HP has introduced 16- and eight-port models of its KVM over Cat 5 Server Console switches. HP Server Console switches integrate KVM and serial devices into a single management console for all servers including blades, network devices and infrastructure products — even in heterogeneous environments. New firmware and hardware provide support for attaching serial devices to the switch and support for preemption when connected to an IP console switch. New HP BladeSystems Cat 5 KVM Interface Adapters allow KVM connections to individual blade servers.
Requiring no software to be installed on the target servers, the HP Server Console switches provide a KVM solution for local system management. With the ability to cascade multiple switches, the switches can manage up to 256 servers from a single KVM console. The switches use Cat 5 UTP cables to facilitate cable routing between devices and allow for field termination of custom cable lengths to eliminate coils of cabling in the rear of the rack. The local KVM solution can be integrated into a KVM/IP remote management environment. The switches include serial support to allow management of Linux, Unix and other platform devices to be managed from a single console.
The interface adapter that runs from the Cat 5 cable to the server KVM ports also provides keep-alive and naming functionality. Keep-alive means that even if the Cat 5 cable is disconnected from the switch, the interface adapter will still respond as if the keyboard, mouse and video were present, allowing a server reboot to occur without errors. Storing the name in the interface adapter ensures that even if the cables are connected to different ports on the switch, or even a different switch, the name will follow the server — making changes to KVM network configuration simple.
For more information, visit www.hp.com/go/infrastructure.
