KVM Switches

From TheBestCaseScenario

KVM switches are used so you may control more than one PC with only one Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor. Some of the more advanced switches also support Firewire and even USB. They work by simply passing the signal from the Keyboard/Mouse to the respective PC, the KVM also takes the monitor output from that PC and passes it to the monitor so you are always seeing the PC you are controlling.

KVM switches come in all flavours and sizes, You can get Rack mount from 1U - 4U sizes, you can also get desktop switches and slimline switches.

The most common switch is a 4 port desktop switch, As you can see (Right) this switch can control upto 4PC's at any time, you connect two PC's on each side.

KVM switches use special wires that are called "Male to Male" This means that each end of the wire has pins, this is to stop confusion. These wires can some times be very hard to find, So be careful not to lose them!

[edit] Monitor Connections Most switches come with whats called DSUB (Top Image) Now this was great in the day of D'SUBS, but now if you use a TFT/LCD, you will more than likely use a DVI, this is no good, to use a KVM you will need either DVI-D'SUB converters (Not recommended) or a KVM that supports DVI (Bottom Image), these are normally more expencive, but have a better picture quality than using converters.

The other thing to remember is that 90% of switches out there don't support USB mice as standard, you have to ensure you get a switch that has USB throuput if you intend to use a USB mice.

The other thing to remember about switches there are two forms of switch, Hard switch, and Soft switch, a hard switch is a manual switch, a button or dial to select your PC.

A soft switch is software controlled, hence its name, you normally have to enter a set key stroke to trigure this, Once done you normally see a On Screen Display and it captiures your key strokes so you can select a PC to use.