Server Rack Pet-Project: KVM

It happened already a handful of time that the Raspberry Pi are not reachable in the network, so I need to have a proper way to access them directly. The solution would be a KVM switch, a little overkill for my Pis, but I’m looking for something more flexible.

I found another good deal and managed to get an 8-Port MiniViewโ„ข Ultra KVM Switch. It is good having 8 ports, but it is a suffer having to deal with VGA & PS/2.

it’s arrived with a set of KVM cables, they are too thick and will take up a lot of space in the rack for sure.

I plugged all those cables and tried to leave them there for now (I need to sort them).
BONUS: in case you didn’t notice, I had to move the power strip to the back to have better cable “management”
this is where all my money went: adapters, too many. I wish I had an HDMI & USB KVM, does it even exist?!
so… plug the PS/2 to convert to USB and from VGA to HDMI…
… and from HDMI to mini-HDMI
… so that I could use my NexDock (which I bought 6 years ago on Indiegogo)…
and it’s not working. “Luckily” I bought 2 of them, so I need to try the other one.

For the moment I settled down with these 2 chaps:

look at it, what a beauty! so many memories!
this little one is priceless

In the next post, I’ll talk about a NAS that I’ll use to store all my data and manage it in the local network.