KVM

Short for keyboard, video, mouse switch, a hardware device that enables a single keyboard, video monitor and mouse to control more than one computer one at a time.

KVM switches are popular among users who have upgraded their home PC systems and want to still use their old computers but do not want to invest in a second keyboard, monitor and mouse. KVM switches are also used by business to save money when one person uses more than one computer and in server farms where it is only necessary to periodically access each separate server in the farm one at a time.

A KVM switch (with KVM being an abbreviation for "keyboard, video and mouse") is a hardware device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one or more[1] keyboard, video monitor and mouse. Although multiple computers are connected to the KVM, typically a smaller number of computers can be controlled at any given time. Modern devices have also added the ability to share other peripherals like USB devices and audio

KVM switches are useful where there are multiple computers, but no need for a dedicated keyboard, monitor and mouse for each one. They are frequently used in data centers where multiple servers are placed in a single rack with a single keyboard, monitor and mouse. A KVM switch then allows data center personnel to connect to any server in the rack. A common example of home use is to enable the use of the full-size keyboard, mouse and monitor of the home PC with a portable device such as a laptop, tablet PC or PDA, or a computer using a different operating system.

KVM switches offer different methods of connecting the computers. Depending on the product, the switch may present native connectors on the device where standard keyboard, monitor and mouse cables can be attached. Another method to have a single DB25 or similar connector that aggregated connections at the switch with three independent keyboard, monitor and mouse cables to the computers. Subsequently, these were replaced by a special KVM cable which combined the keyboard, video and mouse cables in a single wrapped extension cable. The advantage of the last approach is in the reduction of the number of cables between the KVM switch and connected computers. The disadvantage is the cost of these cables.

The method of switching from one computer to another depends on the switch. The original peripheral switches (Rose, circa 1988) used a rotary switch while active electronic switches (Cybex, circa 1990) used push buttons on the KVM device. In both cases, the KVM aligns operation between different computers and the users' keyboard, monitor and mouse (user console).

In 1992-1993, Cybex Corporation engineered keyboard hot-key commands.[citation needed] Today, most KVMs are controlled through non-invasive hot-key commands (e.g. Ctrl+Ctrl, Scroll Lock+Scroll Lock and the Print Screen keys). Hot-key switching is often complemented with an on-screen display system that displays a list of connected computers.

KVM switches differ in the number of computers that can be connected. Traditional switching configurations range from 2 to 64 possible computers attached to a single device. Enterprise-grade devices interconnected via daisy-chained and/or cascaded methods can support a total of 512 computers equally accessed by any given user console.

An image of KVM