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sysops best friend

T

TandyMan100

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At my computer
y'know what I think? Too bad, here it is ;-)

I think that there should be a laptop-sized device with a trackball, keyboard, and lcd screen all built in, but no processor or anything. It could be designed as an easy alternative to lugging a monitor, keyboard, and mouse down to your server when you need to work on it. You just plug in the PS/2 mouse, keyboard, and VGA lcd screen's cables, and (boom) you have everything you need to administer your server. It could also have a cd drive built in, maybe a USB hub, etc.
 
the hardware is called a "laptop" and the software is called "VNC" or "SSH". Sounds like you're thinking of a modern dumb terminal?
 
I think he's talking about a portable KVM console - something that maybe looks like the HP TFT7600 but much smaller.
 
Watch out when hotplugging PS/2 keyboards. I've killed at least one (it takes me a while to learn) motherboard doing that.
 
Well, aren't real servers already connected with some serial device to a remote terminal which lets you select which machine to access? At least the server hotel our company uses has a similar setup which also allows their network admins to remotely access any machine. I don't know how often you need to get up close to a server or other computer where you don't have room for a regular display, keyboard and mouse.

Err.. look what I found with the help of Google: How to turn a laptop into a KVM console. It only costs $400... There are other manufacturers doing the same thing, but their devices are even more expensive ($470).

So, it turns out for a mere 400 dollars your dream can come true.
 
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linuxlove said:
the hardware is called a "laptop" and the software is called "VNC" or "SSH". Sounds like you're thinking of a modern dumb terminal?
Click to expand...

I agree, because most commonly it equipment that needs to be consoled into, not just servers. A router, firewall, managed switch won't (usually) have KVM outputs. All of this of course, saying that the remote consoles you have set up don't work.
 
Interesting point. I recently bought a wireless D-Link print server, a model that has been obsoleted but is sold cheap on eBay. This device required you to connect wirelessly to its own network to get configured. I could not find a way to connect from my desktop PC through my router with wireless network, but fortunately I could use my Eee PC with built-in wireless to connect to that specific SSID. Once there it was relatively easy to from the web browser re-configure the print server to attach to my regular wireless network. Possibly I could have renamed the router's network to match the factory default of the print server, but it was a good example where no KVM, VNC, desktop http, ssh or so on could help me.
 
By the way, if you only need a computer monitor but no input you could get a video digitizer for your laptop. They cost far less than $400. Perhaps there are adapters and software that will echo your input through a USB port too for a DIY solution.
 
We have similar units in our data center. I think they're Dell 2161's or something but they're not quite as quick/advanced as you're wanting. Essentially it's really just a KVM that you keep everything plugged into the systems all the time (btw, KVMs are dirt cheap at Goodwills etc.. here (Austin) we have them for usually <$20 for 4-8 port KVMs.. probably the larger price is the cables) then a rackmount display which is really a 1u system with an LCD screen, keyboard with built-in mouse which you can then switch between all your systems. Basically a dumb graphic terminal.

The poor mans portable KVM would be a cheap wheeled cart with keyboard/mouse and an LCD screen (also getting cheap to pick up a smaller sized unit).

Otherwise yeah, VNC is pretty good for remote usage on multiple operating systems or even just Remote Desktop if you're doing Windows stuff.
 
Yeah, I know Dell and HP have the technology in their servers, I'm sure others do as well. It's quite handy when you want to reboot a server or see it's status even if it's BSOD'd to be able to view the monitor verbatim. As far as I know Dell bought some company (not sure who) to enable that in their newer servers from a Java console. It replicates video card output, keyboard and mouse movement to the server (not at all perfect which kinda makes you wonder if they even understand the tech) but it's handy as a last resort.

At least you don't go rebooting a server when you see it's doing a chkdsk or fsck from a previous error.

A consumer priced unit/setup would be a great thing for everyone.
 
Real servers run open firmware or equivalent. Or have ILO / RSA cards (or built in). Real servers can be started, controlled, configured and booted via the network.
In older times, real servers had their (serial) console port connected to a terminal server which was reachable over the network.
;^)
 
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Ole Juul said:
A light and easy way to get monitor and keyboard plugged in would be nice. For servers, remote is great - until you need to change the BIOS.
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That's kinda what I was thinking. Over the network may work for most stuff inside the OS, but what about BIOS and bluescreens, etc.?
 
Well, sure you could run an older nix box like a Sun or Dec system and share the console via a linux box and serial cable and then have the CLI fully available via remote access.

Poor mans networked serial hub though I've seen them for cheap also at goodwillish stores.
 
It's a neat idea, and the thought have crossed my mind many times. When I worked at one of the biggest hosting companys in Swedens data centers, I was ready to sell my left hand for one... In some racks the KVM-switches was broken, or there wasn't one installed at all. Consoles were broken all the time. In the worst racks (where some old junk machines lived), the cabling was so messy that you risked pulling out some servers power cord while connecting the portable console.

The "portable" consoles we had for those occations was an old tape trolley (for 9-tracks, left there by the previous owners) with a CRT monitor and PS/2 keyboard+mouse on top. The thing was really high and narrow (the monitor could barely fit on top of it) and the wheels was semi-jammed. At more than one occasion it was close that the monitor faceplanted the floor.

edit: This ridiculos need for monitor+keyboard (come on, it's a server) on PC:s is why I like Sun hardware so much. One serial cord and you are done!
 
tingo said:
Real servers run open firmware or equivalent. Or have ILO / RSA cards (or built in). Real servers can be started, controlled, configured and booted via the network.
In older times, real servers had their (serial) console port connected to a terminal server which was reachable over the network.
;^)
Click to expand...
Of course you have access to the command line on any computer. I use Telnet or SSH to administer all the computers in the house even if they're not mine but that only allows me to configure the software.

I'm not familiar with ILO / RSA but does that really give you access to the BIOS?
 
Ole Juul said:
Of course you have access to the command line on any computer. I use Telnet or SSH to administer all the computers in the house even if they're not mine but that only allows me to configure the software.

I'm not familiar with ILO / RSA but does that really give you access to the BIOS?
Click to expand...

ILO and similar products lets you access the machines console via a web interface. It's just as being connected to the VGA and PS/2-ports. Most products also lets you control the powerswitch and mount ISO-files.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_out_management
 
cl3mens said:
ILO and similar products lets you access the machines console via a web interface. It's just as being connected to the VGA and PS/2-ports. Most products also lets you control the powerswitch and mount ISO-files.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_out_management
Click to expand...
So I guess that's a no when it comes to accessing the BIOS. :) Interesting article though.

On a slightly unrelated note, the remote control of the power switch is a nice feature. I've been fooling a bit with wake-on-lan and that has a problem if the machine to be controlled has not been powered off normally.
 
Ole Juul said:
So I guess that's a no when it comes to accessing the BIOS. :) Interesting article though.
Click to expand...
I think you are guessing wrong. Any ILO / RSA (Remote Supervisor Adapter) worth anything will allow you to do all things, including BIOS access.
 
tingo said:
I think you are guessing wrong. Any ILO / RSA (Remote Supervisor Adapter) worth anything will allow you to do all things, including BIOS access.
Click to expand...
Me guessing wrong? :mrgreen: I was just going by the article limitations described in the Wikipedia article, but I probably didn't understand it all. Besides there are no doubt a lot of different devices out there.
 
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