NETWORK BASED KVM SWITCHING SYSTEM

摘要

A KEYBOARD/VIDEO/MOUSE (KVM) SWITCHING PROTOCOL IS DISCLOSED IN WHICH KVM INFORMATION IS APPLIED TO A NETWORK OF WORKSTATIONS (25,26,27). AT LEAST ONE DATA CONVERTER (21) COMMUNICATES ON THE WORKSTATION NETWORK (20) AND RETRIEVES KVM INFORMATION FROM THE WORKSTATION NETWORK THAT IS ADDRESSED TO A SERVER (11) ASSIGNED TO THE CONVERTER (21). THE CONVERTER PLACES THE KVM INFORMATION IN A FORMAT SUITABLE TO THE ASSIGNED SERVER AND APPLIES THE CONVERTED KVM INFORMATION TO THE APPROPRIATE STANDARD DEVICE PORTS OF THE SERVER. THE SYSTEM PROVIDES MOTHERBOARD (42) ACCESS TO THE SERVERS THAT IS CHARACTERISTICS OF KVM SWITCHES BUT PROVIDES ESSENTIALLY UNLIMITED SCALABILITY NOT KNOWN IN TRADITIONAL KVM SWITCHES.