User guide

Dominion KX II Version 2.5 Release Notes 8
DominionKXIIReleaseNotes2.5  255-62-4026-00-0P RoHS
Release 2.3 (Tiering) Important Notes and Information:
1. For Dominion KXII to KX II tiering:
a. Two levels of tiering are supported; up to 1024 target servers can be connected. Multiple, tiered KX II switches can be
connected to a base KX II switch and accessed either locally or remotely from the base KX II switch.
b. There are two ways to physically connect the local ports of the tiered switches to the base switch. Use the
D2CIM-DVUSB or connect, via Cat5 cable, to the Extended Local Port of the KX2-832 or KX2-864. Since the local port
of the tiered switch has been connected to the base switch, local access is not directly available on the tiered switches.
c. Both local and remote access through the base KX II switch is available. Consolidated local access is a convenient
way to access up to 1024 servers from a single console in the data center.
d. Tiered remote access is also available, but has some restrictions. Non CC-SG customers can connect to the base
switch and remotely access all servers connected to the base and tiered switches. Please realize that: (1) there is only
one simultaneous tiered connection supported per tiered switch and (2) certain advanced features are not available over
a tiered connection. In general, CC-SG or direct access to the tiered switch will provide maximum functionality,
although tiered remote access is very convenient for customers needing basic IP access from a single IP address.
e. Virtual media, smart card and absolute mouse are not available over a tiered connection. These advanced features
are available when remotely accessing servers directly from the tiered switches and through CC-SG.
f. Blade Servers should be connected to the base switch and not to the tiered switches.
g. CC-SG and MPC provide direct IP access to the base and tiered switches with full support of the advanced features.
However, for local access when in the data center, tiering is very useful since up to 1024 servers can be accessed from
a single local console.
h. The base and tiered switches must run the same Dominion KX II Release. Any KX II model can be used as the base
and tiered switches. The KX2-832 and KX2-864 are especially recommended as Base Switches. The Dominion
KX2-101 and KSX II do not currently support the tiering feature.
i. Users must share the same login and password on the base and tiered switches.
j. Note that the boot time for the base switch is dependent on the number of tiered switches connected to it. This is due
to synchronization between the base and tiered switches.
k. For best operation of the tiering feature, we recommend minimizing the number of User Groups, with a maximum of 50
User Groups.
l. Internet Explorer (IE) 7 is not recommended for tiered remote access. Use IE 8 instead.
2. An additional form of tiering is available in Release 2.4 – generic, hot-key based tiering. In this case a Dominion KX II is the
base tier and the tiered switches can be Raritan or 3
rd
party KVM switches that are hot-key switchable. In this case, the KX II
port connected to the KVM switch should be configured to be of type “KVM Switch” on the Port Configuration page. For this
form of tiering the following applies:
a. The D2CIM-VUSB or D2CIM-DVUSB CIM should be used to connect to the local port of the KVM switch to the base
switch.
b. We are not certifying specific KVM switches in Release 2.4.
c. The tiered KVM switch must support hot-key switching on its local port.
d. The KVM switch must be configured to accept one of the allowable hot-key sequences and then switch to the selected
target server.
e. Advanced KVM features such as virtual media, smart cards, etc. are not supported over the tiered connection
f. Consult the KX II documentation for more information.
3. Our support of 1920x1080 HD Video Resolution is via standard VGA (analog) video. Servers with DVI-A (analog) and DVI-I
(integrated analog and digital) ports can use the new Raritan ADVI-VGA adapter to convert the DVI signal to VGA.