Raritan Computer Dominion KX User Manual

Dominion

®

KX

Quick Installation and Setup Guide

I. Prepare Devices and Network for Remote Operation

Congratulations on your purchase of Dominion KX, the industry’s most fully-featured digital KVM
(keyboard/video/mouse) switch. Before connecting the Dominion KX, configure each device that you intend to
access via Dominion KX with the parameters below. This very important installation procedure ensures optimal
performance and responsiveness when using the remote server access capabilities of Dominion KX.
For more detailed documentation, please see the CD ROM enclosed with your shipment or go to the User
Documentation Support page on Raritan’s Website. For assistance in North or South America, please contact
the Raritan Technical Support Team by telephone [phone], by fax [phone], or by e-mail
tech@rarit

an.com - ask for Technical Support - Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern .

All Servers
A. For optimal bandwidth efficien-

cy and video performance, set the
OS desktop background to a pre­dominantly solid, plain, light-col­ored graphic.
B. Ensure that the server’s video
resolution and refresh rate are
supported by Dominion KX, and
the signal is non-interlaced.

Text Modes:
640x480 @ 60Hz 1024x768 @ 60Hz
640x480 @ 72Hz 1024x768 @ 70Hz
640x480 @ 75Hz 1024x768 @ 75Hz
640x480 @ 85Hz 1024x768 @ 85Hz
720x400 @ 70Hz 1152x864 @ 60Hz
720x400 @ 85Hz 1152x864 @ 70Hz
800x600 @ 56Hz 1152x864 @ 75Hz
800x600 @ 60Hz 1280x960 @ 60Hz
800x600 @ 72Hz 1280x1024 @ 60Hz
800x600 @ 75Hz
800x600 @ 85Hz

Windows XP / Windows
2003

Disable Enhanced pointer pre­cision and set the mouse motion

speed exactly to the middle speed
setting. These options are located
in Control Panel > Mouse >

Pointer Options.

Disable transition effects in

Control Panel > Display >
Appearance > Effects.

Windows 2000 / ME

Set mouse pointer acceleration to
“None” and the mouse motion
speed exactly to the middle speed
setting. Disable transition effects
in Control Panel > Display >

Effects.

Windows 95 / 98 / NT

Set mouse motion speed to the
slowest setting in Control Panel

> Mouse > Motion.

Disable window, menu, and list
animation in Control Panel >

Display > Effects.

Linux (with Graphical
Desktop)

Set mouse acceleration to exactly
1 and threshold to exactly 1.

Sun Solaris (with
Graphical Desktop)

Set mouse acceleration to exactly

1. Ensure that your video card is
set to a supported resolution and
that its output is VGA (H-and-V
Sync, not composite sync). This
non-default configuration can be
set in the bootprom mode by issu­ing the command:

setenv output-device

screen:r1024x768x70

When finished, issue the “boot”
command to reboot.

Macintosh

No specific mouse settings are
required, but you must set the
Raritan Remote Client to Single
Cursor Mode when using
Dominion KX to access and con­trol a Macintosh system remotely.
Please note that the default
Mouse Mode is Standard.
Please see the Dominion KX User
Guide on the enclosed CD-ROM
for additional details on switching
Mouse Cursor Mode or activating
Intelligent Mouse Mode.

Network / Firewall

To enable remote access to
Dominion KX, your network and
firewall must allow communica­tion on TCP Port 5000. You can
also configure Dominion KX to
use a different TCP port of your
own designation; please see the
Dominion KX User Guide for addi­tional informtion.
Optional: To access Dominion
KX via Web browser, your firewall
must also allow access to TCP
Port 443 (Standard HTTPS). For
additional convenience, you may
also want to allow access to TCP
Port 80 (Standard HTTP);
Dominion KX will forward all
HTTP requests to HTTPS, allow­ing end users to securely use
either “http” or “https” as a URL.

Note: Raritan recommends
changing the default Admin pass­word (“raritan”) as soon as possi­ble after installation. Please see
VIII. Change Password for
instructions.

1. Attach the included AC power cord to
the Dominion KX unit, and plug into an AC
power outlet. If installing a KX464 with dual
power failover protection, attach the second
included AC power cord and plug it into a dif­ferent power source than the first power
cord.

2. Attach a keyboard and mouse (either
PS/2 or USB); and a multisync monitor to the
corresponding ports in the back of Dominion
KX marked “Local User.”

3. Power ON the Dominion KX.

4. After the KX unit boots, the On Screen

Display (OSD) appears. Use the OSD to
access servers while using the unit at the
rack. Log in with the default username/pass­word of admin/raritan (or your new user­name/password if you have already changed
defaults) and press ENTER.

5. Press the F5 key to activate the
Administrative Menu.

6. Use the ↑↑and ↓↓keys to

select option 3

Network Settings and press ENTER.

7. Specify TCP/IP parameters for your
Dominion KX unit: IP address; subnet mask;
and default gateway.

When finished, press the letter S on your
keyboard. The unit will reboot automatically.

Note: If you experience network disconnect
issues, change your MAC layer parameter to
100/full duplex or the appropriate value for
your network.

8. Connect one end of a straight-through
Ethernet cable (included) to the port labeled
“LAN1” on Dominion KX, and the other end
to a network switch or router. [Optional] For
Ethernet redundancy, use a straight-through
Ethernet cable to connect the “LAN2” port to
another network switch or router. Should the
Ethernet connectivity on LAN1 become
unavailable, Dominion KX will failover to this
port with the same TCP/IP settings — at all
other times, this port will be disabled.

Note: You must enable automatic failover in
KX Manager, or this option will not function ­please see the Dominion KX User Guide for
additional information.

9. From any networked workstation, con­firm access by typing the following URL in
your Internet browser’s address line:

http://IP-ADDRESS/admin

where IP-ADDRESS is the IP address that
you designated in Step 7.

ALTERNATIVE

:

You can also connect to
Dominion KX directly via Ethernet from your
workstation, skipping steps 4 - 8 above.
To do so, attach one end of a crossover
Ethernet cable (included) directly to your
workstation’s Ethernet card, and the other
end to Dominion KX’s “LAN1” port.
Enable your workstation to access the
default IP address of Dominion KX:

192.168.0.192. One method is to temporarily
set your workstation’s IP parameters to:

IP Address: 192.168.0.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.0.1

When finished, follow Step 9, above, being
sure to use Dominion KX’s default IP
address: 192.168.0.192.

II. Attach Local User Console, Set IP Address, and Connect to Network

In this step, you will connect the console used for accessing servers directly at the rack, use this console to set Dominion KX’s IP address, and
connect to your Network. To return to the On-Screen Display (OSD) at any time, press the Scroll Lock key twice rapidly.

Dominion KX

To AC Power Outlet

Local User Console

Keyboard, monitor, and mouse used to
access connected servers locally at the rack. Also
used for initial IP address configuration.

1 2

For more detailed instructions, please consult the User Manual found on the enclosed CD-ROM or visit www.raritan.com.

Rev. F May 2006 255-80-6030

III. Attach Servers

In this step, connect Dominion KX to the servers that you want it to manage.

To AC
Power
Outlet

To
LAN/
WAN

To KVM Ports

of Managed

Server

Local User Console

2

1

3

4

To

External

Modem

(optional)

Standard UTP Cable

(Cat5 / 5e / 6)

P/N: DCIM-XXXX

1. If not already attached, attach keyboard,
mouse, and multisync monitor to the corre­sponding ports in the back of Dominion KX
marked “Local User.” This Local User
Console is used to access servers directly
from the rack.

2. Connect one end of a standard, straight­through UTP cable (Cat5 / 5e / 6) to an unoc­cupied server port on the rear panel of the

Dominion KX.

3. Connect the other end of the UTP cable to
the RJ45 port on a Dominion KX Computer
Interface Module: DCIM-PS2 (PS/2 ports);
DCIM-USB (USB ports); DCIM-SUSB (USB
ports for Sun servers); or DCIM-SUN (Sun
ports with HD15 video). Paragon CIMs sup­ported by DKX version 1.4 and higher
include: P2CIM-PS2, P2CIM-SUN, P2CIM-

USB, P2CIM-SUSB, UKVMPD, USKVMPD,
UKVMC, USKVMC, P2CIM-PS2-DUAL,
UUSBPD, and P2CIM-PWR.

4. Connect the remaining ports on the CIM
to the corresponding KVM ports of a server
that you want to manage using Dominion KX.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to connect any
other servers that you want to manage using
Dominion KX.

IV. Assign Names to Server Ports

Using the Local User Console

1. If not already attached, connect a keyboard, mouse, and

monitor to Dominion KX. On the local user console OSD, log on
with the default username/password of admin/raritan (or your
new username/password if you have already changed these
default values).

2. Press the F5 key on your keyboard to activate the
Administrative Menu

3. Press

↑↑,, ↓↓,,

or type 5 to select Option 5 Channel

Configuration and press ENTER.

4. Press

↑↑

or ↓↓to select a server port to rename, and press
ENTER. When the highligh turns green, type a new name (up to
20 characters) to identify the server connected to that port. Press ENTER when finished to save the new name.

5. Press ESC to exit the menu.

Using a Web Browser

1. On any workstation with network connectivity to your Dominion KX, and with Java Runtime Environment

(JRE) 1.4.x or later installed, launch KX Manager in a Web browser by typing:

http://IP-ADDRESS/admin

where IP-ADDRESS is the IP address that you
designated in Section II-7.

2. The Dominion KX Manager applet will load
and launch. Log on with the default
username/password of admin/raritan (or your
new username/password if you have already
changed these default values).

3. In the left panel of the screen, find the server port that you want to change. Click on the server icon, right­click on it, and click Properties on the shortcut menu. Type a new name (up to 20 characters) to identify that
server. Press ENTER when finished.

Please see the Dominion KX User Guide, Chapter 3: Administrative Functions for additional information
and instructions on using KX Manager.

1. The Navigator displays any known Dominion
units in a single view. Click Connection > New
Profile to create new entries.

2. Click on Synchronize Mouse to converge
the mouse pointers displayed in KVM windows.
If your mouse pointers fail to converge, be sure
to review Section I: Prepare Devices and
Network for Remote Operation to correctly
configure your managed server.

3. The Toolbar provides easy access to the
most frequently-used tools and features.

4. Double-click on a server port to establish
access to, and BIOS-level control of, the serv­er’s KVM ports.

- Double-clicking another server port on the
same Dominion unit will switch your session to
that server. If your Dominion hardware supports
multiple simultaneous remote server connec­tions, you can right-click on a port and click New
Connection to open additional sessions.

5. The Status Bar provides real-time informa­tion on connection parameters.

6. When connected to a KVM console port, key­strokes and video signals are transmitted in
real-time, exactly as if you were connected
directly to the server.

1 2

3

4

5

6

VII. Maximize Remote KVM Performance

Dominion KX’s dynamic video compression algorithms maintain usability of KVM consoles under varying bandwidth environments. Your
Dominion unit can optimize its output not just for the corporate LAN, but also for lower-bandwidth WAN and dial-up connections. By adjusting
color depth and limiting video output, Dominion KX offers the optimal balance between video quality and system responsiveness in any band­width constraint. Familiarize yourself with the following parameters to adjust performance options even further.

VIII. Change Password

For security reasons, Raritan recommends that you reset the default Admin password as soon as
possible after installation.

1. Double-click on the Dominon KX icon in the MPC or RRC Navigator and log on to the unit.

2. On the Tools menu, click Update, and then click User Password.

3. Type your current password in the Old Password field.

4. Type your new password in the New Password field and retype it in the Confirm New

Password field.

5. Click OK.

Color Calibration

Some video cards output non-standard signal levels. Perform a color calibration upon inital
setup to optimize transmitted color for accuracy using the Video menu. On the RRC menu bar,
click Video > Calibrate Color.

Noise Filter

Video cables can generate electrical noise on
a monitor that cannot be seen by the naked
eye. Your Dominion unit reduces the band­width it consumes by intelligently ignoring
extraneous signal noise. Setting the noise fil­ter too high can prohibit Dominion from cor­rectly transmitting screen changes; setting it
too low can use too much bandwidth.
On the menu bar, select Video > Video
Settings to adjust the Noise. The default
value of 2 works for most environments; set to
1 or 0 for more responsive video or to 5 or 7
for low bandwidth connections (including
modem).

V. Connect Remotely Using MPC or RRC

Raritan Multi-Platform Client (MPC) and Raritan Remote Client (RRC), Raritan’ s graphical interfaces, allow you
to remotely access the target devices connected to Raritan's Dominion and IP-Reach units. Please note that
RRC works only with MS Internet Explorer (IE), and MPC loads automatically in any other Web browser.

Install and Launch RRC (on a Windows Computer using IE)

1. Log on to any Windows-based computer with network access to your Dominion KX.

2. If you are using Windows NT, 2000, XP, or 2003, ensure that you are not a "restricted" user.

3. Launch Microsoft IE.

Note: An IE default security setting of Medium is sufficient. Also, please ensure that your IE security settings
allow the download and execution of ActiveX controls.

4. In the URL text field of your Web browser, type the IP address you assigned in step II-7 and press ENTER.

5. After RRC launches, a device tree of all automatically-detected Raritan devices found on your subnet is

displayed on the left side of the screen. If you do not find your Dominion unit listed by name, create an icon
manually by selecting New Profile on the Connection menu. Type a Description, specify Connection Type,
type the Dominion’s IP Address and click OK. These values can be edited later.

6 In the Navigator panel on the left side of the screen, double-click on the icon that corresponds to your
Dominion unit.

Install and Launch MPC (on All Other Platforms)

To launch MPC from any browser except IE running on a Windows PC, type http://IP-ADDRESS into your
browser's address line, where IP-ADDRESS is the IP address you assigned in step II-7 and press ENTER.
To launch MPC from a Windows PC running IE, type http://IP-ADDRESS/mpc into the IE URL text field, where
IP-ADDRESS is the IP Address you assigned in step II-7, and press ENTER.
Please note that the MPC applet will launch in a new window that does not contain the IE Menu bar, Tool bar,
Scroll bar, or Address bar. You can work in this window and toggle to other open windows using the key com­mand ALT+TAB.

You can also install MPC as a standalone applet, described further in the Raritan Multi-Platform Client and

Raritan Remote Client User Guide.

Note: Regardless of browser, you must allow pop-ups from the Dominion’s IP address in order to launch MPC.

Dominion

®

KX

Quick Installation and Setup Guide

VI. Remotely Access and Control Connected Ser vers

After logging on to the Dominion KX unit, use the MPC or RRC Navigator on the left side of the MPC or RRC screens to select and connect to
a port. Please note that the RRC screen shown below differs slightly from the MPC screen, which has a Message panel below the Navigator
panel; the Message panel displays a simplified events log. For more detailed instruction on MPC or RRC use, please see the Raritan Multi-

Platform Client and Raritan Remote Client User Guide.