Ultra5 the alternative to cat5 based KVM systems

Rose Electronics, the leader in KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switching and distribution solutions announces the release of the Ultra5 cabling system offering better performance and economy than conventional cat5 based KVM systems.

Many modern KVM systems use cat5 cable as the method of transporting KVM signals from server to switch, and from switch to User. This provides an easy and convenient connectivity system and often leverages existing structure. Converters at the connected servers encode the KVM signals so that they can be passed over the cat5 cable, and converters at the User desks decode those signals for presentation on conventional KVM hardware.

Ultra5 is an improvement on that theme, in terms of both capability and economy. Ultra5 is a cable system specially designed for KVM transport, having the appearance and connectivity (RJ45) of cat5 but offering more than twice the video bandwidth. Ultra5 capitalizes on the concentration capabilities of the unique Rose distributed matrix switch system and can use up to 90% less cable than conventional cat5 based KVM systems. The Rose system concentrates servers into receiver pods which can handle up to 16 servers. Each pod can be accessible by up to 16 concurrent Users, giving an industry leading 1-1 (unblockable) User to server access ratio. In a more conventional 1-8 or 1-16 server access ratio it is only necessary to transport the live (selected) KVM interface from server to User, the dormant servers being serviced (kept alive) in background by supporting firmware in the pods.

Ultra5 is compatible with all of Roses multi-platform KVM/CAS/Power control Matrix solutions which support all common computer hardware types, including PCs, Sun and Unix machines, serial devices and power distribution strips.

The Ultra5 structure allows skipping of sensitive servers or sectors, meaning that there is physical path denial to those areas the only totally secure access prevention system! Other advantages of the Ultra5 structure are that growth is easily and economically catered for, a known price per additional port can be budgeted for, and as pods are added to a system Users connected anywhere can access devices connected anywhere offering the ultimate in scalability.