Dell OUF366 IP KVM Interface POD
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What is this thing? Has a VGA and usb on on end, RJ45 jack on the other. I though maybe you could plug into a computer with it then put it on the network but, there's no activity on a port when I do that. How is it suppose to be used? I couldn't find any information on them. We had a whole box of them unopened laying in the data center floor.
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Lame, it requires direct Cat5 lines, it is not actually IP Based. Guess that's why they were never used.
It needs this thing: http://www.txcesssurplus.com/dell-x268g-poweredge-4161ds-ip-remote-console-kvm-switch-8-ps-2-sips/?gclid=CIzhk5-NvcYCFQ-PaQodHjgJgQ
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Doesn't sound too useful.
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sounds like kvm gear
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Why is it called an IP interface then, if there is no IP?
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@MattSpeller said:
sounds like kvm gear
It is but the back of the thing calls it an IP KVM so I though it might put a small java webserever or use a desktop application to get to it, which could be useful. These are trash though.
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@StrongBad said:
Why is it called an IP interface then, if there is no IP?
I think the KVM switch itself might have a network portion/configuration to it.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@StrongBad said:
Why is it called an IP interface then, if there is no IP?
I think the KVM switch itself might have a network portion/configuration to it.
Exactly!
You remote into the KVM switch, which uses the CAT5 cable to talk to the cards, which have cables that hang off the back of the servers. Once you're remoted in, you can bring up console screens for all of the attached servers.The only IP part is the KVM switch itself.
This is what you used before iDRAC.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@StrongBad said:
Why is it called an IP interface then, if there is no IP?
I think the KVM switch itself might have a network portion/configuration to it.
Like to set it up but not to access the KVM itself? Isn't that like having a network server that has an out of band interface but no NIC?
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@StrongBad said:
Why is it called an IP interface then, if there is no IP?
I think the KVM switch itself might have a network portion/configuration to it.
Exactly!
You remote into the KVM switch, which uses the CAT5 cable to talk to the cards, which have cables that hang off the back of the servers. Once you're remoted in, you can bring up console screens for all of the attached servers.The only IP part is the KVM switch itself.
This is what you used before iDRAC.
They aren't old enough to be around before DRAC was. Apparently these were included in a batch of 20 or 30 Dell PE 1950s/2950s that we used to have. Those had DRACs in them though.
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I'm sure they are still in use today. DRAC isn't cheap, these might be less expensive, and therefore still have a market.
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@Dashrender said:
I'm sure they are still in use today. DRAC isn't cheap, these might be less expensive, and therefore still have a market.
You'd be correct, I can name at least 3 companies (all of which I've worked for) that still use them.
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And these devices only cost 1 ethernet port, instead of one per server at the cost of 1 U in a rack. Not a huge savings, but still a savings.
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@Dashrender said:
I'm sure they are still in use today. DRAC isn't cheap, these might be less expensive, and therefore still have a market.
They also lack key features, I assume, like monitoring and power cycling.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
I'm sure they are still in use today. DRAC isn't cheap, these might be less expensive, and therefore still have a market.
They also lack key features, I assume, like monitoring and power cycling.
Another point against is I've yet to use a PS/2 one that was reliable. This may be due to the age of the gear (ancient) but the USB ones always worked better for me.
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@Dashrender said:
And these devices only cost 1 ethernet port, instead of one per server at the cost of 1 U in a rack. Not a huge savings, but still a savings.
Yeah but you'd need more than one of these anyone for many servers. And cabling direct runs to these from all servers would be annoying when you have a lot of racks.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@Dashrender said:
And these devices only cost 1 ethernet port, instead of one per server at the cost of 1 U in a rack. Not a huge savings, but still a savings.
Yeah but you'd need more than one of these anyone for many servers. And cabling direct runs to these from all servers would be annoying when you have a lot of racks.
I'm sure they have high density versions of these - in any case, they are definitely a throwback item from a while ago that is clearly still hanging on.
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@Dashrender said:
I'm sure they have high density versions of these
That would make it worse as far as cabling with server racks. That's why we have 48 port switches in each server rack.
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Traditional KVMs are cable nightmares. And really, what business puts good management as such a low priority? Even at home I've been on out of band management cards since around 2006 and I was probably late to the game! Once again, companies falling below the home line.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Traditional KVMs are cable nightmares. And really, what business puts good management as such a low priority? Even at home I've been on out of band management cards since around 2006 and I was probably late to the game! Once again, companies falling below the home line.
Even our old servers (not running) stored in a vault had remote access cards some are as old as 2001. We had to keep them for 15 year for compliance sadly (the ones that had financial data).
