KVMs are unreasonably expensive and my work was about to throw this one in the dumpster. I just need to order some console cables first but I'm really pleased.
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
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PiKVM for open source networked KVMs: https://pikvm.org/
Every time I look at this, the value proposition makes no sense to me. The DIY V1 and V2 only have instructions for adding a single HDMI input port (??), and the V3 and V4 are like $350 CAD, which is way more expensive than buying a used KVM on eBay. What am I missing?
Maybe some enjoy the open-stack in terms of network security... I'd personally use this in front of a port multiplier, so you can have 8x machines going to a switch, the front of the switch toggled by one of the Pi's GPIO pins.
Part of it is that the prices for the Pi's themselves have dramatically increased lately.
There are knock offs in the $100 range on amazon. Bring your own raspi4 though.
Geekpi makes a compatible pcie or standalone that gets you everything (with buying a pi) for like $150 or $160
I've been using one for several years now with one of the documented switches that add multiple ports. https://docs.pikvm.org/ezcoo/#connections First in a DIY and then with the v3 hat Kickstarter I guess total I'm at $270 between the Kickstarter HAT and ezcoo switch plus the cost of a Pi (which I already had) I can reach 4 machines over my Tailnet and jump between them reliably. I can also control power on my primary server. (others are on a network managed PDU and can be forcibly reset that way if needed)
I had an old console from a job but it was so old that it required an ancient version of Java to access through the web interface. I'm sure there may be better options, but for my homelab setup the pikvm has worked well at a price that fit in my budget.