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Summary - Rawn Shah, LinuxWorld's reviews editor, finds out if Avocent's Linux-tested KVM switches offer relief for a very common problem: how to manage many computers on one desktop. (2,000 words)
ave you ever wanted eight arms and two heads? Sometimes when I get piled up with work, I find myself wishing I did -- or maybe just a brain that could manage a few more bodies. So, imagine trying to move and work among all the computers that must share what's left of my desk space with several monitors. The combination of my one-brain/ one-body configuration and multiple-computer desk setup chews up my workspace, heats up my office, strains my neck, and nibbles away at my sanity.
There's an easy solution to all of this. No, we're not talking about human cloning; instead, we can run all the computers from the same desktop. There are many technical ways to do this using xterms, remote displays, and so on, but none simpler than the KVM switch. This device hooks one or more keyboard-video-mouse consoles to multiple computers; with the press of a button you can swap your views on a single monitor.
KVM switches are an enormous space saver for server rooms filled with computers. Although a lot of servers can run well without a console, it is so much simpler to manage them with a keyboard, monitor, and mouse directly attached. With Linux playing such a crucial role in ISPs and ASPs today, it is very likely that if you are a service provider you either have a KVM switch or want one.
KVM switch helps evolve the caveman
Thus, I set out to test a KVM switch from one of the best-known companies in the market segment that has tested its product on Linux systems. I looked at the AutoView 200 KVM switch and LongView KVM extender from Cybex Computer Products, which just recently merged with another leading KVM company, Apex, and is now called Avocent. If you need to go beyond these products and support up to several thousand computers across a WAN, you should look to Avocent's XP4040 enterprise KVM switch.
KVMs switches are simple to use and implement, and have little or no compatibility issues. You can hook up...