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Port Direct is totally transparent communication system that allows supporting
devices to communicate with each other. Using the keyboard connections that
link each device, Port Direct allows:
• A controlling device to provide address details of the required port, the user’s
name and access rights, mouse calibration and video mode information.
• A controlled device to confirm the address and other details of the current
port.
Such communication simplifies both the configuration and selection of systems,
especially within a complex cascade structure. Port Direct also allows the
ServSwitch CX Hosts option to directly control the connected switching devices
(such as other ServSwitch CX units in cascade) and then apply the appropriate
video capture and mouse scaling settings. Port Direct provides excellent security
control to prevent users from accessing systems for which they do not access
rights (‘sideways movement’) because each unit is fully informed of each user’s
precise access rights.
Port/host addressing using Port Direct
When adding new servers to the Hosts list, the option ‘Add entry for
unrecognised host’ is provided to automatically add new entries if a port is
visited that does not already have a matching host entry. This is a useful option
for simple configurations, but should be used with care when complex cascades
of units are being used as it may lead to more host entries being added than are
strictly necessary.
Additionally, you can specify the port number of the required system using the
same format as if controlling the KVM switch directly. Port numbers MUST be
entered within square brackets and can be specified to a maximum of four
cascaded levels.
Examples
[16] selects port 16 and is equivalent to the hotkey sequence +CTRL+ALT+–
1+6
[4105] selects port 5 on ServSwitch CX unit that is cascaded through port
group 41 (see cascade port numbering).