Newly installed devices on a network require a network administrator or the like to set up certain parameters of the device during installation. Some of the parameters include the IP address, a subnet mask, and the gateway for the device.
Traditionally, an administrator would have to physically and directly connect to the device in order to configure this information. Alternatively, devices could connect to a network and pull their IP configuration information from a centralized BOOTP server.
With the advent of more complex devices, administrators need to be able to set (or “push”) a network device's IP configuration from a client workstation. Administrators also need to be able to obtain information from those network devices across the network. These more complex network devices include managed appliances that serve as keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) switches, such as those sold by Avocent Corporation of Huntsville, Ala. Another type of managed appliance is a serial switching device that allows a workstation user to switch among different serially-managed devices. An example of such a device is the CPS1610 product also sold by Avocent Corporation.
KVM switch managed appliances permit a user at a client workstation connected to the network to be able to control a server through the KVM switch. Control of the server originates at the workstation. The control signals pass through the network to the KVM switch. The KVM switch routes the control signals to the particular server that the user is attempting to control. The server can also send data and signals, e.g., video signals, back to the user at the client workstation. The information is transmitted from the server to the KVM switch. The KVM switch then formats the information into a network-compatible format and transmits the information across the network to the client workstation. The client workstation decodes or reformats the received information and responds to it appropriately. In the case of video data received from the KVM switch, the client workstation formats the video data into an appropriate format for display on the video monitor connected to the workstation. Other information that can be transmitted from the server to the workstation includes keyboard information, cursor-control device information, or any other information that can be received and utilized by the workstation.
A KVM switch managed appliance can allow a user at a client workstation to communicate with hundreds, even thousands, of servers through a single managed appliance. In large computer network environments, there may be several KVM switch managed appliances connected to a single network. Moreover, because the client workstation and the managed appliance are frequently connected across an Ethernet-type network, the workstation user and the managed appliance can be located several thousand feet apart. A KVM switch managed appliance can also be connected to the internet, directly or through an Ethernet-type network, permitting a workstation user to be connected to the managed appliance from anywhere in the world. In such a situation, one person may be connecting the managed appliance to the internet and the bank of servers, while another person located hundreds of miles away may be the administrator responsible for actually configuring the managed appliance. In that situation, it is very difficult and time consuming for the network administrator to travel to the location of the managed appliance in order to configure that device for communication through the internet or even through a local area network (LAN).