Page 13 - ATEN KVM over IP Matrix System Implementation Guide

Further Considerations
Number of ports: Choose a switch that has enough ports to match the number of KVM over IP Extenders you will be
installing. Switches typically come in 5, 8, 10, 16, 24, 28, 48, 52 and 54-port configurations. If you are installing 13 KVM over

IP transmitters and 13 KVM over IP receivers, you will need to purchase a switch with at least 28 ports.

Stackable verse Standalone
Stackable switches allow you to easily manage and configure ports spanning across multiple switches that the KVM over IP
Extenders are connected through. This provides a centralized method to configure and troubleshoot the initial setup of
KVM over IP Extenders on a network which makes fine tuning the bandwidth, data throughput and video quality easier.

Stackable switches can be configured to direct the KVM over IP Extender transmissions between many units more
specifically and effectively. Standalone switches provide the same configuration features as Stackable switches but they
must be set individually. Stackable switches provide an easy way to manage multiple switches, as one unit. For example,
instead of configuring, managing, and troubleshooting 6 28- port switches individually, you can manage the six as if they
are a single unit using Stackable Switches. The six switches (168 ports) function as a single switch and are managed from
one web or GUI interface.

What Stackable Switches Can Do:

• Create a link aggregation group with one port in one unit of the stack and another port of that group in
another switch in the stack.
• Select a port on one switch in the stack and mirror the traffic to a switch port on another unit of the stack; t hus

copy the configuration to direct traffic more effectively between KVM over IP Extenders.
• Apply custom ACL security settings to any port on any switch in the stack.
• Stackable switches can be set up in a ring configuration, so that if a port or cable fails, the stack automatically
routes around the failure, at microsecond speeds. Stackable Switches also allow you to add and remove stack
“members” which are automatically updated and recognized as such.

Switch Specifications

The following specifications are recommended when choosing a layer 2 or layer 3 switch:

• 1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet switches (1000M bps or faster Ethernet ports)
• High bandwidth between switches, if possible using Fiber Channel
• Layer 3 switches that efficiently processes IGMP queries
• IGMP Snooping Fast Leave
• IGMP Snooping v2 or v3
• Flow Control Functions
• Throughput of: Full Duplex, 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps up- and down- stream speeds per port
• Performance of their most onerous tasks (e.g. IGMP snooping) with multiple dedicated processors (ASICS)

• It is highly recommended to deploy the same make of switch from the same manufacturer throughout each subnet
in the installation to prevent incompatibility issues
• The maximum number of simultaneous ‘snoopable groups’ the switch can handle meets or exceeds the number

of KVM over IP transmitters that will be used to create Channel groups