A high-performance SAN switch designed for rapidly growing environments, the Brocade 5000 combines scalability with superior investment protection. It features a flexible... more
A high-performance SAN switch designed for rapidly growing environments, the Brocade 5000 combines scalability with superior investment protection. It features a flexible architecture that supports native E Port interoperability for seamless connectivity into Brocade Fabric OS (FOS) or M-Enterprise OS (M-EOS) environments. In fact, the Brocade 5000 is the first switch that can operate in SAN fabrics running FOS native, FOS open, M-EOS native, and M-EOS open modes. As a result, organizations can enjoy non-disruptive expansion of their existing SAN fabrics. The Brocade 5000 is fully compatible with Brocade 1, 2, and 4 Gbit/sec devices and provides native E Port interoperability for existing McDATA devices. It is also backed by FOS and M-EOS engineering, test, and support expertise to provide reliable operation in SAN fabrics using any of the supported configurations. Organizations can manage the Brocade 5000 through a command line interface, Brocade Web Tools, Brocade Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM), or Brocade Fabric Manager.
Advantages: Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution Disadvantages: No manual overide or audio support
...stops autoscanning and lets you use the currently selected PC.
The Belkin claims support for scrolling mice but I did find sometimes one PC would start up without recognising this facility if it wasn't the currently selected one when booting up and in extreme cases, wouldn't recognise the keyboard and mouse at all. Previous KVM's I've used send the PC fake 'There's a keyboard and mouse here' messages when not selected and it seems this unit does not, which is a pity.
Conclusion
The Belkin 2 port KVM is a well built unit that works nicely and provides a great way to save desk space and the cost of a second monitor, keyboard and mouse. The long leads are useful and despite the niggles with scrolling mice and the lack of manual switch. I'd say this unit is worth considering at this price if you can live with those shortcomings...
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Advantages: Easy to set up, configure and use Disadvantages: None
...We currently run an 80 user network in our office. While the main traffic of our network is handled by 6, 24 port rack mounted switches, my little IT office has 7 PCs in it with not enough ports on the wall to connect them up.
this poses a problem. To connect to our network, you need a network connection on the Wall. There are 4 connections in our office and 7 machines. Obviously 7 into 4 does not go so a solution was needed.
The answer?
A small desktop based switch that would allow us to connect up to 16 computers to one Network connection on the wall.
The Product?
Well we use Netgear equipment in our office because you know with Netgear, you are buying quality at an affordable price.
So we opted for the FS116 Desktop Switch.
The size of it?
Well its about an inch high and about a foot long. It is about 6 inches from...
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Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution, audio support Disadvantages: No manual overide
...It's surprising how many people have more than one PC at home although even more surprising is that many of them each have their own screen, keyboard and mouse.
In many cases this makes perfect sense but sometimes, you know you'll only ever use one or the other - perhaps one is your general PC and the other your music workstation. In these situations you can save a lot of space and money by investing in a KVM switch. KVM stands for Keyboard, Video and Mouse and allows you to use one keyboard, mouse and screen shared between two PCs.
This particular unit from Belkin is unusual in that it also includes audio support and also comes with all the leads permanently attached instead of being supplied as a separate cabling set.
Wiring it Up
Installation is simply a matter of taking each of the two main cables and plugging the sets...
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