![]() Remote-access client software is also available for mobile devices, allowing tablet users, for example, to access programs and data on their home or office desktop-OS machines. (Note that some Windows Telnet/SSH apps-for example, the free PuTTY Windows client ()-aren’t “true” Windows apps, meaning that clicking on a hyperlink won’t open Firefox or some other browser.) More advanced versions are also offered by OS makers, such as the Apple Remote Desktop package ($80).Īnd there there’s no shortage of free, shareware, and commercial third-party remote-desktop apps and Web-based services, like GoToMyPC, Laplink Everywhere, LogMeIn, PuTTy, TeamViewer (which I’ve been using extensively over the past year), and VNC. ![]() Windows has Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection most Unix-based operating systems, such as Linux and OS X, include the command-line-based Telnet and SSH network utilities. Today, all desktop operating systems include at least one basic remote-access program. Some remote-access programs support printing, allowing you to print a file from the remote machine on your local printer, and do machine-to-machine file transfers. Depending on the software, you can also listen to audio, and access peripherals connected to the other machine’s ports. Of course, this means you’ll need to install the appropriate software on both computers. When this window is your “foreground” app, you can control it with your keyboard and mouse. They give you a window on your primary display that shows what’s on the remote system’s display. Remote-desktop programs, like KVMs, let you connect your primary computer (the one you’re working on) to another computer. The device sits centered at the front edge of my desk, where I can easily reach the selection buttons and the USB peripheral ports. ![]() The four-port IOgear Miniview Symphony GCS1774 ($250), which I’ve been using for more than four years, includes two USB peripheral ports and even a five-port Ethernet switch, and it measures a modest 27 by 8.9 by 5.6 centimeters. (Be sure to check whether that price includes the cables since they’re typically nonstandard, four sets for a four-port KVM can easily bump the total price by another hundred bucks or so.) For example, there’s the Belkin two-port Flip PS/2 KVM ($40), which you can hold in your hand. A four-port switch is likely to run you somewhere between $50 and $300, depending on what features you need. Pricewise, desktop KVMs run the gamut, from under US $50 to over $1,000. KVMs often now include high-resolution support (2560 by 1600), and DVI (digital video interface) and HDMI (high-definition multimedia) video ports, but check the specs closely to make sure they can support the resolution you want to work at. Most desktop models top out at eight ports, such as IOgear’s eight-port USB DVI KVMP switch. Some KVMs can connect up to 32 computers, although these monsters are designed for data centers, connecting via the local network rather than with KVM-to-computer cables. Modern KVMs are electronic, which eliminates this concern. ![]() Another difference is that KVMs once relied on mechanical switches, which could cause computer-damaging static leaks. Modern KVMs may also accommodate audio in and out, and some, known as KVMP switches-the P stands for “peripheral”-have front-side USB ports for printers, storage, scanners, and the like. In the old days, this often literally meant just the keyboard, monitor, and the mouse, which you’d typically switch between two to four computers. KVM SwitchesĪ KVM switch lets you select which computer your input/output peripherals connect to. ![]() Both approaches are decades old, but a new generation of products is keeping pace with the demands of computers and peripherals that go way beyond those of an early-generation PC and a VGA monitor. Nor do I want to be constantly unplugging and replugging the monitor, keyboard, and mouse cables every time I want to use a different computer.įortunately, there are two easy solutions: One involves hardware (keyboard-video-mouse, or KVM, switches) and the other involves software (remote-access programs. But I don’t want the additional clutter-and ergonomic disaster-of having a separate display, keyboard, and mouse for each system. Like many readers of this publication, I’ve got more than one computer at my desk. Amidst my jam-packed desk, a KVM switch keeps the chaos of using multiple computers in check. ![]()
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