Source: ATEN Technology, Inc.

Date: May 2008

Type: White Paper

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Overview: Every time a network administrator turns around there are new standards, protocols and platforms to support in the data center -- TCP/IP, Telnet, SSH, SSL, PPP, Solaris, USB, MacOS, Linux and Windows 2003 servers - and the list goes on and on. Each of these offers their share of flexibility, standardization, compatibility and convenience. But they also pose challenges. In some cases, this creates "silos" of information and limits access from other applications on different platforms. Data center infrastructure needs to be centrally managed. However, organizations, large and small, rely on a multitude of applications across different server platforms. Finding the right balance can consume an IT budget quickly.

The changing economics of high-availability computing, an intriguing array of on-the-drawing board vendor ideas about self-managing/self-tuning platforms and a general desire on the part of executives to convert fixed costs into variable costs are leading CIOs to re-think long held assumptions about data centers. Multi-platform compliant KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) solutions are emerging into valuable tools for data centers to effectively manage their mixed environments. In addition, the rise of Linux makes it equally important for KVM solutions to offer multiple OS capability, monitor testing, and switching commands.

According to Gartner, IT managers should prepare for Linux to rise in prominence within data centers. Richmond School District No. 38 is a Public School District in the province of British Columbia, Canada that prides itself on using the latest technology to support student learning. The District is a poster child for the importance of optimizing KVM technology for multi-platform support of its 18 Intel-based servers running Windows 2000 Server, one XServe G5 running MAC OSX and an XRAID for hosting data storage.

This white paper will discuss the impact of the changing IT landscape on network administrators who need multiple touch points to their multi-platform devices and can gain better control using KVM technology. The paper will also offer a real-life application example of how one dynamic school district is benefiting from this approach.

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