←back to thread

Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

(mtlynch.io)
756 points mtlynch | 9 comments | 23 Jul 20 13:56 UTC | HN request time: 1.695s | source | bottom
Show context
cerberusss ◴[23 Jul 20 14:43 UTC] No.23927849[source]▶
Fantastic project. Amazing how you overcame each obstacle, and very well written to boot. Kudos.

Quite funny how you brought 1000 ms latency down to 200 ms. I wonder how this compares to iDRAC and that Raritan device.

replies(4): >>23928070 #>>23928090 #>>23928189 #>>23928808 #
1. EvanAnderson ◴[23 Jul 20 15:14 UTC] No.23928189[source]▶
I've used virtually all of the iDRACs. They're probably in that 200ms area (based on my gut feeling w/ no empirical measurements). They've been fairly responsive in my experience.
replies(1): >>23933907 #
2. Bnshsysjab ◴[23 Jul 20 23:21 UTC] No.23933907[source]▶
Out of curiosity do they bring any functionality that this device does not?
replies(2): >>23934083 #>>23936892 #
3. DrPhish ◴[23 Jul 20 23:48 UTC] No.23934083[source]▶
The most interesting stuff is generally:

-Remotely mounting images (ISO/FS/IMG/etc) on the host for bare-metal installs or any other purpose

-Hard power options for unresponsive servers or emergencies

-Heavily integrated diagnostics (fan RPMs, thermals, RAID status, etc etc) with eg. snmp output

replies(2): >>23937335 #>>23943674 #
4. ianlevesque ◴[24 Jul 20 07:59 UTC] No.23936892[source]▶
It can one-click update all firmware for bios, network cards, storage controller etc
5. Bnshsysjab ◴[24 Jul 20 09:03 UTC] No.23937335{3}[source]▶
Cool, I assume with enough willpower those first two could be solved with a pi too ;)
replies(1): >>23937508 #
6. Sebb767 ◴[24 Jul 20 09:37 UTC] No.23937508{4}[source]▶
If we go that route, all three of them could (for example via fan sensors). Whether it's worth it is a different question :)
7. yencabulator ◴[24 Jul 20 19:45 UTC] No.23943674{3}[source]▶
> -Remotely mounting images (ISO/FS/IMG/etc) on the host for bare-metal installs or any other purpose

For what it's worth, that stuff has always been incredibly unreliable for me. Enough so that old school PXE booting was the only way to maintain a server pool, couldn't get them to consistently reimage through the proprietary stuff.

The remote power control is very nice, and I didn't see anything on this page about that. (Though now I'm just imagining the "useless PC" [1] that just tells a smart power plug to turn itself off.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useless_machine

replies(2): >>23946171 #>>23948018 #
8. stjohnswarts ◴[25 Jul 20 01:35 UTC] No.23946171{4}[source]▶
I never had a single issue with it if I mounted it from an onsite drive. Mounting from home in my den is a bit more iffy and pretty slow. PXE is definitely better, but the iso method is nice for when that's not an option.
9. Bnshsysjab ◴[25 Jul 20 10:15 UTC] No.23948018{4}[source]▶
I use a RPi to control smart home components including wifi controlled smart plugs. You could use one as a hard power off, and WoL as a soft power on.