[BLU] Remote console options?

[david at kramer.ne.mediaone.net (David Kramer)]

On Sat, 8 Jul 2000, Scott Ehrlich wrote:

> Hello to all:
> 
> At work we have several systems at a colocation facility.   These systems
> are cabled to a kvm.   If a system goes down for any reason, one of the
> Sys Admin staff (of which I am one) must take a trip out to the site.
> 
> To help try and prevent this, is there any kind of remote console system
> which can permit the Sys Admin team to use a program to act as a remote
> kvm, getting a remote console display over Ethernet?

A coworker of mine about four years ago was looking into designing
something like that and selling them.  At that time, there was nothing on
the market exactly like that, and I have not heard of one since.  With the
fantastic number of colocated hardware in New England alone, I'm truly
amazed.  

Unfortunately, after he and I worked out how it would be done on a rough
scale, he started "feature-creeping" it to the point where nobody would
have bought it even at OUR cost.  In addition to dialup, he wanted to be
able to do it over ethernet, deal with >1024x768 res (these are servers,
dammit!), have NO special hardware installed in the computer being
monitored, and sell it cheap enough that companies won't hesitate to buy
as many as they need.  And shine my shoes. 

The major limitation was that you couldn't just envelope the video signal
in some digital packet and send it over a phone line because no modem
could keep up with an 80hz SVGA signal.  You would really have to take the
signal and reconstruct the image, and send diffs with periodic
refreshes.  That is, unless a special video card was used so you didn't
have to translate the signal back and forth.  But he didn't want that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
DDDD   David Kramer                   http://kramer.ne.mediaone.net
DK KD  
DKK D  Every non-key attribute depends on the key, the whole key,
DK KD  and nothing but the key, so help me Codd.
DDDD                                      (Sybase training class)

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