KVM & Console Servers

KVM (analogue)

KVM stands for Keyboard, Video (Monitor) and Mouse, and is a hardware device (switch) that allows a single keyboard, video (monitor) and mouse to be used with a number of computers (2-48+), and therefore enables a single user to interact with multiple computers at the same time.

KVM over IP (digital)

A digital KVM device can also allow one or more computers to be accessed via one Keyboard, Video and Mouse, but also has the ability to connect the KVM switch itself to the network/internet, and so giving secure remote access to multiple computers simultaneously. A digital KVM switch can also be connected to an analogue KVM switch and therefore ‘IP enable’ it.

KVM over IP solutions provide server management over an IP network right down to BIOS level and are ideal for remotely managing geographically distributed IT equipment. KVM over IP eliminates cable distance limitations and gives system administrators 24x7 access to mission critical server & storage systems distributed across a wide variety of network environments such as high-density data centres, corporate or university campuses, multi-floor buildings, branch offices, and test and development labs. KVM over IP provides access via a web browser, anywhere, at any time, enabling administrators to gain access to servers (even when the operating system is not present) to perform maintenance and solve problems.

Advanced solutions will also include enterprise level features, for example

Secure encryption of keyboard, mouse, and video data
Virtual Media Support for loading ISO images
Remote authentication to control administrator access.

Console servers

A console server (console access server, console management server, serial concentrator, or serial console server) is a device or service that provides access to the system console of a computing device via networking technologies.

Most commonly, a console server provides a number of serial ports, which are then connected to the serial ports of other equipment, such as servers, routers or switches. The consoles of the connected devices can then be accessed by connecting to the console server over a serial link such as a modem, or over a network with terminal emulator software such as telnet or SSH, maintaining survivable connectivity that allows remote users to log in the various consoles without being physically nearby.

Dedicated console server appliances are available with a number of serial ports ranging from one to 48, with varying features provided by their embedded software.

Disaster-aware administrators consider Console Servers to be the life-line when there is a major network problem (like a router failure or denial of service attack). Many pieces of IT equipment including; Servers, switches, routers, telecoms equipment, heating, cooling, building access controls, UPS’s, can be managed over serial connections.

Console servers provide a complete local and remote management solution for the data centres giving IT managers the ability to securely access devices over serial interfaces via Telnet or SSH. Multi-port console server give IT managers a single point of contact either in-band or via an out-of-band dial-up connection.

Advanced console server will also have enterprise features including; SSL and SSH for data encryption, remote authentication, and firewall technology to reject connection attempts or block ports.

Storage KVM Console Servers

Device servers

Terminal servers, also known as Device servers, are products designed to remotely access and manage serial interface edge devices such as; medical equipment, kiosks, POS/retail terminals, bar code scanners, weighing scales, security equipment, door entry panels, and much more. Various models are available on the market from single port to multi-port units. Serial information from the ports is packed up into Ethernet frames and tunnelled to the application server. Applications running on the server usually have been written to expect the edge devices to be directly attached via a serial bus. To unpack the Ethernet packages requires the uses of an intermediate software package called a COM-PORT redirector. This allow the applications to read and write to virtual serial ports (which act like real ones) while behind the scenes the COM-PORT redirector translates the format to Ethernet. At the Device Server the reverse translation happens and the information flows in serial form to the edge devices.

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