softwear KVM

NoobieOCer · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:35

hi, a few days ago in uni i was doing a networking lab and we seemed to used some sort of softweare based KVm and it was soo cool. i basically pressed ctrl+ alt + f1 toswitch to 1 computer and my mouse keyboard and monitor can be used for that machine and press ctrl+ alt + f2 for a diifernt computer. and well i thought it was COOOL so i was wondering is there any apps out there i can do something simular to say on a windows xp and ubuntu machine linked by lan.

ty

BigglesPiP · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:37

Done with software?

You sure it's not just an actual KVM?

NoobieOCer · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:47

well i did press ctrl + alt and a f button i thought kvms was like boxes with buttons

paulhuk2 · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:58

Most KVM switches allow you to use keyboard shortcuts to switch between machines

BigglesPiP · 22 Mar 2009 at 21:00

NoobieOCer said:
well i did press ctrl + alt and a f button i thought kvms was like boxes with buttons

All of the KVMs (usually 8 or 16 port) on the test stands at work are activated by a double tap of the Scroll Lock key.

deadite66 · 22 Mar 2009 at 21:12

synergy is the one i've heard about the most, windows, mac and linux support.

whitecrook · 22 Mar 2009 at 21:34

Synergy is AWESOME! I use it all the time.

Also, KVMs these days don't all have clunky turn switches to choose the terminal, they use the buttons on your keyboard! After all they have the keyboard plugged into them anyway..... Get a decent KVM switch and it'll have a cool little graphical menu with input naming and other options - all controlled by the keyboard.

VaderDSL · 22 Mar 2009 at 21:38

deadite66 said:
synergy is the one i've heard about the most, windows, mac and linux support.

Synergy is quite possibly the best open source piece of software in existence

I use it cross platforms too and find it an absolute godsend!

slylittlefox · 22 Mar 2009 at 22:25

Echoing the Synergy comments, it is God like in its goodness. However, it isn't a KVM solution, it's a KM solution

As for the OP, it'll doubtless be a bit of software talking to the hardware KVM. However without more details it's impossible to tell.

NoobieOCer · 24 Mar 2009 at 10:09

oooooooooooooooo, thats cool

umm wonder can i build my own kvm....

misterPK · 24 Mar 2009 at 10:14

Forgive me for being a little slow, but how does a piece of software unplug your mouse and keyboard from one system and plug it into another?

PK!

VaderDSL · 24 Mar 2009 at 10:48

misterPK said:
Forgive me for being a little slow, but how does a piece of software unplug your mouse and keyboard from one system and plug it into another?

PK!

You run the Synergy server on one machine and the client on another and however many others, you set up the software to tell it where the monitors are positioned, i.e whether the client/server etc. are to the right or left of each other.

Once they connect you simply move the cursor off the side, top etc of the screen and control immediately switches to the other machine

pretty awesome.