KVM switches are used by IT administrators to manage large numbers of servers in data centers from a single desktop and are gaining profile as networks mushroom in size and complexity.
Fujitsu Components division extended into the space from relays and input devices (keyboards and mice) into switches about three years ago, the logic being that the keyboard business itself is going Chinese, so we thought we’d reuse our know-how in PS/2, USB and Sun connectors to get into switches, explained Pierre Saint Jalme, its marketing manager for input devices in Europe.
Fujitsu has no ambitions in the SoHo market, focusing instead on enterprise. We’re making high-end appliances with lots of reliability and image quality. Saint Jalme said the company is currently the only KVM manufacturer to offer its serial console servers as a 1U rack-mount drawer device. Lots of people are making console drawers but they don’t do KVM, he argued.
Fujitsu started out in analog switches, which are suited to local management (i.e. up to 300 meters away using KVM extenders). However, as administrators are called upon to troubleshoot and fix problems with servers at any time of the day, including hours when they are not at work, the requirement grows for a remote management capability, which can only be delivered over IP.
All our competitors are promoting IP but we know the market, and know that IP products today are not satisfactory, argued Saint Jalme. He said the intention was to deliver a plug-in IP capability for the company’s analog switches by the end of this year. At the same time, Fujitsu also intends to launch multi-user capability. At the moment it has 2-, 4-, 8- and 16-port switches but they are all single-user only.
