Review: Beefed up KVM

Channel Test Center recently took a look at two KVM products to have a better sense of the enhanced features. The first unit, an 8-port KH98 switch from ATEN, comes with a remote network troubleshooting interface. The second unit, the SecureLinx Spider from Lantronix, is a KVM device that works over IP.

ATEN's KH98 offers Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) based monitoring. This Health Manager KVM switch can monitor server hardware on various metrics such as CPU temperature, voltage, and fan speed. While the switch supports 8 machines, it can be cascaded to three levels. This means that a full three-stage configuration would consist of 73 KH98 switches supporting 512 computers. That's a lot of keyboards and monitors that can be thrown away.

While ostensibly a normal KVM, its sheer scalability makes it one on stereoids. An affordable one, too, as its MSRP is $ 499.95.

The sleek black box has eight ports along with the console port and an Ethernet port for IPMI monitoring in the back and eight buttons and LED status lights in the front, corresponding to each port. Each one has a keyboard and mouse PS/2 connector as well as a VGA connector. Cables connect the switch with the corresponding keyboard, mouse, VGA, and USB ports on the target machine. The Sun Ultra 20 workstation has a USB keyboard and mouse, so engineers cabled the end with PS/2 connectors to the switch and the end with USB connectors to the workstation. The HP xw8400 Personal Workstation was connected with normal PS/2 cables. The console port accepts only the PS/2 keyboard and mouse.

For older machines that require a keyboard to be plugged in during bootup, KH98 has got them covered. The ports send a signal that mimic the signal from a keyboard, ensuring bootup without hiccups.

Engineers found setup fast and easy since there was no software to configure. Once cables were plugged in and machines turned on, the switch scanned the ports to find the ones with a signal. Engineers switched between machines by pressing the corresponding button on the switch, but keyboard hotkey commands and a menu are also available. In addition, the switch is hot-pluggable " machines can be connected or disconnected without powering the switch off.

After so many hardware products that require some kind of configuration, it was a bit of a relief to be able to take something out of a box and just go.

When the switch powers on, a menu lists configured machines and offers several options, such as port scanning and hotkey setup. There's also an option to configure IPMI by entering the server's IP address. Once the KH98 switch is plugged into the server with an Ethernet cable, the switch can accept PET alerts from the server. As soon as it receives a PET alert, the switch shifts focus to the server to display the entire alert.

Lantronix took a completely different approach with its KVM product. First of all, it's not a switch. The SecureLinx Spider resembles a clunky dongle with two Ethernet ports, a VGA video port, USB port, a serial Ethernet port, and keyboard/mouse connectors (like KH98, the connectors can be either PS/2 or USB). The grey-blue box is a very simple device that simultaneously offers a lot of flexibility and control.

The SecureLinx Spider is also different from ATEN's KH98 in that it is a KVM/IP device. The Spider offers control and access to machines remotely. For administrators, this means they can administer a server in a different room from the comfort of their desks.

It's not pretty, but remember the lesson of the ugly duckling. It doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it can do the job.

Lantronix said many small to midsized businesses don't want to be restricted to the number of ports available on a switch. If they need nine ports, they would have to buy a second switch. If they need just one port, an 8-port switch is overkill. Since most KVM over IP switches are also exorbitantly priced, buying just enough for the SMB's needs makes sense. With Lantronix pricing the Spider at $495 each, the company said the device is more affordable for small businesses.

Spider is different from remote control software in that the IP KVM dongle provides full hardware control. Need to reboot and get into the BIOS? The Spider to the rescue! The remote user accesses the Spider over a local or wide area network connection using a standard Web browser.

Test Center engineers plugged the Spider into the Sun Ultra 20. The Spider came with a cable with an RJ45 Ethernet connector at one end and a DB9F connector on the other to connect the workstation to the Spider's serial port. Through a terminal emulation window, the Spider was manually assigned an IP address, the subnet mask, default gateway, and the LAN interface information.

With the Spider configured, the device was accessible over the local area network. Engineers pointed the Web browser to the IP address assigned to the Spider and were able to manage the product. For example, the Spider can force users to use SSL encryption when accessing the machine for increased security.

The Spider also uses Java applets to give control of the machine. While there is a slight bit of a lag as the screen refreshes, the ability to administer the machine from the office instead of in the lab's tight confines more than made up for the lag. When administrators are on the road and can't get back to the data center during a crisis, having a KVM product over IP means administrators can still get to work.

The KH98 fits the more traditional needs, but the SecureLinx Spider gives the sedentary administrator another excuse to stay put.