bellaauc
Member
OP
3-2-1 Believer
- Joined:
- Jun 2024
- Posts:
- 190
- From:
- Auckland, NZ
Last night my iKVM froze mid-reinstall on a box at OVHcloud. Couldn't get back in, had to drive 40 minutes to hit the physical reset.
So what's your fallback?
- PiKVM (or similar DIY)
- Physical crash cart / laptop + cable
- Drive to the datacenter at 3am
- Other (explain)
My current setup:
- Primary: Supermicro IPMI
- Backup:??? (this is the gap)
Did you test your restore? I did not. The 3-2-1 rule applies to access methods too, apparently.
Vote and tell your horror stories. I need ideas before this happens again.
3-2-1 or you're already dead
Carl
Member
Rack & Stack
- Joined:
- May 2024
- Posts:
- 227
- From:
- Chicago, US
PiKVM for sure. $45 in parts, Pi Zero 2 W, HDMI-CSI bridge, some dupont cables. Draws 2.5W at 5V. Rackmount it in 1U with a cheap Keystone panel.
Physical crash cart is dead to me. Shipping a full cart to a remote site costs more than the server. I did it once in 2019 for a 4U storage box in Jersey. Never again.
Robot arm guy sounds fun but that's 20W idle and 3D printed gears strip. Seen it.
visit twice: install and decom
tallinnying
Member
Night Shift
- Joined:
- Aug 2024
- Posts:
- 268
- From:
- Tallinn, EE
Which pi zero 2 w case fits a 1U keystone panel
builds at 3AM, sleeps at noon
Carl
Member
Rack & Stack
- Joined:
- May 2024
- Posts:
- 227
- From:
- Chicago, US
Which pi zero 2 w case fits a 1U keystone panel
None of them stock. I designed a bracket in FreeCAD, printed in PETG. Holds the Pi, the CSI bridge, and a small buck converter for 12V->5V. Two M3 screws into the panel ears.
I can share the STL if anyone wants. It's nothing fancy but it works.
visit twice: install and decom
tallinnying
Member
Night Shift
- Joined:
- Aug 2024
- Posts:
- 268
- From:
- Tallinn, EE
Following this. I have three PiKVMs running but none rackmounted, just stuffed behind servers with double-sided tape. The tape always melts.
builds at 3AM, sleeps at noon
bellaauc
Member
OP
3-2-1 Believer
- Joined:
- Jun 2024
- Posts:
- 190
- From:
- Auckland, NZ
Never trust. Vendor iKVM. Always dies.
This. OVHcloud's iKVM isn't even their own, it's whatever Supermicro shipped with the board. Last firmware update was 2019 for my model. Java applet that modern browsers block.
I should have seen this coming.
3-2-1 or you're already dead
