Suggestions for a Physical KVM

[ChaOConnor]

Throwing this out there, does anyone have a recommendation for a KVM to be used in an unRaid all in one system?

 

I have unRaid setup, plus my daily driver Windows 10 virtual machine, and a couple of other VMs I'd like to switch between.  Right now I have two keyboards and mice for the unRaid and Windows 10 VM, but I'd like to get it down to one set and just flip on the KVM box for what VM/OS I need.

 

Looking for any suggestions from those who have bought/used one before in unRaid and VMs.

 

Thanks!

[Kewjoe]

21 minutes ago, ChaOConnor said:

Throwing this out there, does anyone have a recommendation for a KVM to be used in an unRaid all in one system?

 

I have unRaid setup, plus my daily driver Windows 10 virtual machine, and a couple of other VMs I'd like to switch between.  Right now I have two keyboards and mice for the unRaid and Windows 10 VM, but I'd like to get it down to one set and just flip on the KVM box for what VM/OS I need.

 

Looking for any suggestions from those who have bought/used one before in unRaid and VMs.

 

Thanks!

 

While, I will not directly answer your question. I can explain what I'm doing with a similar setup as you. I have the following setup:

- 2 Video's cards passed through 2 different VM's connected to 2 different monitors (both VM's can use both monitors if needed)

- (Optional) i have 2 PCIE USB cards passed to each VM's

- 2 bluetooth usb dongle's passed through to both VM's (not really passed through since it's connected to the already passed through USB card mentioned above)

- a Logitech K810 Bluetooth Keyboard that has 3 profiles, profile 1 connects to VM #1, profile 2 connects to VM #2, profile 3 connects to my Work laptop

- a Logitech MX Master Bluetooth Mouse that has 3 profiles, profile 1 connects to VM #1, profile 2 connects to VM #2, profile 3 connects to my Work laptop

 

I've tried KVM's before and always had a frustrating experience. My setup works perfectly for my needs. I'm very happy with it. I also have a Gaming Mouse/Keyboard connected to VM #1 in case i want a full keyboard or plan to do any gaming. I keep them on the side when I don't need them.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Kewjoe

[wayner]

You don't mention what inputs your monitor(s) have but I have a few things working.  I have a couple of older KVM switches that use USB and DVI or VGA.

 

Assuming that your monitor has an HDMI input you can buy HDMI switches pretty cheaply at Monoprice - as low as $7 for a 3:1 switch.  You can also get USB switches as well - about $20 for a four port switch.  You have to move two switches but it is pretty cheap and the switches are useful for other applications if you don't need them for KVM anymore.

 

The other option is to use a wireless keyboard and mouse and just move the receiver from PC to PC when you need to use that PC which negates the need for a USB switch.

 

For my monitor I use a cheapo 19" TV that I bought that has AV inputs as well.  This is useful as I can also use it to check the video outputs from my cable boxes which are hooked up to my unRAID server under the SageTV docker.

[Jcloud]

I ran Multiplicity for a while doing multiple monitor single keyboard and monitor setup. Worked well, but not quite what you asked for.

 

Just another option, if it's still useful, just caught the posting date. lol

[SSD]

I have a KVM that works via remote control. I use it only for keyboard/mouse switching. The video from each goes directly to the monitor (HDMI which KVM can't handle). I have programmed a harmony remote to switch both the KVM and monitor input. This makes switching quite easy with single remote buttonpress. Approach limited to video inputs (4) which works fine for me. I believe HDMI switching KVMs are available but are very pricey. And my monitor is 4K at 60Hz and that was not available.

 

The only KVM I could find with IR remote was ConnectPRO. I requested harmony to add this to the supported devices which they did. Was somewhat pricey, but worth it to me as I switch a lot and pushing a physical burn on a KVM box and switching input on the monitor was just too slow. Even just pushing the cheap KVM button with all the USB plugs connected required a reach across the desk  and was unsatisfying. I'm very happy with my solution for my use case. Don't even have to take my feet off my desk! 

[DoeBoye]

On 8/18/2017 at 9:47 AM, ChaOConnor said:

 

Looking for any suggestions from those who have bought/used one before in unRaid and VMs.

I'm using a simple 2-port usb switch and a logitech wireless dongle to switch keyboard/mouse between my 2 VMs.

 

Same idea for video. I have 2 2x1 (2 inputs, 1 output) HDMI switches that let me switch back and forth between dual monitor setups for each VM (Or have one VM on each screen and just USB switch as required).

 

You could implement the same setup, just using 3-port or 4-port USB and HDMI switches.

 

Not the fanciest, but works well, and simple enough for the less technical folks in my house to use without my help.

 

PS: Your sig shows you using Unraid 4.6...

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by DoeBoye

[CHBMB]

34 minutes ago, DoeBoye said:

I'm using a simple 2-port usb switch and a logitech wireless dongle to switch keyboard/mouse between my 2 VMs.
 
Same idea for video. I have 2 2x1 (2 inputs, 1 output) HDMI switches that let me switch back and forth between dual monitor setups for each VM (Or have one VM on each screen and just USB switch as required).
 
You could implement the same setup, just using 3-port or 4-port USB and HDMI switches.
 
Not the fanciest, but works well, and simple enough for the less technical folks in my house to use without my help.
 
PS: Your sig shows you using Unraid 4.6...
 

@DoeBoye
Do you mind me asking, with that USB switch, do you have to pass through an entire USB controller or just the wireless dongle by itself?

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
 

Edited January 19, 2018 by CHBMB

[DoeBoye]

15 minutes ago, CHBMB said:

Do you mind me asking, with that USB switch, do you have to pass through an entire USB controller or just the wireless dongle by itself?

 

I've passed through the entire controller to each VM. One of my VMs is macOS, and it's quite particular about passing through individual USB components. Generally easier to just passthrough a whole controller.

 

Also, as I run both VMs simultaneously, passing through just the dongle wouldn't work anyways, as once in use in one VM, it wouldn't be available to the other.... I suppose you could use the Libvirt Hotplug USB plugin to switch the dongle between VMs, but that adds another layer of complexity I wanted to avoid. I needed to keep the system as simple as possible for family-wide acceptance .

 

Passing through the whole controller also provides USB plugs for both VMs for things like USB keys, charging devices etc.

 

 

[CHBMB]

Just now, DoeBoye said:

 

I've passed through the entire controller to each VM. One of my VMs is macOS, and it's quite particular about passing through individual USB components. Generally easier to just passthrough a whole controller.

 

Also, as I run both VMs simultaneously, passing through just the dongle wouldn't work anyways, as once in use in one VM, it wouldn't be available to the other.... I suppose you could use the Libvirt Hotplug USB plugin to switch the dongle between VMs, but that adds another layer of complexity I wanted to avoid. I needed to keep the system as simple as possible for family-wide acceptance .

 

Passing through the whole controller also provides USB plugs for both VMs for things like USB keys, charging devices etc.

 

 

 

Thanks mate, yeah I'm having some issues getting my controller hand off right, so thought I'd ask as it was a potential solution.  Guess I'll dive back into the BIOS and experiment some more when the wife is away.

[DoeBoye]

1 minute ago, CHBMB said:

 

Thanks mate, yeah I'm having some issues getting my controller hand off right, so thought I'd ask as it was a potential solution.  Guess I'll dive back into the BIOS and experiment some more when the wife is away.

 

No worries! I was pretty lucky in that my onboard USB controller and my pci-e USB controller passed through rather painlessly. I have one onboard controller for unRaid, one passed through for my macOS, and the addon USB 3.0 card is passed to the Win10 VM. I think it's partly luck of the draw. Some boards just like to lump a bunch of stuff together in the same IOMMU group, and it makes it a real pain to work with.

 

I used archedraft's excellent guide for passing through USB controllers using hostdev, and it worked without a hitch. Honestly, my biggest problem was getting my video cards to passthrough properly. I went through 3 or 4 different cards until I found the perfect fit

 

 

[wayner]

4 minutes ago, DoeBoye said:

 

I used archedraft's excellent guide for passing through USB controllers using hostdev, and it worked without a hitch. Honestly, my biggest problem was getting my video cards to passthrough properly. I went through 3 or 4 different cards until I found the perfect fit

 

I hope you haven't been having to buy high end video cards.  Recently they have been expensive and hard to get due to crypto miners.

[CHBMB]

3 minutes ago, DoeBoye said:

 

No worries! I was pretty lucky in that my onboard USB controller and my pci-e USB controller passed through rather painlessly. I have one onboard controller for unRaid, one passed through for my macOS, and the addon USB 3.0 card is passed to the Win10 VM. I think it's partly luck of the draw. Some boards just like to lump a bunch of stuff together in the same IOMMU group, and it makes it a real pain to work with.

 

I used archedraft's excellent guide for passing through USB controllers using hostdev, and it worked without a hitch. Honestly, my biggest problem was getting my video cards to passthrough properly. I went through 3 or 4 different cards until I found the perfect fit

 

 

 

Yeah, I've done it before with my old motherboard, but an upgrade has forced me to start again so to speak....

 

[DoeBoye]

3 minutes ago, CHBMB said:

Yeah, I've done it before with my old motherboard, but an upgrade has forced me to start again so to speak....

 

Nothing worse than an upgrade making what was once easy, a pain in the a$$. Goodluck!

 

[DoeBoye]

5 minutes ago, wayner said:

I hope you haven't been having to buy high end video cards.  Recently they have been expensive and hard to get due to crypto miners.

 

Nah. Nothing fancy. I first tried a few older cards I had lying around, and of course, none of those worked . I ended up buying 2 others (but returned them both for no loss. Hurrah!) before settling on the ones I have now. The macOS card is good for work, but not games, while the Win10 card is decent enough for medium quality settings in most games, but is nothing fancy.

 

It's funny you mention crypto miners. Earlier this week for fun I looked into seeing if I could make any money mining with my card, since the server is on 24hrs a day anyways, and most calculators projected a loss of $50 a year to run it (at current prices)! Sigh.