Can I connect blade servers to the Dominion KX III?

Yes. Dominion KX III supports popular blade server models from the leading blade server manufacturers: HP^®, IBM^®, Dell^® and Cisco^®.

Which blade servers are supported?

The following models are supported: Dell PowerEdge^® 1855, 1955 and M1000e; HP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000; IBM BladeCenter^® H, E and S; and Cisco UCS B-Series.

Which CIM should I use?

It depends on the type of KVM ports on the specific make and model of the blade server you are using. The following CIMs are supported: DCIM-PS2, DCIM-USBG2, D2CIM-VUSB and D2CIM-DVUSB.

Which types of access and control are available?

The Dominion KX III provides automated and secure KVM access: (1) at the rack, (2) remotely over IP, (3) via CommandCenter and (4) by modem.

Do I have to use hotkeys to switch between blades?

Some blade servers require you to use hotkeys to switch between blades. With the Dominion KX III, you don’t have to use these hotkeys. Just click on the name of the blade server, and the Dominion KX III will automatically switch to that blade without the explicit use of the hotkey.

Can I access the blade server’s management module?

Yes. You can define the URL of the management module and access it from the Dominion KX III or from our CommandCenter Secure Gateway. If configured, one-click access is available.

How many blade servers can I connect to a Dominion KX III?

For performance and reliability reasons, you can connect up to eight blade chassis to a Dominion KX III, regardless of model. Raritan recommends connecting up to two times the number of remote connections supported by the device. For example, with a KX3-216 with two remote channels, we recommend connecting up to four blade server chassis. You can, of course, connect individual servers to the remaining server ports.

I’m an enterprise customer using CommandCenter Secure Gateway. Can I access blade servers via CommandCenter Secure Gateway?

Yes. Once blade servers are configured on the Dominion KX III, the CommandCenter Secure Gateway user can access them via KVM connections. In addition, the blade servers are organized by chassis as well as CommandCenter Secure Gateway custom views.

What if I also want in-band or embedded KVM access?

In-band and embedded access to blade servers can be configured within CommandCenter Secure Gateway.

I’m running VMware^® on some of my blade servers. Is this supported?

Yes. With CommandCenter Secure Gateway, you can display and access virtual machines running on blade servers.

Is virtual media supported?

This depends on the blade server. HP blades can support virtual media. The IBM BladeCenter (except for BladeCenter T) supports virtual media if configured appropriately. A virtual media CIM – D2CIM-VUSB or D2CIM-DVUSB – must be used.

Is Absolute Mouse Synchronization supported?

Servers with internal KVM switches inside the blade chassis typically do not support absolute mouse technology. For HP blade and some Dell blade servers, a CIM can be connected to each blade, so Absolute Mouse Synchronization is supported.

Is blade access secure?

Yes. Blade access uses all of the standard Dominion KX III security features such as 128-bit or 256-bit encryption. In addition, there are blade-specific security features such as per blade access permissions and hotkey-blocking that eliminates unauthorized access.

Does the Dominion KSX II or the KX III-101 support blade servers?

At this time, these products do not support blade servers.