IOGEAR's PCPortal remote desktop KVM is a little less virtual
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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Networking
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dan P @ Mar 10th 2008 4:34PM
Dude, that is exactly what I've been needing for years! It's no fun sending a reboot command remotely after changing the network settings...
josh @ Mar 10th 2008 4:47PM
Avocent has a host of enterprise IP KVMs and have for a great deal of time (they also have KVM over ethernet which is confusing and not the same thing at all; it just replaces the KVM cable with an ethernet cable and a KVM dongle). Some of their products are pretty slick, though the java based desktop window you use to connect to a host on the KVM sucks.
Nate @ Mar 11th 2008 12:46AM
Disclaimer: Don't buy this if you are a dumbass.
zargon @ Mar 10th 2008 4:38PM
I ordered a similar product from another company, think it was called SpiderLink.
It works good for what it is meant to do, only snag is there is a PS2 and a USB version. If you have a computer that doesn't support USB in BIOS, you are limited in what you can do until the OS is loaded.
It would be nice, especially at this price, these products supported both ps2 and usb. I may have to look into this specific product more to see if that is the case.
Matt @ Mar 10th 2008 5:15PM
You can probably just buy a couple of USB to PS/2 adapters. I know they included one with a USB keyboard we bought years ago, I don't see why the company you speak of doesn't just include a couple.
zargon @ Mar 10th 2008 5:26PM
Even with PS2 to USB, it doesn't work.
It was an attempt to see if these products would be useful at remote locations, but the product I ordered has fallen short of what we require.
PGP-Protector @ Mar 10th 2008 5:19PM
Sweet.
Given some of my family members & what they do to there systems before they call me, I should make them get a few of these.
paul-engadget @ Mar 10th 2008 5:33PM
I bought a Belkin 16 port IP KVM which also offers local access for only US$500, admittedly you then need modules for each computer, but that iogear thing's EXPENSIVE!
HH @ Mar 10th 2008 5:36PM
If you are interested in this type of application, see also Raritan's KX2-101. The use case is the same -- but with a better form factor, PoE support, and a single model for both USB and PS/2:
http://www.raritan.com/kvm-switches/kvm-over-ip/kx2-101/
FULL DISCLOSURE: I sell these products. Please delete this comment if it violates commenting rules -- I don't mean to be a corporate shill, just trying to be helpful!
tiuk @ Mar 10th 2008 5:41PM
This sounds awesome, can't wait til the price comes down.
nmason @ Mar 10th 2008 6:07PM
Isn't this the same company that makes $2 mice and $3 usb hubs?
I think I'll pass.
Joseph @ Mar 10th 2008 8:24PM
ATEN makes a similar product which I've used. The software was weird, and it was hard to sync up the mouse on the local and remote computer, but when it worked, it was sweet. Shivering in a noisy server room sucks.
SuperQ @ Mar 10th 2008 6:39PM
This seems like a cheaper version of the existing IP KVMs already on the market. There are a number of them.. I've tried the Adder IP before, very nice because it uses VNC instead of a proprietary KVM protocol. Their iPEPS thing goes for around $600
Joseph @ Mar 10th 2008 8:26PM
Didn't mean to hit reply. Comment is still valid, just not as a reply.
Joseph @ Mar 10th 2008 8:27PM
Crap. I messed up twice. I fail at the internet.
w00fy @ Mar 11th 2008 12:29AM
Looks like an external version of the Dell DRAC or HP iLO card.
The Dell uses licenses Avocent technology. It's nice to be able to power cycle a server half a world away.
linuxamp @ Mar 11th 2008 1:25AM
This is very good for people who want remote access to a powered off system with full drive encryption since you wouldn't otherwise be able to enter your passphrase. Of course you'd need some way to WOL your machine.
Paul @ Mar 11th 2008 5:13AM
As said above go for the Raritan.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I do NOT sell these products but am a very happy user of them :)
spam_from_engadget @ Mar 11th 2008 6:25AM
In my experience you get what you pay for with these products; some of them are much cheaper than others, but the quality of the encoding (frame rate, latency) is worse. Some of the better ones are those that use VNC. I would also suggest using one with DVI input, if you can, since the analog ones must either ignore the noise in the least significant bits or waste effort and bandwidth compressing it.
Ratteler @ Mar 11th 2008 3:18PM
$500!!! Why would i spend $500 on this when I can sit a $199 Gpc or something like in the same spot, and use VNC.
This MIGHT be useful if it hits >$99.
Arthur Nonamiss @ Mar 11th 2008 10:09PM
You've never managed remote servers, have you? I don't think this device is targeted at you. It's targeted at those of us who manage server rooms that we don't always have physical access to. (Or to which a 3 hour drive is involved.) Your gPC idea would be 100% worthless if I accidentally disabled the network connection on my server remotely. (Not that I've ever done such a stupid thing, during a snowstorm, after my kids had gone to bed...) Not to mention this can be plugged into a KVM and used to manage multiple computers.
Remote Desktop is great, how many 3 hour (each way) drives at $100/hr would it take to pay for one? (Hint: Less than one)
Fred @ Mar 11th 2008 10:14PM
Street price seems to be much lower than $500 -- I've seen them listed for about $345. Together with a Web Power Switch:
http://www.digital-loggers.com/lpc.html
I can remotely control and power-cycle up to about 4 workstations or servers for under $600 total, or up to 8 nodes for about $900 total. That's worthwhile in saved drive round-trip time alone.
Travis @ Mar 12th 2008 6:11PM
Since I am connecting this to a KVM, then this will allow me to access the CPU BIOS, access the RAID (in case of dead drive), etc., right? If so, then this isn't a bad deal to implement with a current KVM solution.
Matt Warren @ Mar 14th 2008 4:38PM
I ordered one and so far, not impressed. The mouse location does not sync well. You end up with your mouse pointer leaving the window and the target OS mouse trailing way behind. Even the mouse sync function seem poorly implemented.