Advice on KVM PS2/USB mixture?

[Jim Nelson]

Zembower, Kevin wrote:
> I now have a rack of PowerEdge 2450s (2), 2850 (1) and 2950s (2). They
> have a mixture of PS/2 and USB keyboard and mouse ports. Up to this
> time, I haven't done anything fancy with serial terminals or DRAC ports.
> I've just managed them with a PS/2 Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) switch,
> and manually plugging in the USB-only hosts. This has been acceptable
> because often months go by before I need to use the console on these
> hosts.
> 
> However, this is becoming unwieldy. I'd like to ask this group's advice
> on how to manage my systems with respect to the local consoles. Does
> anyone make a KVM that combines PS/2 and USB? I've found some by
> searching, but they often seem like pure PS/2 or USB KVMs, with adapters
> for the other interface. My only experience with these adapters was that
> they required a Windows-only driver that I didn't want to use on my
> Linux systems. Are these adapters easy to get working on Linux systems?
> 
> Should I bite the bullet and convert to serial terminals or DRAC ports?
> I would have to purchase DRAC ports for my older servers. Is this cost
> efficient compared to KVM?
> 
> Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions you have for me.
> 
> -Kevin
> 

We use Tripp-Lite KVMs - they come with both USB and serial (and old-school Sun) 
cables, and are dead-reliable.  I've set up a couple in radio stations for the 
broadcast systems, in use 24/7 with no problems.

This is the unit we normally use -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817404012

and the cables are about $10-$15 each.

Of course, Dell sells KVMs as well, and they use USB-PS/2 adapters for the newer 
boxes.  I use a USB-PS/2 adapter at home (tore the keyboard connector off the 
motherboard vacuuming) and it works fine with Linux.