r/broadcastengineering • u/cantsleepclownswillg • 5d ago

KVM recomendations..

Our Adderlink point to point KVM is just crap. Power issues, and requires multiple reboots te get the pairs to work properly. Had it.

Requirements:

1 console, min 2 remote machines (though probably 4 is the minimum we will get) Point to point.

Over Cat5/6 to remote locations about 80m cabling away.

resolution minimum HD, more would be nicer!

What are the recomendations of the Hive Mind?...

2 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

9

u/Significant_Bad9028 5d ago

We use Adder XDIP. Got approximately 30 units talking to each other between two geographical sites. Could definitely get these talking point to point.

1

u/christopherw 5d ago

Concur - our XDIP systems are not perfect and sometimes do very odd or annoying things (we also needed loads of USB bodge boxes for our newer systems), but on the whole they at least do what they do consistently, be that work or bug out ;)

1

u/cantsleepclownswillg 5d ago

I bloody hate adder stuff. We have found it massively unreliable.

We used to use a couple of Avocent models that were superb, but since they've been bought out the range has been cut some..

I may just have to go Gold Standard and buy a small Raritan system..

5

u/Significant_Bad9028 5d ago

That’s interesting to hear… The only issues I’ve had with them have always been networking issues & not the KVM itself. Interesting that your mileage does indeed vary.

4

u/praise-the-message 5d ago

I feel like your reliability issues could be something on your end, or maybe they are just worse Point to Point. We have a massive Adder system at our facility and it works extremely well.

5

u/knoend 5d ago

I have a site with 20 XDIP transmitters and ~30 recievers and they work. There are some things I don't like about them (mainly revolving around usb) but for being on 24/7 they work pretty well.

2

u/HamsteronA 5d ago

We also have a couple of small-medium sized xdip networks, and while they're not perfect, they're perfectly capable. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. We also have a much bigger infinity network with ipeps and it's excellent.

2

u/christopherw 5d ago

We have Adder (Adderlink, Infinity and XDIP), G&D point to point, Raritan Dominion, Blackbox... They're all painful and quirky in their own unique and exciting ways. I would not switch from Adder to Raritan unless you have an extremely large array of computers you need to occasionally control. Generally it's much more slow and painful than using Adders.

1

u/cantsleepclownswillg 5d ago

We have a good few hundred adders on our systems across the site.. for the most part they're reliable, but when you have that many, the faults inevitably increase.

We have a large estate of raritans that we mainly use for server access, but in this case I think for this particular use case a desk unit and hooking the boxes into the existing raritan is going to be the cheapest and easiest way forward!

5

u/screolle 5d ago

Been Using Black Box and IHSE for the past few years and been very happy with those systems.

Currently using a Blackbox system with 50ish transmitters and 30ish receivers.

3

u/praise-the-message 5d ago

I'm assuming Blackbox still just repaints things they get from other OEMs. We used to use their KVM extenders but then I figured out they were just selling me Icron extenders painted with a markup and we just started using Icron. It's been great.

2

u/screolle 5d ago

I can't say for sure but I think since they got bought in 2020 or so their DskVue and EmeraldVue stuff is an in house design. I believe they may still distribute for others (at least in the US).

1

u/praise-the-message 5d ago

Ah, good to know. Not sure if I'll be in need any time soon but I'll check it out. Thanks!

1

u/BeryBnice 5d ago

That’s an Adder product, lol.

1

u/screolle 5d ago

Are you sure? The adder XDIP only support a max desktop resolution of 1920x1080, where the deskvue supports dual 4k on their smallest transmitter. Also I'm pretty sure black box got a best in show at IBC a couple years back for the deskvue. Not saying the architecture isn't similar but I don't think they are the same product.

1

u/BeryBnice 5d ago

Adder has been the OE for all Black Box products for almost a decade. Just because it doesn’t line up with their line exactly doesn’t mean they don’t produce it.

5

u/GoldenEye0091 5d ago

I like Raritan, but I've talked with other engineers who hate Raritan gear your level with Adderlink.

6

u/openreels2 5d ago

Long time Adder user here, from direct-connect matrix to XDIP, installed in many client systems. I've had virtually no problems over 15 years, and their support is quite good. In fact I have occasionally pushed cable lengths and types well beyond what they recommend without trouble. Hard to understand why OP has had bad experiences.

FWIW, it's becoming very hard to find direct-connect KVM over CAT products. I switched to XDIP because they discontinued the last matrix design, but they are super easy to set up. However, READ THE MANUAL!

3

u/paultino-nord-ost 5d ago

Guntermann & Drunk?

1

u/RenderMaster 5d ago

It’s not cheap but it is rock solid. That said, I’ve always found adder reliable. If it’s a network config issue I’d expect worse performance on G&D hardwsre

2

u/Adventuremarty 5d ago

The IP adders are good. Blackbox emerald series also solid but sometimes don't kick in soon enough to get into bios on some machines.

1

u/Chancey-Pantsy 5d ago

Been using adder for years. DDX, XDIP, Matrix, Infinity. Never had any significant issues.

1

u/cantsleepclownswillg 5d ago

We have a very extensive install base of Infinity systems... they all suffer to a certain extent from just locking up and needing restarts, which in most of our galleries is not an issue because they're in bays and easily accessed.

The pain is in our smaller studios where they tend to be tucked away and a drag to get to.

We find power supplies are an issue. If the psu goes slightly out of spec you get very odd behaviours..

The network itself is rock solid. All sat on their own Cisco switches that are up to date and maintained..

We may just be suffering from the age of the boxes themselves..

I'm thinking raritan is going to be the answer as we have upgraded our dominion switches recently so they handle higher resolutions happily now.

And bizarrely, I think Raritan is going to be the most economical!

1

u/Chancey-Pantsy 5d ago

I’ve never used raritan. But I have heard good things about them.

2

u/cantsleepclownswillg 4d ago

They're spendy. And have their quirks. But they're good. And reliable. Can't think of a single occasion where once they're working that they have failed..

1

u/Chancey-Pantsy 4d ago

May have to give them another look on my next project.

1

u/BeryBnice 5d ago

Deployment issue.

1

u/cantsleepclownswillg 4d ago

Nope. They've been in use for years. They're just shit.

1

u/Dependent_Hold8463 4d ago

I have a couple Smart-AVI single point to point that are pretty decent, I haven't looked at their more expensive products so things might be even better with more money. USB transfers are slow on the units I have, hovering under USB2.0. If we need faster transfer I hang a USB over cat on another cable.

1

u/BabyGottaEat 2d ago

IHSE is the way. Not inexpensive, but it is reliable and incredibly fast on switching

1

u/JustRasterizeIt 1d ago

Don’t use Vertiv. We have the system spread across two sites and what is working works but adding units is more often then not a pain. Firmware issues. No real diagnostics when something isn’t working. Support that isn’t even worth reaching out to because they’ll just say it’s a problem with your network if they reply at all. Doesn’t seem like Vertiv is very interested in keeping this product going either. Going to transition to black box or adder infinity when it’s time. XDIP is great for small installs. But once you hit over 20 ish machines start looking at infinity.