![HP AF601A 2x1x16 IP Console Switch with Virtual Media - [10837403-000-000]](http://image.become.com/imageserver/s3/584621713-150-150-5-0/hp-af601a.jpg "HP AF601A 2x1x16 IP Console Switch with Virtual Media - [10837403-000-000]")
( 1 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 26 2009
I use several of the 4x1x16 IP Console servers (not exactly this model, but very similar) and I am pleased by their capabilities and their small sizes. Without taking up much rack space (they can share 1U of rack space with a TFT7600 Rackmount Monitor and Keyboard) you can connect to 16 machines via a locally-connected keyboard/monitor/mouse or over a network connection. This model has the capability to share a USB storage device with connected machines (if you are using compatible USB device dongles) which makes upgrading software or firmware on multiple servers much easier. The ability to use standard CAT5 ethernet cable to connect the console with the KVM dongles makes running cables so much easier than the old-fashioned KVM cables. The only downside I have found for these KVM consoles is that the network interface requires a static IP address or a bootp server (no DHCP capabilities yet), but in most networked environments this is not a major issue.
