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JetKVM Mini

jetkvm.com

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Re: JetKVM Mini

#151
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A keyboard/video/mouse switch.

I've never entered a datacenter before – what does that mean / what is it for?

There are really two types of KVMs... classic ones were used by consumers to plug multiple computers into one screen, keyboard, and mouse and flip back and forth between them.

Networked KVMs let you remotely access a computer or server. It's like VNC except by physically plugging into the ports. This is useful because it allows you to have remote access to a server when its OS is offline, tweak bios settings, watch it boot, reinstall the OS, etc.

Most true servers have this functionality and more built in (ipmi, idrac, redfish, etc are terminology for the feature). These plugin ones allow you to add that functionality to any machine. You're not likely to see tons of them in an actual data center, but they are incredibly useful for systems without remote management built in.

Re: JetKVM Mini

#152
post #14

or make one yourself: https://github.com/espkvm/espkvm

i am not sure i would trust a two month old project "based on a three month old proof of concept" over a product that has been around for years, but it is good to know it is there

What to trust? Closed hardware/software that goes to trash if something goes wrong, or opensource that you can send an agent to debug if there are issues? I'm not trying to diminish JetKVM's product - for $35 its a steal if you don't want to bother with DIY and time involved, but I'd strongly disagree that opensource is less trustworthy than closed product.

Re: JetKVM Mini

#153
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.store.level1techs.com/products/kvm do some that might be suitable, they produce some of the highest end desktop-spec KVMs I know of. They're not cheap though.

Why are these so expensive?

They were engineered from scratch to work properly. They were some of the first of their type.

Re: JetKVM Mini

#154
I have a JetKVM and could never get video to work on it despite spending a lot of time on troubleshooting. It may have just been a defective unit but I never got around to trying to RMA it.

Re: JetKVM Mini

#155
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, it is a feature to have a password required at boot to unlock the drive. Relying on TPM for keymatter is convenient but comes with caveats I don't like. I don't personally trust that the boot chain and OS on a modern system are secure enough for this model to be similarly secure to using a passphrase properly. And if I care enough to try to secure something in this way, I definitely care enough to pick somethi…

I am using Tang and Clevis without a TPM on an Orange Pi 5. The key is stored on my Tang server. No TPM required. It is either on my LAN with that server available, or you will need to enter a key. It am only trying to prevent casual snooping if it goes missing from my garage though. Anybody more sophisticated can have my garage YouTube browsing history.

This. I'm not fighting against a state level actor. My concern is some crackhead burglar stealing my stuff and then my personal data ending up in the hands of whoever buys the stolen goods.

Re: JetKVM Mini

#156
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i am not sure i would trust a two month old project "based on a three month old proof of concept" over a product that has been around for years, but it is good to know it is there

What to trust? Closed hardware/software that goes to trash if something goes wrong, or opensource that you can send an agent to debug if there are issues? I'm not trying to diminish JetKVM's product - for $35 its a steal if you don't want to bother with DIY and time involved, but I'd strongly disagree that opensource is less trustworthy than closed product.

ArkKVM is a fully open source product now

Re: JetKVM Mini

#158
post #79
post #59

Wait, do I understand correctly that you can only boot ISOs off a microSD card that I have to pre-load? I can’t just put in a card and load ISOs over the web interface? That makes the use case of full remote control (after plugging it in for the first time, of course) kinda moot… Otherwise, this seems to be a great product for homelab stuff :)

they allow you to upload ISOs from the web interface as well

That’s cool, then I’ll need to buy a few of those I guess! :) Thanks for the clarification!

Re: JetKVM Mini

#159
post #73
post #59

Wait, do I understand correctly that you can only boot ISOs off a microSD card that I have to pre-load? I can’t just put in a card and load ISOs over the web interface? That makes the use case of full remote control (after plugging it in for the first time, of course) kinda moot… Otherwise, this seems to be a great product for homelab stuff :)

PiKVM allows you to load ISOs to the onboard sd card via the web interface. It just needs to be on the local disk.

Oh that makes sense, cool! Thanks for clarifying! :)

Re: JetKVM Mini

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In that case I’d need a 1080 physical display on the machine mirrored to the KVM. For the type of stuff I’m doing that’s a bad use of monitor / desk real estate.

Would a HDMI dummy plug work?

Then you can’t see what you’re doing. It’ll run with the HDMI unplugged but at that point you’re undoing a core reason for using it to begin with.
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