KVM over IP?

mvip · Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:34 pm Post subject: KVM over IP?

Hi,
I have a not-so-much-gentoo-oriented-question, but more general network-related.
This is the thing. I'm sysadmin a couple of servers located in Sweden where the company is based, while I'm located here in Silicon Valley. So far everything have worked out fine with SSH and VNC, but recently we had to add a new server, and this was a bit of hassle. I managed to set up the server off-site, and set it up correctly, but when the server was moved to the actual server-room things went wrong. I messed up a bit with the TCP-IP settings, and the server didn't work properly on the network. Anyways, I had to call a friend of mine who had to visit the server in person to fix the problem (witch was simple), but this made think that I really need to do something about his.
What I really need is a KVM that I can access from here when I'm logged into the VPN.

I've seen plenty of KVM-over-IP solutions, but none of them seems to be designed for my purpose really. What I'm looking for is simply some kind of VNC-ish solution that let me controll the servers on BIOS-level.

Is there such solution for a reasonable price (<$999 or so)?

Regards,
mvip

cokey · Advocate Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 3355

I'm not sure it would be possible because it sounds like you would need to use it before the kvn switch was acitvated
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troymc · Guru Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 553

I have used 2 different solutions to this problem for employers who were...ah shall we say "cost conscious".

The first was to use an older, retired box with a multi-port serial card in it as a console server. Null modem cables connected it to the individual servers. And each server was configured to have its console on the 1st serial port. This works best when your server boxes have the BIOS feature to redirect the console to serial port. That way you have full BIOS access via the network - ssh into the console server & minicom to the box you want to administer. Also, I used an IDE --> FLASH adapter to boot off of flash so that I didn't have to worry about hard disk failures in my console server.

The 2nd solution involved 3 servers and I did something similar to the above. I just daisy chained them. Server 1's console was available on Server 2, Server 2's console was on Server 3, etc. You just had to remember which server was the console server for the one you wanted. That wasn't too difficult with 3 servers.

troymc

mvip · Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:57 am Post subject:

(sorry for the delay, but i had some problems with my account)

troymc,
your first solution sounds quite nice. I might consider doing something similar to that. However, I don't think any of the servers supports BIOS->Console, but I guess it would give me more control that I have currently have.

What I really was looking for was some kind of hardware-solution that would deal with this, like a 'remote kvm' that basically just have a couple of KVM-ports and then a ethernet port, so that you connect to it using some sort of client software (VNC-ish).

Nobody knows if there's any solution like this out on the market?

bunder · Bodhisattva Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 5947

i haven't seen any hardware kvm-over-ip switches for under a grand.
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magic919 · Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:42 am Post subject:

There are plenty of these around. Google for IP KVM or lights out kvm and you'll see. Blackbox can do $1200 for one, and they are never the cheapest.

Falador · n00b Joined: 18 Jan 2004 Posts: 60

refresh · n00b Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 16

your right about the ability to have a good system at a good price. I guess the best thing to do is to keep searching, the company i work for we have a big system and it works nicely. The company who makes the switches are called Raritan(http://www.raritan.com). They have a large line of products, but i dont think in your price range, there customer support is excellent.

If you have alot of servers that need managing, keep in mind you do not need a IP-KVM for every PC/Server, you can use a regular KVM then the main console of that KVM will get the IP-KVM, therefore expanding you access while not hurting your pocket to much.

Just be sure to check all commands and access, change port on the KVM, to make sure any keystrokes do not conflict with the other IP-KVM. Most likely you will not have that problem because the software they have is pretty nice and simple for IP-KVM.

hope that helps,
refresh

mvip · Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: