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 ...
Advantages: Cheap, reliable, simple to use Disadvantages: None.
I liked this switch so much, I bought two of them.
Netgear have a reputation for cheap and reliable networking equipment, and this 5 port unmanaged switch is no exception.
When I bought my two, they were retailing online for approx £35 each - but these days you should be able to get one for approx £25 (inc VAT.)
The switch is more or less the size of my hand (yes, I have big hands). With 5 ports on the back - all are auto-sensing, as is the gigabit standard, so you don't have to worry about crossover cables if you're daisy-chaining switches... The only other port on the back is for power, which is the usual "wall-wart" plug in transformer you get with most home networking equipment.
Given the switch is unmanaged, you can just plug desktop computers, laptops, XBOXes, network printers straight into the switch, and not worry ...
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 ...
Product Information for "Brocade 5300 - switch - 48 ports" »
General
MPN
BR-5320-0004-A1
Device Type
Switch
Enclosure Type
Rack-mountable - 2U
Width
42.9 cm
Depth
61.1 cm
Height
8.6 cm
Weight
15.6 kg
Networking
Ports Qty
48
Auxiliary Network Ports
32 x SFP (mini-GBIC) Ports on Demand
Data Transfer Rate
4.24 Gbps
Data Link Protocol
4Gb Fibre Channel
Remote Management Protocol
SNMP 1, Telnet, SNMP 3, HTTP, HTTPS, SSH-2
Connectivity Technology
Wired
Communication Mode
Full-duplex
Features
Full duplex capability, routing, auto-sensing per device, trunking, load balancing, LDAP support, ISL support, Syslog support, port mirroring, IP address filtering, firmware upgradable, Access Control List (ACL) support, Quality of Service (QoS), RADIUS support, SSH support
Expansion / connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free)
80 ( 32 ) x SFP (mini-GBIC)
Interfaces
1 x management - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45
1 x management - RS-232 - RJ-45
1 x USB - 4 PIN USB Type A female
48 x network - 4Gb Fibre Channel - LC
Miscellaneous
Encryption Algorithm
SSL
Authentication Method
RADIUS, Secure Shell v.2 (SSH2), LDAP, DH-CHAP, Active Directory
Power
Power Device
Power supply - hot-plug / redundant - plug-in module
Installed Qty
2
Voltage Required
AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Power Consumption Operational
260 Watt
Software / system requirements
Software Included
Brocade Advanced Zoning, Brocade Fabric OS, Brocade Advanced Performance Monitoring, Brocade Advanced Web Tools, Brocade Data Center Fabric Manager, Brocade Adaptive Networking
OS Required
UNIX, IBM AIX, SunSoft Solaris, Linux, Microsoft Windows
Environmental parameters
Min Operating Temperature
0 °C
Max Operating Temperature
40 °C
Humidity Range Operating
10 - 85%
Manufacturer's product description
The Brocade 5300 is an 8 Gbit/sec fiber channel switch that provides superior performance and port density for the most demanding SAN environments. With up to 80 ports in an efficient 2U design, it is an ideal solution for enabling greater data center consolidation and virtualization throughout the enterprise. The Brocade 5300 switch combines 1, 2, 4, and 8 Gbit/sec technology in configurations of 48, 64, or 80 ports in an efficient 2U design. The combination of port density, performance, and "pay-as-you-grow" scalability enables greater server and storage utilization while reducing complexity for virtualized data centers. The evolutionary design makes it very efficient in regard to power, cooling, and rack density, enabling medium- and large-scale server and storage consolidation for greater cost savings and manageability. The Brocade 5300 also includes Adaptive Networking capabilities to provide the highest service levels for mission-critical data center applications. The Brocade 5300 features a non-blocking architecture with as many as 80 ports concurrently active at 8 Gbit/sec (full duplex) with no over-subscription - providing an aggregate bandwidth of 1360 Gbit/sec. This level of performance and connectivity is ideal for expanding virtual server environments. In addition, enhanced ISL trunking can supply up to 68 Gbit/sec of balanced data throughput in a single logical link. The high port density of the Brocade 5300 uniquely enables fan-out from the core of the data center fabric with less than half the number of switch devices compared to traditional 32- or 40-port edge switches. As a result, it can provide a single-domain solution that simplifies fabric management and reduces the data center footprint. With capabilities such as Ports On Demand scalability from 48 to 64 or 80 ports, the Brocade 5300 also enables organizations to grow their storage networks when necessary, in a non-disruptive manner.
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