Raritan Computer KX 1.4 Electronic Keyboard User Manual
Contents
1. Raritan Frequently Asked Questions When you re ready to take control ea Dominion KX 1 4 General Questions What is Dominion KX Dominion KX is a digital KVM keyboard video mouse switch that enables IT administrators to access and control 16 32 or 64 servers over the network with BIOS level functionality Dominion KX is completely hardware and OS independent users can troubleshoot and reconfigure servers even when servers are down At the rack Dominion KX provides the same functionality convenience space savings and cost savings as do traditional analog KVM switches However Dominion KX also integrates the industry s highest performing KVM Over IP technology thereby allowing multiple administrators to access server KVM consoles from any networked workstation How does Dominion KX When using Dominion KX remotely the interface at first glance may differ from remote control seem similar to remote control software such as PC Anywhere Windows software Terminal Services Remote Desktop VNC etc However because Dominion KX is not a software but a hardware solution it is much more powerful e OS and hardware independent Dominion KX can be used to manage servers running many popular OS including Intel Sun PowerPC running Windows Linux Solaris etc State independent Agent less Dominion KX does not require the managed server OS to be up and running nor does it require any special softwar2. mouse and video data Through a very simple configuration Dominion KX can be set to forward all authentication requests to an external server such as LDAP Active Directory or RADIUS For each authenticated user Dominion KX receives from the authentication server the user group to which that user belongs Dominion KX then determines the user s access permissions depending on what user group to which he belongs Should you use Dominion KX s internal authentication capabilities all sensitive information such as usernames and passwords are stored in an encrypted format Literally no one including Raritan technical support or Product Engineering departments can retrieve those usernames and passwords Frequently asked questions 8 9 Manageability Can Dominion KX be remotely managed and configured via web browser Can backup and restore Dominion KX s configuration What auditing or logging does Dominion KX offer Can Dominion KX integrate with syslog Can Dominion KX integrate with SNMP Can Dominion KX s internal clock be synchronized with a timeserver Does the power supply used by Dominion KX automatically detect voltage settings Miscellaneous What is Dominion KX s default IP address What is Dominion KX s default username and password changed and subsequently forgot Dominion KX s administrative password can you retrieve it for me Is 24 7 Technical Support available for Domi
3. LAN Can use Dominion KX with a VPN How many TCP ports must be open on my firewall in order to enable network access to Dominion KX Are these ports configurable Does the secondary network port provide redundant fail over or load balancing Does Dominion KX require an external authentication server to operate Can Dominion KX be used with CITRIX Can the Dominion KX utilize DHCP I m having problems connecting to the Dominion KX over my IP network What could be the problem Dominion KX 1 4 Yes Whether via a fast corporate LAN the less predictable WAN Internet a cable modem or dial up modem Dominion KX s KVM Over IP technology can accommodate your connection Raritan s IP Reach KVM Over IP technology is integrated into every Dominion KX unit Yes Dominion KX uses standard Internet Protocol IP technologies from Layer 1 through Layer 4 Traffic can be easily tunneled through standard VPN s Only one Dominion KX protects your network security by only requiring access to a single TCP port to operate This port is completely configurable for additional security Note that of course to utilize Dominion KX s optional Web browser capability the standard HTTPS port 443 must also be open The secondary network port provides redundant fail over capabilities should the primary Ethernet port or the switch router to which it is connected fail Dominion KX will fail over to the secondary ne
4. cally restart after losing and regaining power See your server user manual for more details To take advantage of Dominion KX s integrated power control user interface and more importantly integrated security you must use Raritan s power strips remote power control units These power strips come in many outlet connector and amp variations simply order any Raritan power strip whose part number ends in the PK designation Dominion KX can support any serially controlled power strips supplied by any vendor by using our Serial RS 232 computer interface module Multiple Dominion KX units do not need to be physically connected together Instead each Dominion KX unit connects to the network and they automatically work together as a single solution If you deploy Raritan s optional CommandCenter Secure Gateway CC SG management appliance CC SG acts as a single access point for remote access and management CC SG offers a significant set of convenient tools such as consolidated configuration consolidated firmware update and a single authentication and authorization database In addition CC SG enables sophisticated server sorting permissions and access If you do not take advantage of Raritan s optional CC SG management appliance multiple Dominion KX units still interoperate and scale automatically The Raritan Remote Client and multi platform client automatically discover the Dominion KX units in your subnet You
5. can access Dominion KX units outside the subnet via a user created profile Frequently asked questions 7 9 Can connect an existing analog KVM switch to Dominion KX Yes You can connect your analog KVM switch to one of Dominion KX s server ports Simply use a PS 2 Computer Interface Module CIM and attach it to the user ports of your existing analog KVM switch Please note that analog KVM switches vary in their specifications and Raritan cannot guarantee the interoperability of any particular third party analog KVM switch Contact Raritan technical support for further information Raritan s Paragon and Paragon II analog switches are IP enabled by the IP Reach family of remote access products Computer Interface Modules CIMs Can use Computer Interface Modules CIMs from Raritan s analog matrix KVM switch Paragon with Dominion KX Can use Z Series daisy chaining Computer Interface Modules CIMs with Dominion KX Can use Dominion KX Computer Interface Modules CIMs with Raritan s analog matrix KVM switch Paragon Security What kind of encryption does Dominion KX use Does Dominion KX allow encryption of video data Or does it only encrypt keyboard and mouse data How does Dominion KX integrate with external authentication servers such as Active Directory RADIUS or LDAP How are usernames and passwords stored Dominion KX 1 4 Yes Certain Paragon computer interface mo
6. ccess Dominion KX is approximately 1 4MB in size The following chart describes the time required to retrieve Dominion KX s applet at different network speeds 100Mbps Theoretical 100Mbit 0 1 network speed seconds 60Mbps Likely practical 100Mbit network speed 0 2 seconds 10Mbps Theoretical 1OMbit network speed 1 1 seconds 6Mbps Likely practical 10Mbit network speed 2 seconds 512Kbps Cable modem download speed typical 22 seconds 56Kbps Dial up modem theoretical speed 3 minutes 38Kbps Likely practical dial up modem speed 5 minutes Dominion KX offers a dedicated modem port for attaching an external modem With an externally connected modem your servers can still be remotely accessed in the event of a network emergency Furthermore Dominion KX s local ports always allow access to your servers from the rack no matter the network condition Yes using Raritan s Multi platform Client MPC non Windows users can connect to target servers through the Dominion KX MPC can be run via Web browsers and standalone Please refer to Raritan s MPC User Guide for more information Frequently asked questions 2 9 My modem connection This might happen based the frequency with which you try to connect via dropped and got the error modem Reboot the KX unit and modem and for future connections wait message There was an at least two 2 minutes b
7. convenient on screen display interface to select a connected server Users attempting to use the local port must pass the same level of authentication as those accessing remotely This means that If you have configured Dominion KX to interact with an external RADIUS LDAP or Active Directory server users attempting to access the local port will authenticate against the same server If the external authentication servers are unavailable Dominion KX fails over to its own internal authentication database Dominion KX has its own standalone authentication enabling instant out of the box installation Frequently asked questions 6 9 If use the local port to change the name of a connected server does this change propagate to remote access clients as well Does it propagate to the optional CommandCenter appliance If use Dominion KX s remote administration tools to change the name of a connected server does that change propagate to the local port OSD as well Power Control What type of power control capabilities does Dominion KX offer Does Dominion KX support servers with multiple power supplies What if each power supply is connected to a different power strip Does remote power control require any special server configuration What type of power strips does Dominion KX support Scalability How do connect multiple Dominion KX devices together into one solution Dominion KX 1 4 Yes The loca
8. dules CIMs may work with Dominion KX please check the Raritan web site for the latest list of certified CIMs However because Paragon CIMs cost more than Dominion KX CIMs as they incorporate technology for video transmission of up to 300 m it is not generally advisable to purchase Paragon CIMs for use with Dominion KX Also note that when connected to Dominion KX Paragon CIMs transmit video at a distance of 45 meters the same as Dominion KX CIMs not at 300 meters as they do when connected to Paragon At the present time Raritan s Z Series daisy chaining computer interface modules are not supported with Dominion KX No Dominion KX computer interface modules CIMs transmit video at ranges of 15 to 45 meters and thus do not work with Paragon which requires CIMs that transmit video at a range of 300 meters To ensure that all Raritan s customers experience the very best quality video available in the industry a consistent Raritan characteristic Dominion Series CIMs do not interoperate with Paragon Dominion KX utilizes industry standard and extremely secure 128 bit RC4 encryption both in its SSL communications as well as its own data stream Literally no data is transmitted between remote clients and Dominion KX that is not completely secured by encryption Unlike competing solutions which only encrypt keyboard and mouse data Dominion KX does not compromise your security it allows encryption of keyboard
9. e networks 10 100 autonegotiation does not work properly and the KX unit must be set to 100MB full duplex or the appropriate choice for its network Duplicate IP Address If the IP Address of the KX is the same as another device network connectivity may be inconsistent Port 5000 conflicts If another device is using port 5000 the KX default port must be changed or the other device must be changed Whent changing the IP Address of a KX or swapping in a new KX sufficient time must be allowed for the KX IP and MAC Addresses to be known throughout the Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks Frequently asked questions 4 9 Servers Does Dominion KX depend on a Windows server to operate Do need to install a Web server such as Microsoft Internet Information Services IIS in order to utilize Dominion KX s Web browser capability What software do have to install in order to access Dominion KX from a particular workstation What should do to prepare a server for connection to Dominion KX What comes in the Dominion KX box Installation Besides the unit itself what do need to order from Raritan to install Dominion KX What kind of Cat5 cabling should be used in my installation What types of servers can be connected to Dominion KX How do I connect servers to Dominion KX How far can my servers be from Dominion KX Dominion KX 1 4 Absolutely not Because you depend on your KVM infrastructure to alwa
10. e to be installed on the managed server Out of Band Even if the managed server s own network connection is unavailable it can still be managed through Dominion KX BlOS level access Even if the server is hung at boot up requires booting to safe mode or requires system BIOS parameters to be altered Dominion KX still works flawlessly to enable these configurations to be made Can Dominion KX Yes Dominion KX ships standard with 19 rack mount brackets It can be rack mounted also be reverse rack mounted such that the server ports face forward How large is Dominion KX Dominion KX is only 1U in height except KX464 is a 2U fits in a standard 19 rack mount and occupies only 29 cm in depth Remote Access How many users can Currently Dominion models KX416 KX432 and KX464 offer concurrent remotely access servers on remote transmissions to up to four unique servers at any time Dominion each Dominion KX KX can thereby provide any of the following permutations 1 User viewing four unique servers simultaneously 2 Users each viewing two unique servers simultaneously 8 Users eight users viewing one server four users each viewing two unique servers simultaneously Any other permutations of up to 8 users viewing up to 4 unique servers total Dominion KX 1 4 Frequently asked questions 1 9 Can two people look at the same server at the same time Can two people access the same server one remotely and one
11. er management features that effect screen display The following is included a Dominion KX unit b Quick Setup Guide c standard 19 rack mount brackets d User manual CD ROM e Network cable f Crossover cable g Localized AC Line Cord h Warranty certificate and other documentation For each server that you wish to connect to Dominion KX you will require a Dominion computer interface module DCIM a very small dongle that connects directly to the keyboard video and mouse ports of your server Dominion KX can use any standard UTP twisted pair cabling whether Cat5 Cat5e or Cat6 Often in our manuals and marketing literature Raritan will simply say Cat5 cabling for short In actuality any brand UTP cable will suffice for Dominion KX Dominion KX is completely vendor independent Any server with a standards compliant keyboard video and mouse ports can be connected For each server that you wish to connect to Dominion KX you will require a Dominion computer interface module DCIM a very small dongle that connects directly to the keyboard video and mouse ports of your server Then connect each dongle to Dominion KX using standard UTP twisted pair cable such as Cat5 Cat5e or Cat6 Servers can be up to 150 feet 45 m away from Dominion KX depending on the type of server See user manual printed or on website Frequently asked questions 5 9 Some operating systems lock up if you disconnec
12. etween attempts unexpected communications error connection terminated what should do Ethernet and IP Networking How much bandwidth does Dominion KX offers a 3 generation IP Reach technology the very Dominion KX require best video compression available Raritan has received numerous technical awards confirming its high video quality transmissions and the low bandwidth utilization Raritan pioneered the KVM Over IP functionality that allows users to tailor their video parameters to conserve network bandwidth For instance when connecting to Dominion KX through a dial up modem connection video transmissions can be scaled to grayscale allowing you to be fully productive while ensuring high performance With that in mind the following data refers to Dominion KX at its default video settings again these settings can be tailored to your environment They can be increased to provide even higher quality video color depth or decreased to optimize for low speed connections As a general rule a conservative estimate for bandwidth utilization at Dominion KX s default settings is approximately 0 5Mbit seconds per active KVM user connected to and using a server with very occasional spikes up to 2MBit seconds This is a very conservative estimate because bandwidth utilization will typically be even lower Bandwidth required by each video transmission depends on what task is being performed on the managed server T
13. from the local port In order to access Dominion KX from a client what hardware software or network configuration is required What is the file size of the applet used to access Dominion KX How long does it take to retrieve How do access servers connected to Dominion KX if the network ever becomes unavailable Do you have a non Windows client Dominion KX 1 4 Yes actually up to eight people can look at the same server at the same time Yes the local port is completely independent of the remote ports The local port can access the same server using the PC Share feature Because Dominion KX is completely Web accessible it does not require proprietary software to be installed on clients used for access Although an optional installed client is available on the Raritan Web site Raritan info for the purposes of accessing Dominion KX via modem Dominion KX can be accessed through major Web browsers including Internet Explorer Netscape Mozilla and Firefox Dominion KX can now be accessed on Windows Linux SUN Solaris and Macintosh desktops with the introduction of Raritan s Java based Multi Platform Client MPC Dominion KX administrators can also perform remote management set passwords and security rename servers change IP address etc To perform remote management from a given workstation you must also have Java Runtime Environment of v1 4 2 05 or later installed The applet used to a
14. he more the screen changes the more bandwidth is utilized The table below summarizes some use cases and the required bandwidth utilization at Dominion KX s default settings on a 10Mbit s network Idle Windows Desktop 0 Mbps Move Cursor Around Desktop 0 18Mbps Move Static 400x600 Window Dialog Box 0 35Mbps Navigate Start Menu 0 49Mbps Scroll an Entire Page of Text 1 23Mbps Run 3D Maze Screensaver 1 55Mbps What is the slowest 33Kbps or above is recommended for acceptable KX performance connection lowest over a modem connection bandwidth over which Dominion KX can operate What is the speed of Dominion KX offers two 10 100 speed Ethernet interfaces with Dominion KX s configurable speed and duplex settings either auto detected or manually Ethernet interfaces set Dominion KX does not require a gigabit Ethernet interface because its output see above question would never even come close to exceeding the 100Mbit sec limit of 10 100 Ethernet networking Can access Dominion KX Yes Dominion KX not only utilizes standard Ethernet but also uses very over a wireless connection conservative bandwidth with very high quality video Thus if you have a wireless client with network connectivity to Dominion KX you can configure and manage your servers at BIOS level wirelessly Dominion KX 1 4 Frequently asked questions 3 9 Can Dominion KX be used over the WAN Internet or just over the corporate
15. l port presentation is identical and completely in sync with remote access clients as well as Raritan s optional CommandCenter Secure Gateway management appliance To be clear if you change the name of a server via the Dominion KX on screen display this updates all remote clients and external management servers in real time Yes if you change the name of a server remotely or via Raritan s optional CommandCenter Secure Gateway management appliance this update immediately affects Dominion KX s on screen display Because Dominion KX enables you to remotely manage servers it also incorporates the critical functionality of hard power control of those servers Instead of using a third party tool for power control likely with lower security and fail safe capabilities as Dominion KX you can use Dominion KX s fully integrated remote power control When remotely connected to an appropriately configured Dominion KX right click on the server name to hard reboot a hung server Note that a hard reboot provides the physical equivalent of unplugging the server from the AC power line and re inserting the plug Yes Dominion KX can be easily configured to support multiple power supplies connected to multiple power strips Up to eight 8 powerstrips can be connected to a KX device Four power supplies can be connected per target server to multiple power strips Some servers ship with default BIOS settings such that the server does not automati
16. nion KX Dominion KX 1 4 Yes Dominion KX can be completely configured remotely via Web browser Note that this does require that your workstation have an appropriate Java Runtime Environment J R E version installed Besides the initial setting of Dominion KX s IP address everything about the solution can be completely set up over the network In fact using a crossover Ethernet cable and Dominion KX s default IP address you can even configure even the initial settings configured via Web browser Yes Dominion KX s device and user configurations can be completely backed up for later restoration in the event of a catastrophe Dominion KX s backup and restore functionality can be utilized remotely over the network in fact via a Web browser For complete accountability Dominion KX logs all major user events with a date and time stamp For instance reported events include but are not limited to user login user logout user access of a particular server unsuccessful login configuration changes etc Yes for your convenience in addition to Dominion KX s own internal logging capabilities Dominion KX can also send all logged events to a centralized syslog server Yes for your convenience in addition to Dominion KX s own internal logging capabilities Dominion KX can also send SNMP tracks to SNMP management systems like HP Openview and Raritan s CC NOC Yes Dominion KX supports the industry standard NTP protocol fo
17. orts Dominion KX models range offering 16 or 32 server ports ina 1U chassis or 64 server ports in a 2U chassis This is the industry s highest digital KVM switch port density Dominion KX will automatically update the server port names when servers are moved from port to port Furthermore this automatic update does not just affect the local access port but it propagates to all remote clients and the optional CommandCenter Secure Gateway management appliance If you only have a few serially controlled devices you may connect them to Dominion KX using Raritan s serial computer interface module CIM Raritan AUATC However if you have four or more serially controlled devices we recommend the use of Raritan s Dominion SX line of secure console servers For multiple serial devices Dominion SX offers more serial functionality at a better price point than Dominion KX This SX is easy to use configure and manage and can be completely integrated with your Dominion Series deployment In particular many UNIX and networking administrators appreciate the ability to directly SSH to a Dominion SX unit Yes at the rack Dominion KX functions just like a traditional KVM switch allowing you to control up to 64 servers using a single keyboard mouse and monitor Yes Dominion KX s local access port displays an on screen display interface that presents a list of all servers connected to the Dominion KX unit Users interact with this
18. r synchronization with either your corporate timeserver or with any public time server assuming that outbound NTP requests are allowed through your corporate firewall Yes Dominion KX s power supply can be used in any AC voltage ranges from 100 240 volts at 50 60 Hz 192 168 0 192 For the highest level of security Raritan highly recommends that users change the Dominion KX default administrative username and password of admin raritan all lower case as soon as the unit is connected to the network KX Release 1 3 September 2005 contains a local reset feature that can be used to factory reset the device which will reset the administrative password on the device Alternately the KX can be configured to reset the administrative password Yes Please contact Raritan Technical Support Raritan Europe Phone 31 10 284 4040 Fax 31 10 284 4049 tech europe raritan com Frequently asked questions 9 9
19. t a keyboard or mouse during operation What prevents servers connected to Dominion KX from locking up when users switch away from them Are there any agents that must be installed on servers connected to Dominion KX How many servers can be connected to each Dominion KX unit What happens if disconnect a server from Dominion KX and reconnect it to another Dominion KX unit or connect it to a different port on the same Dominion KX unit How do connect a serially controlled RS 232 device to Dominion KX such as a Cisco router switch or a headless Sun server Local Port Can access my servers directly from the rack How do select between servers while using the local port Is there an On Screen Display OSD How do ensure that only authorized users can access servers from the local port Dominion KX 1 4 Each Dominion computer interface module DCIM dongle acts as a virtual Keyboard and mouse to the server to which it is connected This technology is called KME keyboard mouse emulation Raritan s KME technology is data center grade battle tested and far more reliable than that found in lower end KVM switches it incorporates more than 15 years of experience has been deployed to millions of servers worldwide Servers connected to Dominion KX do not require any software agents to be installed because Dominion KX connects directly via hardware to servers keyboard video and mouse p
20. twork port with the same IP address ensuring that your server operations are not disrupted Note that Automatic Failover is disabled by default No Dominion KX is a completely self sufficient appliance After assigning an IP address to Dominion KX it is ready to use with web browser and authentication capabilities completely built in Of course should you desire to use an external authentication server such as LDAP Active Directory RADIUS etc Dominion KX allows you to and will even fail over to its own internal authentication should your external authentication server become unavailable In this way Dominion KX s design philosophy is optimized to provide ease of installation complete independence from any external server and maximum flexibility Dominion KX may work with remote access products like CITRIX if configures appropriately but Raritan cannot guarantee it will work with acceptable performance Customers should realize that products like CITRIX utilize video redirection technologies similar in concept to digital KVM switches so that two KVM over IP technologies are being used simultaneously DHCP addressing can be used however Raritan recommends fixed addressing since the DKX is an infrastructure device and can be accessed and administered more effectively with a fixed IP address The Dominion KX relies on the customer s LAN WAN network Some possible problems include e Ethernet AutoNegotiation On som
21. ys be available in any scenario whatsoever as you will likely need to use your KVM infrastructure to fix problems Dominion KX is designed to be completely independent from any external server For example should your data center come under attack from a malicious Windows worm or virus you will need to use your KVM solution to resolve the situation Therefore it is imperative that your KVM solution in turn must not rely on these same Windows servers or any server for that matter to be operational in order for the KVM solution to function To this end Dominion KX is completely independent Even if you choose to configure your Dominion KX to authenticate against an Active Directory server if that Active Directory server becomes unavailable Dominion KX s own authentication will be activated and fully functional No Dominion KX is a completely self sufficient appliance After assigning an IP address to Dominion KX it is ready to use with Web browser and authentication capabilities completely built in None Dominion KX can be accessed completely via a Web browser Although an optional installed client is provided on Raritan s Web site Raritan info for the purpose of accessing Dominion KX via modem A Java based client is now available for non Windows users To prepare you must set the mouse parameters in order to provide users with the best mouse synchronization during remote connections as well as turning off the pow
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