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As enterprises coalesce around the hybrid work approach, they call on IT to drive business continuity and enable the large-scale remote workforces to work securely from anywhere. The heavily-burdened IT teams are tasked with maintaining multiple branch offices, managing an influx of endpoints, and boosting operational efficiency. Unfortunately, budgets or staff aren’t adjusting to these new realities as quickly as needed.
To keep up with the post-pandemic workplace, organizations of all sizes must identify powerful, intelligent and affordable remote management solutions that address the most demanding technical issues. While technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN), virtualization, or cloud dominate the conversation, they are all invariably supported by underlying hardware (think servers and network appliances). The smooth operation of the underlying layer is an oft-overlooked but important consideration for preventing costly downtime and disruption in always-connected enterprise environments. It’s safe to say that remote accessibility of endpoints isn’t just a nice-to-have but a glaring necessity for IT teams in today’s distributed IT environments. Luckily, one such proven and trusty remote management solution already exists.
The KVM-over-IP-SwitchOpens a new window or the digital KVM switch is a robust IT administrator tool that can help manage IT infrastructure remotely in a rapidly changing business landscape. While these hardware solutions aren’t seen as the sexiest thing in infrastructure technology, they provide remote management capabilities and centralized point-of-control that IT administrators absolutely need in a world where network infrastructure, servers and digital assets have been pushed to the far edges of the enterprise.
Before we dive into why KVM-over-IP-Switches are crucial for meeting remote access needs, let’s see how KVM (which stands for keyboard, video and mouse) technology originally built for data centers has evolved over the years — leaping from analog switches to IP-based solutions. Analog KVM switches first showed up in data centers, allowing IT personnel to connect to a server room and troubleshoot issues effectively. However, unlike traditional KVM switches, KVM-over-IP technology provides anytime-access to servers and other connected devices from anywhere in the world (including from home). With IP connectivity, IT teams can manage distributed IT devices remotely from their laptop or PC over local-area networks (LANs), wide-area networks (WANs), or the internet.
Secure Remote Management Is the ‘New Normal’ for Today’s Businesses
The pandemic has provided a strong business case to extend the use of KVM technology beyond the data center and into multiple labs, edge locations, colocation centers, and remote offices. As organizations disperse their mission-critical servers and assets across worksites, IT support teams need remote access management to far-flung branch offices or main distribution facilities (MDFs). And this isn’t just about reconfiguring data center servers. With infrastructure being pushed further, there is an immediate need for serial access to routers, switches, rack PDUs, and Unix/Linux servers to troubleshoot faulty hardware.
Put simply, today’s enterprise-grade KVM-over-IPOpens a new window solutions offer the stability, reliability and security for robust access to growing device ecosystems. Modern KVM-over-IP solutions enable IT to manage mission-critical devices over the LAN, WAN, Internet, and dial-up using their PC, laptop, or smartphone/tablet. IP-based KVM technology delivers the same at-the-rack experience associated with traditional KVM systems and provides the building block for network infrastructure management.
Plus, as secure access becomes table stakes in distributed IT environments, today’s KVM technology can provide a single management console in which “authorized†admins can connect from anywhere in the world to deliver support or perform operational tasks with a variety of remote access technologies. Whether you are onsite or working from home, you can securely access the BIOS, iDRAC (Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller) or HP iLO (Integrated Lights-Out) of any server and also leverage VNC (virtual network computing), RDP (remote desktop protocol), SSH (secure shell) or web browser connections.
Powering Remote and Autonomous IT Operations with KVM-over-IP-Switches
KVM technology can translate into improved operational efficiency and simplify remote management across hybrid IT environments. However, your choice of product will go a long way in determining the company’s competitiveness and ability to respond to changing business needs. Hence, IT managers must zero in on the right solution.
RaritanOpens a new window , a global leader in intelligent rack PDUs, KVM switches, and other data center infrastructure monitoring and management solutions, provides the ultimate playbook that IT admins and power users need to control their environments regardless of location and computing platform. Raritan’s complete product line includes the following solutions:
- Built for both general computer as well as dynamic broadcast applications, the Raritan Dominion KX IIIOpens a new window is Raritan’s flagship, enterprise-class KVM-over-IP switch, offering up to 8 users simultaneous BIOS-level remote management of up to 64 servers in a single switch.
- The Raritan Dominion KX IIIOpens a new window offers simultaneous remote access to a single server for up to 8 shared users with 4K Ultra-HD performance and 3x faster virtual media than its predecessor.
- The Dominion SX IIOpens a new window is Raritan’s serial console server that provides network admins both convenient and secure access to a broad array of RS-232 managed serial devices including switches, routers, servers and PDUs.
Raritan’s CommandCenter Secure GatewayOpens a new window can remotely manage the Raritan Dominion devices, as well as Raritan and Servertech IP-enabled PDUs, service processors, and in-band methods such as RDP, SSH and VNC. It also supports single sign-on (SSO) to a single IP address so that IT teams can seamlessly manage their entire IT infrastructure from a single system.
We explore six use cases that illustrate how IP-based KVM switches ease remote IT challenges.
1. Remote management across dispersed IT environments
It’s no longer just about the data center — computing has moved to the edge. Under the thumb of the pandemic, corporate data migrated out of the centralized cloud into edge data centers, driving homebound IT admins to connect to a multitude of edge deployments to control distributed IT systems across the world. High-performance KVM-over-IP-Switches allow IT administrators to consolidate servers and devices from multiple vendors across various facilities.
A definitive example of next-generation KVM-over-IP-Switches is Raritan’s Dominion KX III and Dominion KX IV-101, designed to serve the remote management needs of organizations of all sizes. The Raritan product line gives IT admins BIOS-level, KVM-over-IP performance and true command-line console access. The model offers a suite of multi-platform computer interface modules (CIMs) including VGA, DVI, HMDI, DisplayPort, USB, PS/2 and serial to connect to your networked devices. So, whether you’re operating in a remote lab, satellite office or managing the largest of enterprise data centers, Raritan has the right-sized solution to fit any business case.
2. Centralizing updates and maintenance with virtual media
Remote management isn’t just about viewing the inner workings of a device or OS. Often, IT teams need to perform tasks such as transfer files, load software or boot from an ISO file. KVM-over-IP solutions, such as the Dominion product line by Raritan, offer “virtual media†features that give you the same admin capabilities regardless of location. You can map anything from ISO images, PC hard drives or DVD/CD-ROMs. You can even mount storage devices and CAC readers. With media performance speeds as high as 175 megabits per second, you can have a direct connect experience regardless of location or proximity. In fact, virtual media with the newest fourth generation of Dominion KVM-over-IP-Switches is 15x faster than the previous generation.
All of this simplifies the patching and updating process as software and firmware updates can be applied straight from your laptop or workstation. When reboots are necessary, you can verify whether the entire boot process was successful. This results in cost savings and vastly improves response time to disruptive incidents.
3. Building application redundancy for critical infrastructure sectors
Today’s fast-paced environments call for building redundancy across every network and connection and eliminate single points of failure between servers and the network. The goal is to ensure uptime and availability of mission-critical applications — for instance, healthcare where medical images need to be shared across various locations.
For teams driving business-critical applications, Raritan’s KVM-over-IP-Switches provide more than just redundancy. The Raritan hardware models feature dual power supplies and LAN ports, both with automatic failover. If you’ve tried KVM-over-IP products in the past, you may have encountered those bothersome quirks such as mediocre video resolution and having to perpetually change server mouse settings or update the host machine to the supported Java version. Raritan’s KVM-over-IP-Switches offer absolute mouse synchronization, so there’s no need to change mouse settings to achieve perfect cursor synchronization. Thanks to its Java-free design, remote access experiences are no longer dependent on Java, even when using virtual media. And the hardware models support 1080p and widescreen formats. For the most optimal performance, the Dominion KX IV-101 supports 4K video resolution and up to 30 frames per second. With Raritan, you get a seamless remote access experience every time.
4. Integrating user desktop functionality for multi-user access
Forget about proprietary thin client solutions. Dominion KX User StationsOpens a new window can be deployed anywhere hassle-free IP access is needed and in a quick fashion. Whether it be a lab, broadcast studio, control room, office complex, or data center, you can integrate Raritan’s Dominion User Stations with KVM switch counterparts for greater control and flexibility. These powerful slender units can easily reside on a desk, mount in a standard rack, or be quickly deployed on an as-needed basis. The multi-user station allows for multiple simultaneous IP connections across one, two, or three monitors with mouse sharing features that support nine or more monitors. You can even save and restore window layouts across multiple user stations. These standalone appliances deliver a rich HD audio and video experience with the ability to stream multiple video sessions at 30 to 60 frames per second.
5. Securing the remote access experience
Duplicating the at-rack experience from afar includes enforcing the same security standards as your local data center or branch office. Raritan’s Dominion product line of KVM-over-IP-SwitchesOpens a new window meet both government and military security mandates. Authentication standards such as LDAP and two-factor authentication supported by RADIUS ensure that only fully authorized users have remote access privileges. The high-performance switches secure your session from point-to-point using AES encryption. With Raritan, remote access doesn’t mean open access.
6. Powering work-from-home (WFH) strategies
The dramatic uptick of remote work strategies seems to be more than a temporary trend, but a new paradigm, liberating skilled talent from the confines of the office cubicle. Raritan’s KVM-over-IP solution set was created for this new era. IT teams no longer need to be present onsite to manage critical assets and infrastructure with access to tools such as CommandCenter, KVM-over-IP Switches and Serial Console Servers. Users can access their entire IT infrastructure at home using their laptop, PC or for power users, the Raritan User Stations.
Conclusion
The workplace has changed forever. Remote workers want the flexibility to choose when and where to work. In the not-so-distant future, workforces will mostly be split between those who come to physical offices, those who stay permanently remote and others working home on a part-time basis. To meet the technology demands of a hybrid workplace, IT leaders need to go beyond the cloudification of processes and lay down a strong, flexible IT infrastructure foundation. Organizations ramping up investments with an eye to the future shouldn’t overlook the benefits of proven, tested hardware solutions — the lynchpin for maximizing business continuity and future-proofing critical operations in uncertain environments.