Net for wireless show starts with KVM switch

Boy, it has been a busy year so far! We've been running hither and thither, and now it is catch-up time. We have been getting a wireless LAN ready for our friend Jim Sterne's Web Metrics Conference in Santa Barbara, Calif. (by the time you read this, a red-eye will get you there for the first day - we'll buy you a drink if you make it).

This wireless system will serve as the conference's private infrastructure, and it gives us an excuse (as if we really needed one) to play with all sorts of tools and hardware we have lying around.

Our plan is to base the conference system on a server running Red Hat Linux 9 and provide wireless service with a Linksys dual-band Wireless A+G Broadband Router so we can offer access to attendees using 802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g. And there's more.

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Boy, it has been a busy year so far! We've been running hither and thither, and now it is catch-up time. We have been getting a wireless LAN ready for our friend Jim Sterne's Web Metrics Conference in Santa Barbara, Calif. (by the time you read this, a red-eye will get you there for the first day - we'll buy you a drink if you make it).

This wireless system will serve as the conference's private infrastructure, and it gives us an excuse (as if we really needed one) to play with all sorts of tools and hardware we have lying around.

Our plan is to base the conference system on a server running Red Hat Linux 9 and provide wireless service with a Linksys dual-band Wireless A+G Broadband Router so we can offer access to attendees using 802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g. And there's more.

But before we could get down to building the wireless network, our first task was to install a keyboard/video/monitor (KVM) switch. We needed (wanted) this device because we ran out of desk space and setting up our server for the network would have required too much running back and forth to the server room.

The KVM solved this by letting us to switch between all the servers in the server room and our desktop systems, and actually get desk space back! We finally might get down to one or, at most, two monitors on our desk.

Our KVM device, a Raritan Computer Paragon Matrix Switch, had been sitting in the server room for a few weeks taunting us since we reviewed Raritan's IP Reach system.

Let us give you the bottom line upfront: The Paragon Matrix Switch system is awesome. It can support both small and large installations, it is easy to install and configure, it is easy to use, and it works flawlessly.

The basic architecture of the Paragon Matrix is as follows: A matrix switching unit (MSU) wired to one or more user stations that are, in turn, connected to a user's keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Devices are connected to the MSU by computer interface modules (CIM). CIMs are small modules that feature a standard monitor connector and cables to connect to the mouse and keyboard ports on the host computers (you can get CIMs that support PS/2, Sun, USB and serial interfaces).

Each MSU can accommodate 16 to 64 computers with video resolutions up to 1,600 by 1,200 pixels, and can switch between two to 16 users depending on which model you choose. The hardware form factor is 1U for all, except for the 16-user, 64-computer model, which is 2U.

What's really neat is that the CIMs, MSUs and user stations all are connected using category 5e cabling. This allows for up to 1,000 feet between users and computers, and Cat5e cabling makes for a very tidy installation compared with old-school KVMs, which required separate cables for every mouse, keyboard and monitor port, creating instant spaghetti.

We did as the manual suggested (unusual for us) and powered down everything before connecting anything (we always have had an inexplicable tendency to indulge in "hot wiring"). When everything was plugged in, we switched on the power and voilà! The Paragon system worked, just like that. Wow! We might start following manuals in the future.