Leadership By Numbers

I've been eyeing some top end IP based KVM switches for the server room at work, but in my home office I needed something simpler (and cheaper). I have a server (sometimes running Windows 2003, and other times, Linux) and a firewall (IPCop) that sit next to each other. Duplicate keyboards, mice, and monitors just added to the clutter. I needed to clean up the home office, but didn't have the time until this Christmas break.

Inland Computer Accessories makes a very sleek, unobtrusive and cheap 2-way KVM that neatly does what I need and no more. It takes PS/2 keyboard/mice inputs and snakes out two cables from a junction box with a single USB and monitor connector per system..I wasn't sure if my Linux firewall would correctly interact with the keyboard: no problem. I also wasn't sure about keying in BIOS changes at startup: no problem. What I especially admire in a product so inexpensive, is that switching between systems is done through a short sequence of keyboard commands. This means I don't have to shuffle over to wherever the junction box is shelved.

Obviously, if you have very old home equipment that doesn't support USB ports, then this is not your solution. Otherwise, it's twenty dollars well spent (you can get it at TigerDirect).