Ethernet equivalent to KVM switch

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Tylen1334

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  • #1
    Hi,

    So I am in need of some advice for a network problem I have. I have two computers with the same static ip at work (they have to be for software reasons) and want to easily change which one is connected to a switch. Is there an equivalent to a KVM switch for networks, ergo a physical button that changes which computer is connected to a switch? The easy thing would be to just plug in the computer you want connected at the moment and unplug the other, but that seems too hard for my colleagues to manage without cables disappearing...

    Thanks for any advice
     
    ColinABQ

    ColinABQ

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  • #3
    They do make Ethernet devices with actual buttons to switch ports. Example:
    https://smile.amazon.com/Gigabit-Ethernet-Network-Splitter-Selector/dp/B077NYH15H
    There are others but I saw one that only supported 100Mbs, so keep that in mind. I had to use one on one job and had no real problem with it (other than shooting myself in the foot by forgetting it was there).

    I would try to avoid a lot of plugging and unplugging, which is hard on both cables and connectors in the long term.
     
    ColinABQ

    ColinABQ

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  • #5
    Paladin said:
    Just put each behind a NAT router. They can both be on their own private network with whatever IP you want on them and still have access to the actual LAN and internet that way. 2 cheap home routers will do it or you can spend more for something more reliable and capable if you want.
    Click to expand...
    That's interesting. Give the router's WAN port the required IP, put both devices on LAN ports on a different subnet. But I wonder if the software on the server side, whatever it is, would sort things out properly. We don't know why they they have to have the same IP.
     
    Xenocrates

    Xenocrates

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  • #7
    PLC programs also oft use hard-coded IP's, along with a bunch of other industrial automation. Us electricians really don't understand networking very properly. There's also Siemens's love of 2 pair ethernet, and the new hotness, single pair ethernet. Let's just say that industrial networking is physically bullet resistant, and perfectly cromulent.
     
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    Xelas

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  • #8
    I've run into this a lot with point-of-sale servers. None of them, in my experience dealing with about 10 different major systems, have the capability to deal with backup servers gracefully. You have to do the IP song-and-dance routine.
    One thing the OP needs to think about is that the backup server may still need to stay online to get updates. My suggestion is to set the servers to DHCP with IP reservations, then write a script for your DHCP server/router to swap the reservations around and then bounce the ports on the switch, or alternatively, to set the servers up under their own DHCP pool and set the lease times to be really short so that they pick up the new IPs within the 1/2 lease time you need. For 2 devices, you can probably set the lease time to 1 minute with no ill effects.
     
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    Joe2

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  • #9
    I was also looking for this kind of device to switch between two different internet service providers (ISPs) on my home system. I could have done this at the router but would loose parental control and other features if configuring dual ISPs as anything other than active and passive with automatic failover. I need the ability to physically switch just one system in the network back and forth between the ISPs easily so I can ensure I am always uploading large backup files to cloud through the slower backup ISP which has no data cap. Thanks to ColinABQ for the prior post with the Amazon product link! That lead me to find a similar physical/mechanical switch (JSER UTP STP 2 in 1 Out 2 Ports RJ45 LAN CAT6 CAT5E Network Switch Selector Internal External Networking Switcher Splitter Box) that does this and supports CAT5e/CAT6 for a 1 Gbs network.
     
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