REMOTE MONITORING

From the October 2006 
issue of Communications News

Freedom from the OS

Out-of-band remote-access KVM can provide an alternate path for restoring failed equipment.

by Mark Nicolas


KVM over IP allows companies to streamline management of hardware assets, as well as the IT personnel resources who support them.

By connecting directly to keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) ports, KVM switches give IT operators the tools needed to manage IT resources, even if they have failed. KVM switches allow IT operators to control computers without server modifications or additional software. This means KVM switches make the computers available at all times, from BIOS to operating system, regardless of platform.

KVM technologies also provide motherboard-level access and support serial devices, as well. This flexibility is critical for accessing and restoring failed equipment in today’s highly complex heterogeneous server environments.

While KVM switches simplify management of multiple servers, the harsh conditions within data centers, server farms and network operating centers (NOC) also necessitate the use of a remote-access KVM solution. Cold, loud and crowded server environments make executing administrative or recovery tasks locally both challenging and unpleasant. Security within the data center also suffers, since regular foot traffic can expose the equipment to malicious and inadvertent acts.

Remote-access KVM helps solve the security problem, can bring new efficiencies to server management, and by providing greater flexibility for conducting routine tasks, can increase reliability. Remote-access KVM enables IT operators to access failed IT assets as if they were present and restore them to operating status through regular KVM functionality.

Before remote-access KVM, a server failure at 3 a.m. would require an IT technician to travel to the site or dispatch a third party, adding both time and cost to the recovery. Remote-access KVM eliminates the need for physical presence, allowing companies to lower the costs associated with restoring a downed network and speed mean time to recovery. Additionally, remote-access KVM enables IT operators to implement routine upgrades and preventative maintenance outside of normal business hours so the system is not over-burdened during these times.

Popular solutions providing remote KVM functionality include virtual network computing (VNC) and remote desktop protocol (RDP), applications that run on the operating systems (OS) of the client or host server and the target server. As such, in order to utilize VNC and RDP technologies to fix a failed server, the OS and network stack must be working at a high enough level to facilitate certain commands.

What happens, however, when the OS is not available? If the failure requires an update to the network driver, network configuration on a server, or any operating system reboot or patch, IT operators cannot use a network-based server or network-based application to execute the fix.

One solution is out-of-band (OOB) technologies, which can provide an alternate path for accessing and restoring failed equipment. Modern OOB technologies provide the capability to eliminate any dependency on the main or control network. By using a comprehensive OOB network comprised of serial products, consoles, switches and a management platform, companies can gain more reliability for their IT assets, while bringing greater productivity to the main network.

In the case of OOB remote-access KVM, IT operators are no longer dependent on the health of the OS. OOB remote-access KVM provides freedom from the OS without taking networking and the OS out of the picture altogether. OOB KVM incorporates VNC and RDP technologies to leverage in-band resources when they are available. If those resources are not available, IT operators can revert to OOB KVM as a centralized place to manage the infrastructure. OOB KVM allows IT operators to access server resources even if the OS has failed.

With an OOB KVM solution, IT operators can also access more diagnostic information during the booting process. OOB solutions allow IT operators to watch the BIOS and OS as they load, before the network stack is available. This level of access provides more information than with in-band solutions.

For example, by watching the BIOS, the IT operator can see if the server passes its power on self-test, which can identify certain hardware failures that prevent the OS from loading–such as hard drive failures. IT operators can also make configuration changes to embedded server technologies, such as intelligent platform-management interface service processors, and configure their RAID hard drive controller.

Taking OOB remote-access KVM to the next level with KVM over IP and virtual media, IT operators remove physical requirements altogether and incorporate storage media to simplify and consolidate server management even further.

KVM over IP eliminates the physical constraints mandated by analog technologies. With KVM over IP, IT operators can be anywhere in the world and remote access their data center equipment. KVM-over-IP technologies connect directly to KVM signals on any computer, leverage the existing network infrastructure and support both local and remote users. OOB KVM over IP allows access and control of remote servers and other network devices from the desktop, NOC or any other location, allowing IT operators to manage an entire IT infrastructure with a single interface from any location, even if the network has failed and remote access software no longer functions.

In addition, by removing physical restrictions in terms of server administration, KVM over IP allows companies to streamline management of hardware assets, as well as the IT personnel resources who support them. IT personnel can be stationed at strategic locations, such as company headquarters, and still access equipment in other parts of the country or the world.

KVM over IP supports shared sessions to help companies utilize IT expertise more effectively. For example, Linux and Windows experts can pool talents through a shared session to tackle network problems and maintenance issues.

KVM-over-IP technologies also allow IT operators to take advantage of new capabilities in bridging server resources and storage media, enabling greater flexibility in server management and administration. Virtual media solutions have emerged to capitalize on functionality afforded by combining removable storage and remote-access KVM.

Virtual media allows a server to access storage media such as CD-ROMs, flash memory and external drives anywhere in the network, just as if they were attached directly via that server’s USB port.

Virtual media allows IT operators to take advantage of the convenience of removable media to work wherever and whenever.

IT operators can use virtual media technologies to manage any server with a USB connection to a KVM switch and a CD containing requisite files–diagnostics tools, a clean system image or a set of current patches, for example. IT operators can quickly and easily move and copy data between the storage media and the computer. They can install application and OS patches, download files and perform diagnostic testing on multiple servers without ever physically entering the data center or leaving their desks.

Mark Nicolas is product marketing manager, management systems division, at Avocent Corp., Huntsville, Ala.

For more information:
 www.rsleads.com/610cn-250