Small Office and
Home Office (SOHO) KVM can be divided into
two categories: economical and professional.
The economical SOHO KVM can be further divided
according to its appearance: handheld, wire,
lightweight and vertical. The categories
are explained below:
Handheld
KVM: Before Cable KVM became popular,
Handheld KVM was the basic type of KVM provided
the consumer with an entry level model.
The function is designed for practical use,
so the price is relatively cheap. Its main
characteristics include its practicality,
lightweight appearance and easy installation.
The hot key or switch button can be used
to control the PC without any additional
power, which makes it convenient and easy
to use. However, its disadvantage is when
the KVM is fully inserted with wires; it
cannot effectively organize the wires into
one bundle and occupies a lot of space,
which is inconvenient for cable management.
Also, as a result of its "practicality"
in design, there is less room for expansion
in terms of functions and flexibility.
Cable KVM: is an integration of cable and
KVM (All-in-one). Compared to the general
KVM form factor and the separation of wires,
the immediate benefit of Cable KVM is not
having to buy extra cables. In addition,
Cable KVM is designed with "practicality"
in mind--to be light weight and not space-consuming.
This product concept contributes to making
KVM a mainstream product. However, the disadvantage
of this type of products is that the product
is restricted by the length of the cable;
the connection between the PC and console
is dependent upon the length of the wire.
In order to promote the use of KVM among
consumers, ATEN was the first to launch,
mass produce and market Cable KVM in 2001.
This was surprising news to the industry,
but soon initiated a trend of steady followers.
Currently, ATEN's All-in-one type SOHO KVM
is the Petite series products, including
products with different interfaces and different
numbers of ports, including CS-62A,
CS-64A,
CS-62B,
CS-62U,
CS-64U,
etc.
Light
Weight and Vertical KVM: Moving the
horizontal KVM to a vertical position is
not only more pleasing to the eyes, but
also increases desktop space. Some product
types include changes in the KVM wiring
and simplify the connector and number of
cables, making cable management easier.
Different from the "practicality"
design of the handheld and Cable KVM, some
vertical KVM includes the audio function.
However, the disadvantage for these types
of products is also due to the simplification
of the connector and the number of cables;
some KVM connectors use a special specification
defined by each company. As a result, it
is important to be aware of the company's
cable configuration when purchasing cables.
Professional KVM
Professional
KVM that are most often used by SOHO are
usually designed for the desktop. When compared
with the economical SOHO KVM, the interface
and functions come in a bigger variety and
the product concept has grown from the simple
KVM Switch to a multi-function management
device. This type of product is designed
with the personal / SOHO professional needs
in mind and includes product functions such
as cross-platform support, simultaneous
control of multiple platforms (such as PC,
MAC, Linux or SUN), or supporting the sharing
of USB peripherals ports (KVMP) to provide
synchronous and asynchronous switching.
Some professional KVM switches simultaneously
support PS/2 and USB interface design specification.
The professional KVM is also being developed
to support the DVI interface and dual display
products in order to meet the display trends.
Currently, ATEN's professional KVM products
includes 2 & 4 Port PS/2 interface CS-82A/CS-84A,
2 & 4 Port USB KVMP Switch CS-1732A/CS-1734A,
2 & 4 Port USB Dual-View KVMP Switch CS-1742 /CS-1744,
2 & 4 Port DVI KVM CS-1762
/ CS-1764, and 2 & 4 USB 2.0 KVME CS-1772
/ CS-1774.
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