully > there's an open power socker in that cabinet. > > So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an > LCD, keyboard, mouse & power. Surely someone has, or may still, build > something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to > the server's VGA & USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM? > > -- > Kind Regards > Rudi Ahlers > SoftDux > > Website: http://www.SoftDux.com > Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com > Office: 087 805 9573 > Cell: 082 554 7532 >Your request inspired me to try a google search: linux laptop as kvm console Apparently there is such a device (URL may wrap): http://us.startech.com/product/NOTECONS01-Portable-USB-PS-2-KVM-Console-Adapter-for-Notebook-PCs It may require a Windows XP or Mac laptop, but at least one page says it works on Linux, too. You could try to contact StarTech, I guess. -- Dale Dellutri -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20101013/ca1f8a43/attachment-0002.html>
On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 8:20 PM, Dale Dellutri <daledellutri at gmail.com> wrote:> Your request inspired me to try a google search: > > ? linux laptop as kvm console > > Apparently there is such a device (URL may wrap): > > > http://us.startech.com/product/NOTECONS01-Portable-USB-PS-2-KVM-Console-Adapter-for-Notebook-PCs > > It may require a Windows XP? or Mac laptop, but at least one page says it > works on Linux, too.? You could try to contact StarTech, I guess. > > -- > Dale Dellutri > > _______________________________________________Thanx Dale, that's what I was looking for :) Now I just need to find a local supplier, seeing how expensive this is. I guess my google search terms were just a bit off..... -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532
2010/10/13 Rudi Ahlers <Rudi at softdux.com>> Hi all, > > Has anyone seen something like this before: > > I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician > goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free > LCD, keyboard & mouse to connect to a server (no network access, > reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully > there's an open power socker in that cabinet. > > So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an > LCD, keyboard, mouse & power. Surely someone has, or may still, build > something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to > the server's VGA & USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM? > > -- > Kind Regards > Rudi Ahlers > SoftDux > > Website: http://www.SoftDux.com > Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com > Office: 087 805 9573 > Cell: 082 554 7532 > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >Hi, if that would be possible with a tablet (ipad, android-tablet etc)+case (like clancase for ipad) :D Anyone tried :http://www.iogear.com/product/GCS661UW6/ ? []'s Luigi Castro Cardeles -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20101013/3a549663/attachment-0002.html>
Rudi Ahlers <Rudi at SoftDux.com> wrote:> I want to use a laptop as a KVM console.[snip] Other people have pointed out KVM-over-IP devices for your legacy or low end machines (ALOM/iLO/DRAC/whatever is still cheaper for server-grade hardware). I'd like to bring up the AdderLink IPEPs, which I can say from experience is a very nice device. They are very stable and the over-the-wire protocol is encrypted VNC which means, unlike many of the lower-end competitors, you're not forced to use a Windows box to access the console of your windows machine. The IPEPs has an IP-blocking mechanism if someone tries to brute-force it. (Of course, having it on a non-publicly-available management network is still better.) <http://www.adder.com/uk/products/IPEPS.aspx> or <http://www.adder.com/uk/products/IPEPS_Dual_access.aspx> While they market them as one-per-server, you can easily amortize the cost by hooking the IPEPs to an electronic KVM switch (the kind that allows you to switch machines based on keyboard strokes rather than flipping a switch), and then hooking the KVM to your servers. Thus the fanout depends on the capability of your KVM switch. Note that using the KVM means that you have a security model that assumes that anyone who logs into the KVM is permitted console access to any attached server. (They'd still have to log into each server.) I think that AdderLink also has multi-server versions of IP-over-KVM that may be better/cheaper if you need to allow for different people with different security access to get at the servers. Unlike an ALOM/iLO/DRAC, the IPEPs does not have any power switching capability, so you'd still need to cover that capability off as well if you need it. For power management, there are also many options for PDUs but I'd suggest the APC line, such as the AP7901 or equivalent: <http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP7901> IMO, this is only suitable for single-power-supply servers (If you're using a redundant power supply in your servers, you should also have an ALOM/iLO/DRAC.) If you go the IPEPs + KVM route, I'd suggest ensuring that your KVM doesn't draw power from the keyboard/monitor/mouse connectors so that if you need to reset the KVM you can power cycle it remotely via a PDU rather than needing to be on site. (The DLink DKVM-8E is inexpensive, but it has the draw-power-from-multiple-sourcs problem and sometimes after a power outage it needs a reset -- for which we need on-site access. *grumble*) Devin
I had the same thought a couple years ago. I found a device from a
company out of the UK called Epiphan. They make a small box that
connects via usb 2.0 (required) and acts as a KVM. Essentially it
streams across USB. They make drivers for both Windows and Mac and they
have a Linux SDK but will build a Linux client for you based on the
kernel you're running. They're working on having a production Linux
client but it isn't there yet.
I've used it for both Windows and Mac. I find connecting to a Windows
server is troublesome but it works great on Linux CLI. This has become
my crash cart. The company have been very aggressive developing the
software for it and are very responsive to problems you encounter.
We've had really good success with it. It does have a few quirks but
nothing insurmountable and we're budgeting to purchase one for each
admin.
http://www.epiphan.com/products/other-applications/kvm2usb/
____________________________
Matt Ausmus
Network Administrator
Chapman University
635 West Palm Street
Orange, CA 92868
(714)628-2738
mausmus at chapman.edu
"Nothing is ever accomplished by a reasonable man."
-Bucy's Law
-----Original Message-----
From: Rudi Ahlers [mailto:Rudi at SoftDux.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 10:32 AM
To: CentOS mailing list
Subject: [CentOS] using a Laptop as a KVM console?
Hi all,
Has anyone seen something like this before:
I want to use a laptop as a KVM console. Basically when a technician
goes to one of our datacentres, or clients he has to look for a free
LCD, keyboard & mouse to connect to a server (no network access,
reinstall, troubleshoot failed kernel / HDD, etc). And then hopefully
there's an open power socker in that cabinet.
So I'm thinking why not just use a laptop instead? It already has an
LCD, keyboard, mouse & power. Surely someone has, or may still, build
something that could connect to the laptop's USB port(s) and then to
the server's VGA & USB / PS2 ports, then act as a KVM?
--
Kind Regards
Rudi Ahlers
SoftDux
Website: http://www.SoftDux.com
Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com
Office: 087 805 9573
Cell: 082 554 7532