Chapter 1: Product Overview

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Chapter 1: Product Overview

OutLook ES Features and Benefits

Avocent’s family of OutLook switches allows you to control up to 256 computers from one keyboard, monitor and mouse.

OutLook switches are available in single or multiuser versions and are easily customized to fit your particular network and operating system needs.

The OutLook switch system consists of the user station (your monitor, keyboard and mouse), the switch unit and the attached servers. You can attach additional, or secondary, switches to a primary switch (called cascading) to expand the OutLook system. This flexibility allows you to add capacity as your data center grows.

OSCAR graphic user interface

OutLook switches are equipped with OSCAR, our patented On-Screen Configuration and Activity Reporting interface. OSCAR features intuitive menus to configure your switch system and select computers. Computers can be identified by unique name or port number, allowing you to select server names that make sense to you. Point and click navigation with OSCAR allows for easy configuration and computer switching.

Multiplatform support

The OutLook ES series supports PS/2 and expands to support multiple platforms with adaptors for Apple, Sun, Unix, IBM RS/6000, HP 9000 and serial devices. Switch easily across platforms with OSCAR.

Security

Protect your system with a screen saver password. After a user-defined time, the screen saver mode will engage. Access is prohibited until the appropriate password is entered to reactivate the system.

Quality video support

The OutLook system supports analog VGA, SVGA and XGA video. The resolution you can achieve depends upon the length of cable separating your switch and servers. Achieve resolutions of up to 1600 x 1200 with a 7 foot cable and up to 800 x 600 with a 50 foot cable.

Plug and play

The OutLook system supports Display Data Channel Plug and Play, which automates configuration of the monitor and is compliant with the VESA DDC2B standard.