I've used BayTech hardware for several years now with good success. IP accessible console (serial) and remote power control. They've saved many a trip to a remote location. There's a series of different ones with different abilities. baytechdcd.com is their website. Again, not sure about BIOS control, but that'd be a concern of the motherboard itself as well as any remote access. Hope this helps. j On Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 05:26:09PM -0600, Micah Anderson wrote: > Since we often have limited physical access to our machines, and our > collective members are spread around the country, our holy grail is remote > hardware administration. > > This could mean a lot of things. Mostly, we just need to: > > 1. power cycle computers remotely > 2. access the bios and boot menu remotely > > This allows us to reboot if the machine crashes, boot from a different > drive if the boot drive is toast, and allows people to pretty much install > a complex system remotely (especially if we leave a rescue cd in the > drive). Ever tried installing an LVM or software RAID or firewall > remotely? It can be dicey! > > Access over IP is acceptable. In other words, we do not need a > solution which is completely 'out of band' like a modem or radio > link. > > Below are some notes on the research we have done. Any stories, > experiences, or advice with this kind of stuff would be greatly > appreciated. > > > * Motherboards * > > Many motherboards support serial console (or 'console redirection'). > This allows you to use the 'serial console buddy system' or terminal > server to access the machine's main console and bios. With linux, you can > access the console after the boot process has started, but doesn't get you > very far so hardware support in the motherboard is also needed. In the > past, we have had frustration with the quirks of serial console support > (like it killing the real console). > > Boards which typically have serial console (serial redirection) support: > > Tyan http://tyan.com > Supermicro http://supermicro.com > Others ... > > > * KVM over IP * > > These boxes convert the keyboard, video, and mouse to digital and route > over an IP network. Wild stuff. Traditionally very expensive, newer > products are making this affordable. > > American Megatrends has a new one supposedly available Q1 2004 which is > super tiny, can support unlimited machines (when connected to a KVM), with > an anticipated list price of $600. http://www.ami.com/kvm/. > > I think some you can ctr-alt-del over and some not(?). > > > * Serial Console Buddy System * > > The idea is to have machines in pairs or more, connected to a partner's > serial port. If one goes down, connect to it from the one which is > (hopefully) still alive. You can use two serial cables for this, or one if > you are tricky. It is sometimes difficult to find null modem cables with > the correct pinout for serial consoles to work. > > > * PCI Cards * > > Cards which add remote support to a motherboard without it: > > PC Weasel > pumps video and keyboard through a serial port. > needs an async terminal server, a buddy, or modem(?), to be truly remote > includes remote reboot too. > $250 for ISA > $350 for PCI > > MegaRac G2 Lite (american megatrends) > Serial over LAN, power control, remote bios. > OS independent, no drivers. BIOS independent. > client: web based ui (SSL) platform independent. > Mostly intended for monitoring hardware through I2C or IPMI. > Unsure about how robust the serial over lan is. > $300, not available yet, but soon. > > > * Terminal Server/Serial Concentrators * > > Not sure if there is a difference (or a similarity!) > A hub for serial lines, so if you had a bunch of machines > with serial consoles they could all be controlled in one place. > pricey! some can route through ip(?), or to another machine, or a modem. > > > * Real Servers * > > "Real servers," unlike the commodity stuff we use, have had serial console > support since the beginning of time: Alphas, NetServers, etc. People on > lists sometimes say they often buy this stuff without a video card at all > and just use the serial console (through a terminal server). > > In addition to serial console, you can buy used on ebay for under $40 > stuff like the "HP P1218A Netserver Remote Control Interface" > which lets you reboot the system, flash the bios, and reconfigure > hardware remotely. > > > * Remote Reboot * > > Typically is has been pretty expensive to have a power strip which can be > controlled remotely. Here are some affordable options: > > http://www.webreboot.net/ sells a little box for $250 that can > connect to 8 machines through the reset connector on the motherboard. > reboot from a web browser. > > http://www.wti.com/power.htm sells power strips which can be rebooted > from a web browser ($600 for 5 plugs) or a control unit + satellite units > setup ($350 for control unit + $200 per satellite). > > > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-isp-request@lists.debian.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org > -- =========================================================== Build me an army worthy of... "waterville?" http://www.kingsofchaos.com/recruit.php?uniqid=4phk9i48 ===========================================================
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