Opengear demonstrated an open source KVM (keyboard-mouse-video) reference design at LinuxWorld in San Francisco this week. The company hopes the design will help bring the open source paradigm to what founder Bob Waldie describes as “the last remaining remote management technology with no open source… stamp.”

(Click for larger view of Opengear's KVM over IP reference design)

Waldie is a computer visionary and embedded pioneer who previously founded Moreton Bay and SnapGear, two companies instrumental in bringing Linux to the low-powered microcontrollers found in most embedded devices. Much as SnapGear leverages open source software in an aim to bring enterprise firewall and security features to low-cost, high-volume devices, Opengear aims to leverage open source to bring enterprise-class remote management capabilities to low-cost devices.

KVM servers

KVM servers are devices that virtualize the user interface hardware on one or more attached servers, allowing system administrators to remotely control them over a network. They are closely related to console servers, which can be used to control devices such as routers, switches, and Linux servers where the user interface can reside on a serial port.

Opengear in May of this year launched an inexpensive four-port serial PCI card that can turn any x86 PC into a console server, in conjunction with a live bootable CD running uClinux and open source console server software (the “Sunix” distribution can also be installed to a hard drive or USB key).

Unlike software-only remote access solutions such as VNC, RDP, IPMI and others, KVM servers and console servers can control crashed or otherwise non-responsive servers and devices, saving the cost of transporting “live bodies to dead servers,” as Waldie puts it.

Waldie says that up until now, the hardware component of KVM servers and console servers has prevented the open source paradigm from reaching the market. The result is a high cost-per-port, vendor lock-in, and other factors that prevent the technology from becoming more widely available. “It's enterprise-only today, but open source will change that, as well as making possible a whole range of new applications,” Waldie says.

Avocent currently owns more than half of the KVM server market, according to Waldie, while Cyclades owns just under half of the console server market. Both companies offer devices based on embedded Linux, and both are working on products within the other's market domain. However, the products today are based on proprietary protocols, hardware, and drivers, something Waldie hopes Opengear can change. “That's the advantage of being a new player in the market. We can afford to be disruptive,” he said, adding that he expects Cyclades, Avocent, and other remote management hardware companies to actually help with the open source OKVM project. After all, “the best way to deal with a threat is to embrace it,” he said.

The KVM-over-IP reference design

Opengear's KVM-over-IP reference design includes a PCI board that the company plans to sell at its cost, which Waldie says is “around $250.” The board includes a VGA port and a pair of PS/2 ports that allow it to control a single device. For most users, that device will be a KVM switch, a simple physical switch made to switch a local keyboard, mouse, and display among various connected servers. “It can be a click-click-click switch,” Waldie says, making a knob-turning motion, “Or it can be a software-controlled switch.”

Opengear's PCI card works by simply capturing analog video signals from a server's VGA port, or from the master VGA port of the KVM switch it's attached to. The card is based on a low-cost graphics capture chip made by Jepico, a Japanese chip house that has joined Opengear's open source OKVM project. Waldie says graphics capture chips from other vendors may also be supported in future releases. “We'll pick a couple of chips, do a couple of reference designs, and maintain a uClinux stack for x86,” Waldie says, adding that device makers will be able to port the stack to the small-footprint embedded platform of their choice. The Opengear reference design includes hardware schematics.

Once the Opengear card has captured the analog signal, it is handled by open source VNC server software modified to interface with the capture chip. The VNC server can be accessed by any VNC client, Waldie says, such as those available for Linux, Windows, and Mac clients.

In Opengear's LinuxWorld demonstration, the exported server image appeared to be slightly blurrier than most VNC client sessions, and Engineering Manager Peter Hunt admitted that the OKVM project is hoping the open source community will help improve the technology. “We're low-level hardware guys,” Hunt said. “We got all the drivers working, but we could use some video expertise, and some help with video image processing techniques to sharpen the picture and smooth out the fonts.”

Opengear's business model, strategy, and tactics

In addition to competing with more established console and KVM server vendors on price, Waldie also expects Opengear to innovate and deliver a number of converged device design wins. For example, OKVM utilizes the V4lin or “video for Linux” infrastructure, something Waldie says could be used to add support for security cameras. “We're talking to a large bank, and they say they just want to be able to see who's sitting at the console,” Waldie said.

Opengear demonstrated its VNC:KVM client handling an Mplayer video session

Waldie says the compression technology used in OKVM's VNC server is not very efficient, but can easily be used to capture stills or low-framerate video triggered by sensor events. As for other potential new applications of open source console and KVM server technology, “We'll stumble across a great opportunity, because we're lucky,” Waldie said, adding, “Actually, we can see lots of opportunities. It's a question of picking which ones to pursue.”

In the meantime, Waldie describes Opengear's current line of console servers, launched this February, as a “cash cow.” He said, “It has secure ssh, and it's a third of the price of Cyclades per port.”

Availability

Opengear will offer about 50 KVM development kits, priced at cost, or around $250. Availability is “a couple of weeks out,” according to Waldie.

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