Hi, thanks for your comment. I do realise that a KVM is a physical connection to the computer. I might not have worded it properly in my post, I’ll edit that.
I was trying to ask about what exactly does the software stack in PiKVM do: and I think the selling point is likely the part of the software used to interact with the HDMI stream coming from the server. Am I correct in thinking that if I were to run the PiKVM software on my computer, get the HDMI capture from my server into my computer, and run a VNC client to access the PiKVM server which is being fed the capture stream, I will have, in essence, created a “DIY PiKVM”?
PiKVM is a collection of tools rolled into a distro to make keyboard/mouse input and attaching an emulated install media (virtual USB disk using ISO files) easily possible through a VNC-based web application. The idea is you can just build your own using the same software on different hardware, but it’s aimed at using a raspberry pi for low power consumption, portability, and it has specific hardware compatibility with a HAT/addon board. The software can also make “reverse connections” through a remote NAT for support purposes, and you’d just port forward on your end. There are a lot of well thought out features in PiKVM (hardware) that make it much more convenient than building your own solution. You could install PiKVM on a different system than a Pi and try to make it work with your configuration… You’d probably lose things like simulated power button press and virtual USB storage support. You might consider alternatives like PXE/netboot and wake-on-lan for those, but that might not always work for you.
(YMMV, I have not tried running PiKVM on an x86 cpu)
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Hi, thanks for your comment. I do realise that a KVM is a physical connection to the computer. I might not have worded it properly in my post, I’ll edit that.
I was trying to ask about what exactly does the software stack in PiKVM do: and I think the selling point is likely the part of the software used to interact with the HDMI stream coming from the server. Am I correct in thinking that if I were to run the PiKVM software on my computer, get the HDMI capture from my server into my computer, and run a VNC client to access the PiKVM server which is being fed the capture stream, I will have, in essence, created a “DIY PiKVM”?
PiKVM is a collection of tools rolled into a distro to make keyboard/mouse input and attaching an emulated install media (virtual USB disk using ISO files) easily possible through a VNC-based web application. The idea is you can just build your own using the same software on different hardware, but it’s aimed at using a raspberry pi for low power consumption, portability, and it has specific hardware compatibility with a HAT/addon board. The software can also make “reverse connections” through a remote NAT for support purposes, and you’d just port forward on your end. There are a lot of well thought out features in PiKVM (hardware) that make it much more convenient than building your own solution. You could install PiKVM on a different system than a Pi and try to make it work with your configuration… You’d probably lose things like simulated power button press and virtual USB storage support. You might consider alternatives like PXE/netboot and wake-on-lan for those, but that might not always work for you.
(YMMV, I have not tried running PiKVM on an x86 cpu)