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Page 1 of 10 Dominion KX FAQ

Dominion KX Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General Questions

Q. What is Dominion KX?

A. Dominion KX is a digital KVM (keyboard / video / mouse) switch that enables IT

administrators to access and control 16 or 32 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 in

the world.

Q. How does Dominion KX

differ from remote control

software?

A. When using Dominion KX remotely, the interface, at first glance, may seem similar to

remote control software such as PC Anywhere, Windows Terminal Services / Remote

Desktop, VNC, etc. However, because Dominion KX is not a software but a hardware

solution, it is much more powerful:

• OS and hardware independent – Dominion KX can be used to manage

any type of server running any OS, whether Intel, Sun, PowerPC running

Windows, Linux, Solaris, Novell, 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

software 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.

• BIOS-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.

Remote Access

Q. How many users can

remotely access servers on

each Dominion KX?

A. Currently, Dominion KX models offer concurrent transmissions of up to two

unique servers at any time. Dominion KX can, thereby, provide any of the following

permutations:

• 1 User, viewing two unique servers simultaneously

• 2 Users, each viewing unique servers simultaneously

• 8 Users – four viewing one server; four viewing a different server

simultaneously

• Any other permutations of up to 8 users, viewing up to 2 unique servers

total.

Q. Can two people look at the

same server at the same time?

A. Yes, up to eight people can look at the same server at the same time.

Summary of content (10 pages)

PAGE 1
Dominion KX Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) General Questions Q. What is Dominion KX? A. Dominion KX is a digital KVM (keyboard / video / mouse) switch that enables IT administrators to access and control 16 or 32 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.
PAGE 2
Q. In order to access Dominion KX from a client, what hardware, software, or network configuration is required? A. 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 provided in the box for the purposes of accessing Dominion KX via modem). Dominion KX can be accessed through any major Web browser including: Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Mozilla.
PAGE 3
Ethernet Networking Q. How much bandwidth does Dominion KX require? A. Dominion KX offers integrated IP-Reach™ technology – the very 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.
PAGE 4
Q. Can I use Dominion KX with a VPN? Q. How many TCP ports must be open on my firewall in order to enable network access to Dominion KX? Are these ports configurable? Q. Does the secondary network port provide redundant fail-over, or load balancing? Q. Can Dominion KX be rack mounted? Q. How large is Dominion KX? Q. Does Dominion KX require an external authentication server to operate? A. Yes. Dominion KX uses standard Internet technologies from Layer 1 through Layer 4.
PAGE 5
Q. What software do I have to install in order to access Dominion KX from a particular workstation? Q. What should I do to prepare a server for connection to Dominion KX? Q. What comes in the Dominion KX box? A. None. Dominion KX can be accessed completely via a Web browser. (Although an optional installed client is provided in the box for the purpose of accessing Dominion KX via modem.) A.
PAGE 6
Q. Are there any agents that must be installed on servers connected to Dominion KX? Q. How many servers can be connected to each Dominion KX unit? Q. What happens if I 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? Q. How do I connect a serially controlled (RS-232) device to Dominion KX, such as a Cisco router/switch or a headless Sun server? A.
PAGE 7
Q. How do I ensure that only authorized users can access servers from the local port? Q. If I use the local port to change the name of a connect server, does this change propagate to remote access clients as well? Does it propagate to the optional CommandCenter appliance? Q. If I 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? A.
PAGE 8
Q. What type of power strips does Dominion KX support? A. Dominion KX can support any serially controlled power strips supplied by any vendor, by using our Serial (RS-232) computer interface module. However, 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”).
PAGE 9
Computer Interface Modules (CIMs) Q. Can I use Computer Interface Modules (CIMs) from Raritan’s analog matrix KVM switch, Paragon, with Dominion KX? Q. Can I use Z-Series “daisychaining” Computer Interface Modules (CIMs) with Dominion KX? Q. Can I use Dominion KX Computer Interface Modules (CIMs) with Raritan’s analog matrix KVM switch, Paragon? A. Yes.
PAGE 10
Manageability Q. Can Dominion KX be remotely managed and configured via web browser? A. Yes. Dominion KX can be completely configured remotely via Web browser. Note that this does require that your workstation have Java Runtime Environment 1.4.x (or later) installed. Besides the initial setting of Dominion KX’s IP address, everything about the solution can be completely set up over the network.