Black Box KV162A manual Installing Management and Serial Control Cards and, Associated Equipment

SERVSWITCH™ MULTI

5.Installing Management and Serial Control Cards and

Associated Equipment

IMPORTANT NOTE

If you are installing a cascaded ServSwitch Multi system, you should make sure your Expansion Cards and Cables are installed properly before you begin installing other types of Cards or attaching devices to the system. Refer to Chapter 6 and (if your cascaded system includes any ServSwitch Multi Hubs) Chapter 7.

5.1 Overview of the Cards

The Management Card (our product code KV1608C-R2) and the Serial Control Card (our product code KV1609C) work together to enable you to connect terminal-based file servers, network hubs, routers, and other serial server-room equipment to the ServSwitch Multi and control them using one keyboard, monitor, and mouse. This “terminal switching” requires at least one Management Card and one Serial Control Card in the system. The Management Card provides the menuing and advanced control features. Serial Control Cards provide four ports each for attaching equipment to the ServSwitch Multi system. From your Management Card, you may select any terminal in the system, regardless of which Serial Control Card it is attached to.

The Management Card functions similarly to an CPU-Interface Card (KV2000C) in that you switch directly to it from your keyboard or with the ServSwitch Multi’s on-screen menus or front-panel pushbuttons. Once you’ve switched to the Management Card, on-screen menus allow you to name and select the attached terminals in your ServSwitch Multi system. You can also configure data rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, and flow control for each terminal through the menus.

The Management Card has an onboard microprocessor that handles the Card’s “Security-Monitoring System” and “System-Management Tools.” With the Security-Monitoring System, administrators can track all switching activity through a simple on-screen menu. Immediate feedback on logging and switching history is available for every system user. With the System Management Tools, network managers can display their ServSwitch Multi system configurations for easy troubleshooting. This menu-driven system shows the type of Card installed in each port and the current firmware and hardware revision of each. Information on the type of computer attached to each CPU-Interface Card is also available.

The Management and Serial Control Cards are field-installable and Flash-upgradable. Cards can be added or replaced without disassembling or powering down the system. This makes installation, configuration, and maintenance much easier.

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