KVM Technology - Choosing the Right One

David Miller, P. Eng. gives a very good analysis of a eWeek.com article – KVM Technology - How to Choose the Right KVM Switch for Your Small Server Room Published

Summary
The author has emphasized an area that is not a serious issue in most installations and at the same time has missed an opportunity to educate the reader on one exposure that can lead to the very serious consequence of having to reboot servers. In addition, the author failed to bring up two very important aspects: mouse synchronization with IP enabled KVM switches as well as the ability of seeing all installed KVM switches as part of best practices within the context of IT infrastructure.

David’s brings up some considerable issues with the eWeek article. I agree with him that one important missing topic the article overlooks is mouse synchronization with IP enabled KVM switches. If you choose to read both articles, you will have a very good overview on how to choose the right KVM switch for a small server room.

Read David Miller’s full analysis of the article>>

Minicom Launches Power on Cable™ - a Unique Single Port Power Control Solution

Official Press Release:

Minicom Launches Power on Cable™ - a Unique Single Port Power Control Solution

IT Administrators can use Power on Cable to power on/off and reboot a remote device seamlessly during a secure KVM session

Minicom - a leading developer of IT & KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and datacenter - today announced the launch of a new, Minicom patented single port power control solution. Power on Cable (PoC) is targeted at IT environments that require a complete remote support package of both BIOS level KVM IP access and remote power control. This can include server rooms in which mission critical equipment is handpicked, or ATM machines or unmanned communication centers distributed in far away locations.


The PoC is controlled serially via a Minicom KVM IP gateway thus preventing costly mistakes by ensuring the power commands are sent only to the required device. Its unique and robust “power cord” design meets the stringent requirements of cable management in IT environments and makes it extremely easy to slide several units together and control several devices through a single management interface. The PoC has worldwide compatibility featuring 90-260 VAC 44-66 Hz up to 10Amps, making it also ideal for mixed power environments.

“Power on Cable increases IT efficiency in heterogonous environments, where for the most part power monitoring is sufficient, but there are a handful of mission critical servers that require remote power rebooting and switching” says Benny Hayumi, product manager for Minicom. “the PoC fits nicely into the power strategy of the organization by being a complementary solution to the PDU and by adding flexibility when IT budgets are so tight. The open protocol we are providing enables easy integration with existing management and control systems”.

Power on Cable continues Minicom's unique Real Needs ™ approach of controlling costs by adding remote power switching capability as and when it is needed.


To learn more about Power on Cable and Minicom visit http://www.minicom.com/
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Related Material:
Webcast: Real Needs™ Value Proposition (22 minutes)
White Paper: Real Needs™ Protect Your IT Investment with KVM IP Management
Online Demo: Remote IP Access Product Test Drive
Product Page: Power on Cable

Minicom Boosts Remote Power Capabilities of its Open Platform Access Management Solution

Integration with Eaton Corporation’s ePDU® products provide IT managers with seamless power control of mission critical servers.

Minicom Advanced Systems - a leading developer of IT and KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and data center - today announced the integration of diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation’s ePDU® products into its remote access management solution, AccessIT. Acting as power distribution units for enclosures, Eaton’s ePDU® products measure power consumption at the data center level, as well as the sever level, to help users understand and control what is happening within their infrastructure. Eaton's technology also allows the user to fully monitor, switch, sequence and manage individual outlets. IT administrators can now have on-demand, Web-based remote access together with mission critical power distribution control of all servers and IT devices. Power commands are seamlessly sent to Eaton’s ePDU® units through the AccessIT interface without the need for a separate login and password.

This integration dramatically increases IT efficiency and reduces down time in crisis situations. If an IT administrator is accessing a server through AccessIT and an urgent reboot is required, a simple click on the power icon to the left of the server name performs the function. Administrators no longer require multiple spreadsheets of IP addresses, passwords and user names to manage, access to their IT systems, it can all be done through a single interface.

“AccessIT, with its open-platform support, addresses the increasingly diverse nature of corporate server rooms and data centers,” said Rami Sasson, VP Sales of Minicom. “This makes AccessIT even more flexible and compelling for IT managers to deploy compared to alternative KVM IP solutions. The integrated functionality of AccessIT, that includes remote power control of ePDU® products from Eaton, delivers tremendous versatility that has a direct impact on IT efficiency and can reduce hardware management costs by as much as 75 percent!”

“IT managers should be able to efficiently measure and manage power consumption, from an overview of the data center down to an individual server, to obtain a complete understanding of power distribution,” said Michael Camesano, Eaton product manager. “The integration of Eaton’s ePDU® products and Minicom’s AccessIT greatly advances power management visibility for IT managers to improve the reliability and efficiency of their infrastructure.”

AccessIT consolidates all in-band and out-of-band services thus providing highly secure, Web-based, on-demand remote access at all times. Its unique open architecture prevents the dreaded vendor lock-in by supporting the seamless integration of third party serial, power and KVM switches and devices. Other supported Access Services are VMWare, RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HP iLO, Web access and custom applications. AccessIT continues Minicom's unique Real Needs approach of repurposing installed analog KVM systems by simply adding a KVM IP device.

Request a free DVD trial version of AccessIT to run on your own servers: http://www.minicom.com/requestdemodvd.cfm

For more information about Eaton’s ePDU® products, visit www.epdu.com. For additional information about Eaton’s power quality products and services, visit www.eaton.com/powerquality.

Minicom Interview: Eli Sasson - CEO/President

In February 2009, Minicom split into two separate divisions – with the creation of the new Digital Signage Division. Ronni Guggenheim became the CEO of the new division, leading a team in our Zurich HQ.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Eli Sasson, CEO and President of Minicom Advanced Systems and ask him some questions about what’s been going on at Minicom since this new change came into effect.

mini.sid: Why did you decide to split now, and what was the main goal for splitting the divisions?

Eli Sasson: The decision to split the divisions was a strategic step for Minicom with a goal to have two completely separate units with each of them having a dedicated focus on their areas and markets.
As for the timing, I have always felt that we should not be defensive or reactive during a market crisis (such as last year) but rather take it as an opportunity to make strategic changes and prepare for the next business cycle.


mini.sid: When did you first consider splitting DS & KVM IT divisions at Minicom?

Eli Sasson: We started activity in the digital signage business around 2001/ 2002 and at an early stage it was apparent that it would become very successful for us. We considered the split several times during the years but the conditions were not ready for it. As the digital signage business grew, we started facing dilemmas with focus and resource allocation in sales & marketing as well as R&D and Logistics. It was an ongoing strategic discussion until all things matured and timing was right.

mini.sid: When did you finally decide to make this strategic split?

Eli Sasson: We made the decision to split towards the end of 2008, when the markets were in crisis but before the big crisis of October 2008. We took into consideration that we are executing a strategic change in rough times. Once we made the decision, it took 2-3 months to plan and launch the change internally and another couple of months to present it to our partners and work with them before we finally made the announcement publically.


mini.sid: What do you feel Minicom and its partners gained from the split?

Eli Sasson: This is a customer facing move. We are now closer to our customers and end users. We have better focus. Our marketing messages sharpened and our marketing activities became more effective. Our product roadmaps changed and became more ambitious and aggressive with new products in both DS and IT markets.


mini.sid: How has Minicom partners responded to the changes?

Eli Sasson: We recently made a survey to our partners and the feedback has been very positive. Most agreed that there is better focus and service for each unit. Only very few had comments and improvement suggestions on any effects from the change which were taken care of immediately.

mini.sid: Internally, how have the Minicom departments managed?

Eli Sasson: Strategic planning was considered all the way down to marketing activities, product roadmap and development. For marketing it was unbelievable, almost like reformatting a computer. In a matter of weeks each of the teams were 100% dedicated to each side of their new mission. Some felt like they were missing an opportunity but only days after seeing the size of the challenge, and the scope of the mission, the actions and all attitudes changed with full enthusiasm. Also, since mid-year we hired new sales managers to fill spots. Structurally, it’s much better – we are ready to go for the most important part of our year – Quarter 4.

mini.sid: Why did you create new and separate Mission statements?

Eli Sasson: The Mission we had before remains true to our parent organization but the mission statements for each unit were changed. When we acted as one unit we gave a quite generic vision that was true for everything. The separate statements help to direct and orient our business better, internally and externally.


mini.sid: What was the biggest challenge?

Eli Sasson: The market conditions have been the biggest challenge. When markets grow, it’s easier to make changes. It’s expected that you pay the penalty for mistakes as a part of it. In today’s market conditions, any mistake is much more painful – change becomes that much more difficult.


mini.sid: How do you feel about the markets?

Eli Sasson: Cautiously optimistic. The business environment is getting better daily, but in small steps. In both units, we see consistent and slight improvements since April. It’s getting better every day. Incoming sales, special orders, projects and opportunities are in the pipeline. While sales and orders grow nicely – projects and opportunity in the pipeline grow faster. The last part of the year is expected to be very good.

On the other hand, like everyone else we are very concerned with external conditions that still can be changed dramatically – like October 2008 – everything is still very fragile. After the bubble crisis in 2001, Minicom grew at 45% CAGR for several years. I will take the risk and predict that we will return in 2010 to a fast growth both in our IT and DS activities.

mini.sid: What new things has the KVM & IT division been working on since the split?

Eli Sasson: We have been very proactive during the crisis; we sharpened the market message, introduced new access management products, multi-user KVM IP switches and added to the Smart family. The new products have been very well accepted in the market so far. It shows in sales overall – The Real Needs Approach which helps businesses to control costs while growing and upgrading is very compelling to IT managers and users. While our competition pushes the end user “to throw everything out” and replace their entire KVM installation, Minicom offers the Real needs™ approach of simply adding on another access or management layer to the existing system.
We’ve already won significant business through this approach.


mini.sid: Minicom has been very involved with social media lately – how has it made a difference?

Eli Sasson: Social media for us is still relatively new, however I enjoy connecting with our partners, customers and distributors. Being able to reach our end users and hear from them directly has been very rewarding. I recently began to use Twitter. Also, we now have a Minicom LinkedIn group with 125 members already and it’s growing on a daily basis. LinkedIn has brought many of our partners together and in ways that traditional media would not have given us the same opportunities. The initial response with social media has been beyond our expectations.

mini.sid: Thank you Eli for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions.

Eli Sasson: My pleasure

*****

You can follow Eli Sasson on Twitter @elisasson and join our LinkedIn Group.

Upcoming Webinar: Remote Management of Network Closets for Hospitals

Free Webinar Invitation

Subject: Remote Management of Network Closets for Hospitals

Presented by: Wright Line and Minicom

Date: Friday, August 21, 2009 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

Overview: Most hospitals have a number of network closets in locations all over the facility. These closets will contain one or two servers as well as a serial or network device. Today hospital staff has no way of managing PCs/servers remotely other than using software products like VNC or Remote Desktop. Using a traditional IP KVM is cost prohibitive because they are manufactured and priced to manage 8 or 16 servers.

Today, if an admin needs BIOS access to a server, they have to walk or travel to the closet where it resides. This is inefficient and time consuming.

This webinar will introduce cost effective solutions for not only limiting the travel to the actual servers and PCs, but for simplifying and making all remote management more efficient.

Webinar On Demand: Building upon your legacy data center infrastructure

In case you missed it, this webinar is now available for you on demand.


"Doing More With Less - Building upon your legacy data center infrastructure"
Duration: 32 minutes


David Zucker
Director of KVM Business Development
Minicom Advanced Systems

From Minicom, Learn how to:

•Integrate new technology that is essential to the growth of the business in times of recession

•Create a management strategy that will increase your IT staff's efficiency using many of the resources you already have in place and more...

Michael Tresh

Director Data Center Marketing

Wright Line

From Wright Line learn how to:

•Do more with less in a smaller data center footprint with increasing high-density IT loads
•More effectively and efficiently utilize existing physical infrastructure and cooling capacity and more...

Play Webinar on demand now>>

New Podcast: The Power Advantage of Minicom's AccessIT

“The Power Advantage of Minicom's AccessIT”

(4:22 minutes)

Host: David Zucker, Director of KVM Business Development

Talking points:

• AccessIT's power advantage


• Hear why AccessIT capabilities have been called "empowering"

Related Material:

Webcast: AccessIT: Managing Remote Access so that IT can be managed (2:56 minutes)

White Paper: Real Needs "Add-on Technology that maximizes your IT installed base"

Interview: Calvin Nicholson from Server Technology

Product Test Drive: AccessIT Online Demo

Minicom Interview: Calvin Nicholson Server Technology

Following the announcement that our AccessIT is integrated with the SentryTM Cabinet Power Distribution Unit from Server Technology, I wanted to take a closer look at the power industry and had a chance to ask Calvin Nicholson from Server Technology a few questions. Server Technology designs and manufactures intelligent power distribution products for enterprise data centers, service providers and branch office locations. Founded in 1984, Server Technology is recognized as a leader in innovative Remote Power Management solutions.

What is your position at Server Technology?

I am the Director of Product Marketing


Can you give me an overview of Server Tech’s method of selling?

We have both direct sales people as well as working through the channel. So the option is up to the customer as to whether they want to work direct or through a partner that they are comfortable with. We have an opportunity registration program through our web site that allows our partners to register opportunities. This lets us reward the partners that are pushing our products and who bring in the opportunities.

Do you have international customers? If so, what is the percentage of international sales compared to North America?

We do have international customers and we have offices in Canada, UK, Germany and Singapore along with a strong channel of partners throughout the world. I can’t give percentages but this is a strong a growing portion of our business.

How does Server Tech differentiate itself from your competitors?

Server Technology just focuses on power distribution, monitoring, management and control within the data center cabinet. We have been in business over 26 years and have the largest number of engineers in the industry focused in this area. We provide high quality products that are very feature rich along with a superior level of support. Being the leader in our industry we are requested to produce cutting edge products for new data center projects well ahead of the industry norm. These products then become part of our standard product line.

What are your unique selling points?

You can manage two power in-feeds (power distribution units PDU’s) and two temperature and two humidity measurements all under a single IP address through our unique linking technology. We offer the largest product line and have a number of 3-Phase products and 60A products focused on high density applications. Our temperature and humidity probes are on 10 foot cards so they can be placed in any locations within the cabinet. We offer a tool to monitor and manage all of the PDU’s in you DC called SPM.

What’s popular with your customers today?

Right now the new trend is 415 V 3-Phase power delivered to the cabinet for North American data centers. Efficiency gains with this technology are in the 4-6% range and offer significant efficiency gains and cost savings. Most products supplied a Zero U technology with some kind of intelligence. Customers don’t always and to turn things on and off or reboot them but monitoring power is becoming a significant trend.

What specific features are your customers looking for in your PDU’s?

Solutions that deliver the amount of power that is required with the proper outlet types and features/functions that they desire.

With regards to monitoring power usage, why is it so important to your customers?

Monitoring power is critical on so many different levels:
1) If you don’t know the amount of power that you are using then it is easy to overload the circuit and possibly bring down some of the equipment in the cabinet.
2) For three phase loads it is critical for load balancing and efficiency.
3) In today’s market where power costs are going up, power availability is going down and in some cases our customers cannot get enough power you need to understand how much power you are using and how changes within your facility affect this. This information is also used for efficiency calculations like the PUE and DCiE metrics from The Green Grid. To identify comatose or zombie servers that can be shut down or possibly virtualized. For power capacity planning (where do I have the power to install a new device.)

What percentage of your customers requires remote power capability as a feature?

Switched products where you can turn devices on or off is our biggest selling products.

Do you see any increase with customers dealing with support issues when there are problems with a server?

Facilities today have much smaller staffs and must use their resources wisely to be competitive in today’s market. I am not sure if the issues are going up but the ability to resolve these issues as fast as possible and move onto the next task is required.

Are you finding an increase in requests for consolidated remote access for power, kvm, console and serial?

Since we don’t actively sell these products we don’t see a lot of these requests. We do see a desire in customers to want to go to one central location and manage a number of devices. For servers it is our combined solution. If it is just the PDU’s then they use our Sentry Power Manager product.

What can we expect to see from Server Tech in the future?

Continued innovation, a number of 415 V products for North America and expansion of the device level power monitoring solutions

Thanks Calvin!

To contact or learn more about Server Tech – visit their website>>

Ideas that work - a remote KVM strategy for any size organization

When we first promoted the concept of upgrading an installed analog KVM switch to an IP switch by simply adding an IP gateway, I thought this strategy was perfect for small and medium size companies that don’t have IT budgets of enterprise organizations. But in this economy I am finding this approach is valid for Fortune 500 companies as well.

We are working with a globally recognized company on their US datacenter consolidation plans. They have to implement an IP KVM solution to fit their support strategy of following the sun. We originally proposed our Smart multi-user IP KVM switches. The solution fit their needs until they said, sounds great but we can’t afford anything close to that. We quickly changed gears and told them for about 1/10th the cost they can get remote KVM functionality by adding a Minicom IP gateway to their installed base of dozens of working analog switches. This was the perfect compromise of the real functionality they need and cost.

Sure the sale is a fraction of the original proposal but it is a sale not a proposal that will be delayed quarter after quarter due to a shrinking budget. The customer had to sacrifice on some features they wanted but they have the remote KVM access to the servers in their new datacenters that was not within reach with a new digital KVM installation. This might be the answer for your remote access needs or your customers.


If you would like to discuss a solution for adding remote KVM access to your servers contact Rami Sasson or a Minicom technical expert at info.usa@minicom.com


Rami Sasson, VP Sales at Minicom authored this blog post:
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Related Material:
White Paper: Real Needs - Add-on Technology that maximizes your IT installed base
Case Study: Government Agency (KVM.net & PX)
Webcast: Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center (22 min)

42U’s Interactive Data Center Efficiency Calculator

Last week, our partner 42U released a free Data Center Efficiency Calculator for IT Professionals and C-level management that shows short term and long term savings that can be achieved with improving the energy efficiency in their data center.

This tool is excellent!

From 42U’s press release:

“While “greening” the data center is good for the environment and good for the bottom line, few resources provide the business case to begin an efficiency program. In response, 42U, a leader in data center efficiency solutions and services, has premiered a free, interactive Data Center Energy Savings Calculator to help data center managers quantify the energy, cost, and CO2 savings possible through efficiency efforts.

The tool uses the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric as the basis for its calculation. After users insert their current PUE, goal PUE, electricity cost, and IT load, the calculator projects savings over a one, five, and ten year period—figures which help data center professionals determine the return on investment of their efficiency improvements.”

Go to the 42U Data Center Efficiency Calculator to get started>>

On the same page, they also give a great overview on data center energy consumption.

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Related Material:
Webcast: Minicom’s Real Needs™ Value Proposition (22 minutes)
White Paper: How to Achieve Cost-Efficient Data Center Growth
Case Study: 888.com uses global centralized management system

AccessIT Provides Single Sign-on Remote Access to VMware Virtual Machines

Official Press Release:

Minicom Advanced Systems, a leading developer of IT & KVM remote access solutions for the server room and datacenter announces that AccessIT - its open platform access management solution for corporate IT - supports “one-click” remote access to VMware virtual servers.

“One of the challenges of IT in growing SMBs today is integrating new technologies like VMware virtualization into an installed base of physical servers” says Eran Kessel, VP marketing for Minicom. “This new heterogeneous and sometimes geographically distributed IT environment calls for a solution that simplifies daily routines and keeps the IT staff just-a-click-away from all IT assets in the organization, regardless of their device type or access protocol used. AccessIT is a secure, one-stop web based solution that organizes the remote access “mess” and unifies the workload of IT staff, wherever they are at any given moment”.

AccessIT is targeted at organizations with a minimum number of IT staff that maintains and operate up to 250 IT assets (servers, virtual servers and network devices). AccessIT consolidates all in/out-of-band services thus providing highly secure, web based, on-demand remote access at all times. Its open architecture prevents the dreaded vendor lock-in by supporting seamless integration of 3rd party serial, power and KVM switches and devices. Other supported Access Services are RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HP iLO, web access and custom applications.

Minicom is a member of the VMware TAP program and has its management systems listed in the TAP Partner Products Catalog. Visit the VMware partner website at http://www.vmware.com/partnercentral

Learn more about AccessIT and Minicom:
Download the free version of AccessIT to test in your own server room (Limited to 3 users,10 targets & 3 KVM IP devices) or watch the online tutorial of our enterprise version (KVM.net II). Request a guided tour with an expert or interact with the online live product test drive

Webinar: Building upon your Legacy Data Center Infrastructure

Webinar Invitation:
Building upon your Legacy Data Center Infrastructure – Do More With Less
Date: Thursday, July 23 at 2:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST
Length: 60 minutes
Speakers: Mike Tresh (Wright Line) & David Zucker (Minicom)

The subject of this informative webinar is 'doing more with less'. Both Wright Line and Minicom offer solutions that enable data center professionals to add-on important functionality to their existing KVM switches and IT enclosures.


Mike Tresh
Director, Data Center Marketing
Wright Line






From Wright Line learn how to:

• Do more with less in a smaller data center footprint with increasing high-density IT loads
• More effectively and efficiently utilize existing physical infrastructure and cooling capacity
• Eliminate "stranded" physical, electrical or mechanical capacity
• Convert existing enclosures to more effectively capture and direct hot exhaust air back to precision cooling units
• Eliminate the incremental capital expense associated with having to add more CRAC units or other supplemental cooling

David Zucker
Director of Business Development
Minicom

• From Minicom, Learn how to:

• Integrate new technology that is essential to the growth of the business in times of recession
• Create a management strategy that will increase your IT staff's efficiency using many of the resources you already have in place
• Upgrade or transition any analog KVM switch into an IP KVM, quicker, with less training and do it for less cost than you would ever think

• Add Remote KVM access capability on a tight budget

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Related Material
White Paper: Real Needs - Protect your IT investment with KVM IP Management
Press Release: Minicom Updates IP based KVM product lines
Case Study: Government Data Center - Simultaneous non-blocking multi-user server access

Sneak Peak: Power On Cable Gets a Good Start

Last month Asher Bazak, Assistant Project Manager at Minicom went to the Industrial Market Technology 2000 event in Tel Aviv, Israel. He met up with some ex-colleagues that sell environmental equipment to the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Israel.
At the show he brought a few prototypes including the soon to be released Minicom POC. (The Minicom POC is “Power on Cable” - a remote power control device) Asher hooked it up to a laptop via HyperTerminal and played around with shutting down and powering on the PC that was connected for the exhibit.

Asher says “they really liked the idea that you could work with open RS232 protocol. They felt that the perfect markets for this product are the industrial companies controlling power of ac and servers. It’s also a perfect fit for environmental units and fits into their green initiative plans as well as saving money and conserving energy, time & workers.”

In addition he said that “one thing that they really liked was that the POC is compatible with most IP serial devices – avoiding vendor lock-in.”

The POC will soon join Minicom's other remote access products and will be capable of being managed using both AccessIT and KVM.net II centralized access management solutions.

Watch this space for the POC release or find out more right now - contact a Minicom Rep in your area

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Related Material:
White Paper: Remote KVM access - Planning your Remote KVM strategy
Webcast: The ABC's of Remote Management
Product Demos: IP Products Online Test Drive

Managed Service Providers Surveyed

Of all our products that are requested from Managed Service Providers, our KVM IP Gateway PX tops the list. This said the results from a survey of MSP’s done by SMB Nation were something I was waiting for.

Take a look at Harry Brelsford’s Blog SMB Dude for the survey results. Some of the questions asked were:

• What type of managed services are you offering most today?
• Where do you see the most opportunity to build your managed services portfolio?
• How much revenue have you generated from your managed services business?

The results from the survey give some interesting insights to the MSP market.

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Related Material:
Podcast: PX for the managed service provider (3 min)
PX Interactive Online Product Demo
White Paper: Remote Support Using KVM IP Technology

New Poll: What Hardware Based Remote Access Do You Use?

Please take our latest poll on LinkedIn.

Click on image and you will go directly there, or leave your answer in the comments here.

Thanks for taking a minute to participate.

Not a member of the Minicom LinkedIn Group yet? Sign up today!

Minicom Online Catalog Updated

We just updated our online catalog and it’s ready to download. The newest product included in the updated version is AccessIT.

To download, visit our website and fill out the simple form:

If you are a Certified Minicom Reseller, please login to our Reseller section.

Learn more about the benefits of becoming a Minicom Reseller.

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Related Material:

Webcast: AccessIT - Managing remote access so IT can be managed (3 min)

White Paper: Real Needs - Protect your IT investment with KVM IP Management

Press Release: Minicom Updates IP based KVM product lines

David Zucker at Interface Denver 2009

Last week David Zucker, Director of Business Development at Minicom went to Denver for the Interface Show.

INTERFACE attendees are middle and senior-level IT Managers from corporate, academic and government organizations. Other department managers from Purchasing, Finance, and Administration are also invited. All attendees are intent on advancing their enterprise and departmental objectives through being educated on current technology and future trends presented by industry experts as well as active dialogue with leading solution providers.

Here is David's summary of the event:

The Interface Show was held at the Marriott Denver City Center on Thursday June 11. Minicom was in Proactive Network Management’s booth. Also in the booth were Anute, Oracle, HP, Ergotron and others. The show had very good attendance, with the vast majority coming from the local area. Almost of the participants were from SMB/SME organizations and had needs and projects they were working on.

During the event, I did about a dozen AccessIT interactive demos and the new integration with 3rd party power was very interesting to many. I also saw Server Tech, which was nice a day after the announcement that AccessIT is now integrated with their PDU.

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Related Material:White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology

Webcast: "Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center" (22 min)

Online Test Drive: KVM IP Products Demo

Poll on LinkedIn: How do you supply remote IT support to branch offices?

Please take a minute to participate in our poll on LinkedIn. When you click, you will be directed to the actual poll.

Thanks!

Minicom’s New Remote Access Management Solution Expands Power Management Capabilities

Press Release:

Integration with Server Technology’s Sentry™ Switched PDU Provides seamless access to power management features.

Minicom, developer of IT & KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and datacenter - today announced the integration of the Sentry™ Cabinet Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Switched product family into its remote access management solution- AccessIT . Access to the Server Technology Sentry PDU remote reboot features are made directly through the AccessIT interface without a separate login and password. IT Administrators now have centralized access to servers via KVM and industry leading remote access services, as well as the power controls of the PDU through one intuitive interface.

As a result of this integration, if a user is accessing a server through AccessIT and a reboot is required, a simple click on the power icon next to the server name performs the function. No longer does an administrator require multiple spreadsheet, IP addresses, passwords and user names to do their jobs. All access is managed from a single point, increasing efficiency and reducing downtime.

“The increasingly heterogeneous nature of corporate server rooms and data centers requires cross-platform support.” said Rami Sasson, VP, Sales of Minicom. “The expanded capability of AccessIT addresses this trend making it even more flexible and compelling for IT managers to deploy. The integrated functionality of AccessIT that includes remote power control of PDUs from Server Technology’s not only delivers tremendous versatility that has a direct impact on IT efficiency, but can reduce hardware management costs by as much as seventy five percent when compared to alternative KVM over IP solutions.”

“The integration of the AccessIT management platform and Server Technology’s PDU Switched product family greatly expands power management accessibility within the evolving data center environment,” said Brandon Ewing, President of Server Technology. “Power access, management and control within the data center are critical.” AccessIT consolidates all in/out-of-band services thus providing highly secure, web based, on-demand remote access at all times. Its open architecture prevents the dreaded vendor lock-in by supporting the seamless integration of 3rd party serial, power and KVM switches and devices. Other supported Access Services are VMWare, RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HP iLO, web access and custom applications. AccessIT continues Minicom's unique Real Needs approach of repurposing installed analog KVM systems by simply adding a layer of KVM IP devices.

About Server Technology
Server Technology, Inc., designs and manufactures intelligent power distribution products for enterprise data centers, service providers and branch office locations. Founded in 1984, Server Technology is recognized as a leader in innovative Remote Power Management solutions. The company’s line of Sentry™ power products eliminates unnecessary trips to remote locations and minimizes the impact of locked-up internetworking equipment on business critical networks, combining intelligent power distribution, remote management and power measurement. Server Technology is headquartered in Reno, Nevada with worldwide distribution and regional offices in the United Kingdom, Germany and Singapore and can be reached at 775-284-2000 , or on the Web at http://www.servertech.com/

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Related Material:

White Paper: Remote Support using KVM IP Technology

Webcast: "Achieving Remote Server KVM Access to your data center" (22 min)

Online Test Drive: AccessIT Online Demo

Press Release: New Open Management System for Remote Access

IT administrators now have a secure yet easy way to centrally manage the mix of remote access services while saving on costs.

Jerusalem, Israel - Minicom Advanced Systems - a leading developer of IT & KVM remote access and management solutions for the server room and datacenter - today announced the launch of a new, open platform access management solution. AccessIT is targeted at organizations with a minimum number of IT staff that maintains and operate up to 250 IT assets (servers, virtual servers and network devices).

AccessIT consolidates all in/out-of-band services thus providing highly secure, web based, on-demand remote access at all times. Its open architecture prevents the dreaded vendor lock-in by supporting the seamless integration of 3rd party serial, power and KVM switches and devices. Other supported Access Services are VMWare, RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HP iLO, web access and custom applications.

“One of the challenges of IT in SMBs today is managing the ever-growing number of remote access protocols in a mixed and distributed IT environment” says Eran Kessel VP marketing for Minicom. “Different protocols are run through different interfaces to perform the specific maintenance and support tasks of each device. This calls for a secure, one-stop solution that organizes and simplifies the daily workload of the IT staff. We offer a dynamic library of Access Services™ from which to easily assign to targets, including multiple services to the same target. The result is a higher level of IT service, efficiency and productivity from which the entire organization benefits. It enables to do “more with less” and as opposed to license based enterprise management systems, AccessIT is an affordable one time investment with no hidden costs.”

AccessIT continues Minicom's unique Real Needs approach of repurposing installed analog KVM systems by simply adding a layer of KVM IP devices.

For a free interactive demo of AccessIT, fill out this form and a technical expert will contact you to set it up.

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Related Material:

White Paper: Real Needs Approach

Webcast: Real Needs Value Proposition (22 min)