KVM switches have evolved to keep up with new pointing devices, keyboard technology and video capabilities. Virtually any brand-name KVM switch used in enterprise support has adequate on-screen menu routines, supports most (if not all) hardware-OS combinations and can deal with the once-pesky Microsoft Windows NT "loss of mouse" signal. But keep-alive technology (which provides the mechanism to resume control of all KVM functions should power to the switch be interrupted), user-upgradable firmware and support for the Microsoft Intellimouse are no longer the wondrous features they once were. Today's enterprise-class KVM switch needs to bring more to the table.
The explosive growth of e-business, Internet telephony and ISPs means servers are popping up like daffodils in spring. Enterprise KVM philosophy needs an upgrade, a challenge vendors are beginning to meet. We evaluated four KVM switches for contemporary data-room suitability at our Real-World Labs® in Syracuse, N.Y. Raritan Computer's Paragon wins our Editor's Choice award by providing direct connections for up to eight users and 32 servers in its basic configuration, at distances up to 1,000 feet. When teamed with Raritan's TeleReach network interface, Paragon is an excellent all-around local and network-controlled solution. Avocent Corp.'s DS1800 takes second place by bringing rock-solid network-only control to an unlimited number of servers and eliminating most distance and matrixing concerns of the traditional KVMs. Rounding out the group are Rose Electronics' UltraMatrix 16X and Rackit Technology Corp.'s Paradigm. Belkin Components and Lightwave Communications sent us switches that we didn't evaluate because the devices didn't meet our basic -- and critical -- criteria for security and network management.
Our field of participants reflects the effective and established in KVM technology, and showcases the technology's future. To answer the needs of today's larger data centers, the switches have to possess built-in security features and the ability to be controlled at distances of 500 feet and beyond, and allow multiple user profiles. Because many server farms are in or will be in unmanned or remote sites, reliable network control of the KVM and attached servers is crucial.
A good KVM also needs to support all pointing devices and keyboard types, and be easy to configure while supporting high video resolution in an environment of mixed operating systems. Since most higher-end vendors hit these benchmarks with their KVM offerings, we also look at the aspects of the switches specific to large data centers. Although the budget is always a concern, we chose to downplay price in our judging. The products submitted will, in most cases, require different configurations based on user needs, and there is no single list price for all configurations of any product tested.
The vendors claim all these products support servers running any and all OSes, which we verified to a certain extent by providing an environment that included Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT, Linux and Sun Microsystems platforms. While we didn't put much time into "scaling" KVM matrices, we did put heavy emphasis on security features, remote control at long distances (500 feet and beyond) and switch control via TCP/IP connection in a 10/100-Mbps network. Where possible, serial control was tested via dial-up modem. Our test switches were called upon to support a variety of input devices and video resolutions to 1,600x1,280. Keep-alive test conditions were created through a variety of scenarios, and on-screen configurations were evaluated for ease of configuration and use.
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