Beyond KVM's - Multiple PC's to Multple Monitors

[Troopa]

Is there anything available that would allow me to hook up three PC's to three monitors so that they could all be interchangable?

One keyboard and mouse would then be used to control any of the three PC's at any given time with the flick of a switch.

For example, I'm working on a website, i've got Photoshop open on PC1, Dreamweaver open on PC2 and PC3 is running Linux for my test/development server.

Monitor = V

PC1 - V1, PC2 - V2 & PC3 - V3

Then switch: PC3 - V1, V2 & V3 so that I can view the website on V1, Server Config on V2 and FTP client on V3 (all on the Linux Server)

Then I finish the website and switch again:
PC1 - V1 and fire up an online game
PC2 - V2 for browsing in between games & V3 to watch a DVD

and so on...

Would it require multple KVMs all connected together?

Are there any solutions that would provide this type of control out of the box?

 

[LWComputingMVP]

Just get a KVM and don't connect the monitor.

 

[skiflyer]

Do you ever want to go PC2-V1&V2&V3?

Cause alot of monitors have two inputs, that's how I deal with something similar... all my PCs are hooked up to one monitor on input 2, then my dev machine is hooked up to all the monitors on input 1 (since that's where I am 90% of my time)... so if I want to switch over to PC2, I just find the right monitor for that and hit the input switch button.

Obviously a KVM could do the same thing for you, but I like being able to have two keyboards going so I just use the inputs.

If the answer to my question was yes though, then I didn't say anything helpful at all... what it sounds like you want is really a KM & 3 separate monitor switchboxes

http://www.mycableshop.com/sku/D-VRM-714E.htm

http://www.mycableshop.com/sku/D-VRM-714+R.htm

Are these really different than KVMs, no... not really, but two of those combined with one KVM... or three of those combined with one KM (do they even make those anymore?) seems both more affordable and easier to use than me.

 

[Troopa]

thanks for the info and links.

in answer to your question, yes I would like to have that option, as well as PC3-V1&V2&V3 (ideally any combination but it's then down to costs)

I'm not sure how this would work though...those switches connect multiple PC's to one monitor from what I can see, but I'd need to connect multiple PC's to multiple monitors?

agree that a KM (or KVM without plugging in the monitor) would work

 

[skiflyer]

Right, so you'd put one of those boxes under each monitor, then you just select which computer you want on each monitor... select PC1 on all of them for your example scenario.

Select PC1 & PC2 & PC3 to see each separately, and so on.

So like you said, those switches connect multiple PC's to one monitor.... now get three of those, so you're connecting multiple PC's to one monitor multiple times. Like I said, not really any different than a KVM, but alot cheaper.

 

[Frank4d]

This 4x4 matrix may do what you need:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1464

You would need to contact the manufacturer to see if it is DVI-D only, or DVI-I (VGA compatible).

 

[Troopa]

thanks skiflyer, i see how it works now
Frank the matrix looks like the ideal solution all in one box, thanks for the link

cheers all

 

[Troopa]

ah, there's a thought...there's only one monitor cable coming from each computer so how would I connect all three computers to three separate switches?

I'm thinking that I'd need another 3 junction boxes that would take the incoming video cable from the PC and then output to the 3 switches connected to the monitors. Does this sound right?

(I've also noticed that most switches have 2 or 4 connections)

 

[skiflyer]

Well you're not going to be any of this if a single computer can't run all 3 monitors on its own anyway.

You need to get the right video card(s) to handle that first.

 

[Frank4d]

The matrix will do, but I just checked prices. The cheapest I saw was $1800 USD.

 

[SjrH]

You could switch this around and use one pc to do all three through one monitor using vmware.

I have several systems running on one, all controlled by the same input, but obviously - all using the same hardware. This could cause a problem for your gaming due to the hardware simulation through vmware.

Right now I have one system running an iis server, a linux server, 1 exchange server, 2 win2k3 servers, and a clustered (albeit virtual) citrix farm - all on one system running xp.




[small]Listen to those who know, believe in those that do[/small]

 

[Troopa]

Frank I did see the $2,500 price tag and thought that although it will provide what seems to be a perfect 'out of the box' solution, it is currently out of my price range as it $1,800 but one for the bookmarks just incase I come into the right money ;-)

Skiflyer, I found this on Maplin's site that appears to take any VGA input and split it to 2 or 4 outputs (£49.99)so it looks like the graphics card isn't a concern.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=36773&doy=11m9&C=SEO&U=strat15

and this KVM from ebay (£39.99)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-ports-USB-K...9QQihZ010QQcategoryZ45341QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So I'm thinking that I could do the lot for less than £300, which is in my price range. What do you think?

SjrH, I like the vmware idea, not something i've looked into but can see some benefits to it. Do you have to have some serious harware to run all that at the same time?

I don't think it's something I'm going to use for what I'm trying to do now but if space/energy become more of an issue it is something that may povide a good solution

 

[skiflyer]

Splitters duplicate, that's different than a separate vga port from a video card.

 

[Troopa]

that's what I was thinking. having 1 video card in each PC, then the cable would go from the card to the splitter, then 3 vga cables from the splitter to the kvm's/vga switch attacted to each monitor

would this solution work?

 

[skiflyer]

It'll work in that you'll light up all 3 monitors, but if you switch all of them to the same PC, they'll all have the same image on them (as in exactly the same image).

 

[Troopa]

ah of course, I see what you mean now...

bit more searching and I found this that should work (albeit it a tad more expensive)

http://www.matrox.com/mga/workstation/3dws/products/triplehead2go/overview.cfm

 

[skiflyer]

Yes, that'll work... I still wouldn't recommend it.

More expensive, and likely not as nice as the new vid cards option.

From your link

Because TripleHead2Go is an external upgrade, it's ideal for adding extra displays to closed, already validated, mission-critical system using the latest non-Matrox graphics hardware.

That's the target market for this thing... if you can get inside the box it's just not an affordable route.

Unless your existing vid card can manage 3072 x 768 or better (and it probably can't) you're going to have awful resolution on each monitor.

Whereas adding a card like this will allow you to hook up 3 monitors, each at a hefty resolution (2 monitors here, plus however you're already running 1 now)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141035

 

[faxof]

not usre if i'm out of my league here but...

it may be a cheaper option to use one pc, with one screen and use some VM ware to switch. you'll probably need to buy one massive hdd, and it'll take some knowledge and time to set up. but i think it's a neater and more reliable solution.



fax

 

[Troopa]

fair point skiflyer...checked out that card and it is a good price, I would have to upgrade motherboards and most of the other hardware in order to use that one though as I don't have support for PCI Express.

I did start looking at the other card options though and think I may have found the solution(said that before)...

The Matrox G200 Quad PCI, a few found on eBay for £80 each.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220024314833&fromMakeTrack=true

thanks Fax, the vm solution was mentioned previously. It's not something I've looked into and don't think it will provide what I'm looking for but it is an interesting option that I'll look at for future projects.

 

[skiflyer]

I just picked up 4 XFX GeForce 5200's to run 9 monitors from one box... I think they cost about $56 a piece on newegg.

They're one DVI & one VGA, but with an adapter can run both VGA. (Don't try running two of them together tho or the VGA converter goes funky)

I mention them because they're PCI, not PCI-E