User guide

Dominion KX II – Frequently Asked Questions
© 2012 Raritan Inc. Page 10 of 18 V1098 R6 May 2012
How many blade servers
can I connect to a Dominion
KX II?
For performance and reliability reasons, you can connect up to eight blade
chassis to a Dominion KX II, regardless of model. Raritan recommends
connecting up to two times the number of remote connections supported by the
device. For example, with a KX2-216 with two remote channels, we recommend
connecting up to four blade server chassis. You can, of course, connect
individual servers to the remaining server ports.
I’m an SMB customer with
a few Dominion KX IIs.
Must I use your
CommandCenter Secure
Gateway management
station?
No, you don’t have to. SMB customers are not required to use CommandCenter
Secure Gateway to use the new blade features.
I’m an enterprise customer
using CommandCenter
Secure Gateway. Can I
access blade servers via
CommandCenter Secure
Gateway?
Yes. Once blade servers are configured on the Dominion KX II, the
CommandCenter Secure Gateway user can access them via KVM connections.
In addition, the blade servers are organized by chassis as well as
CommandCenter Secure Gateway custom views.
What if I also want in-band
or embedded KVM access?
In-band and embedded access to blade servers can be configured within
CommandCenter Secure Gateway.
I’m running VMware
®
on
some of my blade servers.
Is this supported?
Yes. With CommandCenter Secure Gateway, you can display and access virtual
machines running on blade servers.
Is virtual media supported?
This depends on the blade server. HP blades can support virtual media. The
IBM BladeCenter (except for BladeCenter T) supports virtual media if configured
appropriately. A virtual media CIM – D2CIM-VUSB or D2CIM-DVUSB – must be
used.
Is Absolute Mouse
Synchronization supported?
Servers with internal KVM switches inside the blade chassis typically do not
support absolute mouse technology. For HP blade and some Dell blade servers,
a CIM can be connected to each blade, so Absolute Mouse Synchronization is
supported.
Is blade access secure?
Yes. Blade access uses all of the standard Dominion KX II security features
such as 128-bit or 256-bit encryption. In addition, there are blade-specific
security features such as per blade access permissions and hotkey-blocking
that eliminates unauthorized access.
Does the Dominion KSX II
or the KX II-101 support
blade servers?
At this time, these products do not support blade servers.
Installation
Besides the unit itself, what
do I need to order from
Raritan to install Dominion
KX II?
Each server that connects to Dominion KX II requires a Dominion or Paragon
computer interface module (CIM), an adapter that connects directly to the
keyboard, video and mouse ports of the server.
Which kind of Cat5 cabling
should be used in my
installation?
Dominion KX II can use any standard UTP (unshielded 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 II.
Which types of servers can
be connected to Dominion
KX II?
Dominion KX II is completely vendor independent. Any server with standards-
compliant keyboard, video and mouse ports can be connected. In addition,
servers with serial ports can be controlled using the P2CIM-SER CIM.