KVM Switch and Cables
If you do a Google Product Search for KVM switch you’ll get more than 85,000 results. I’m sure they’re still in use in some places, but with the advent of programs like Synergy combined with cheap displays, they’re becoming rare. Rarer yet, this KVM switch isn’t of them fancy pants electrical kind. It’s mechanical.
Maybe I should back up… Ok, here is what my KVM switch looks like:
KVM stands for Keyboard, Video, and Mouse. It allows two computers to share all these devices. You toggle between Computer A and Computer B by…drum roll please…flipping the switch! Of course, this being one old-ass switch, the inputs ands outputs are PS/2 for the keyboard and mouse, and VGA for the monitor. Seriously, look at the back.
This explains the six cables that go with the switch. Three go to each computer, and the devices themselves plug into the middle column. That’s right, you get to turn three cables into nine! Fuckin’ sweet!
In High School I used this to switch between machines, back when I was way more into fiddling with hardware than putting words to a screen. I haven’t touched it since then, so no guarantees it still works. Cables included (4 male-to-male PS/2, 2 male-to-male VGA). Any takers?
Published on November 24, 2009
