KVM Switches & Extenders — 40 Frequently Asked Questions
Real questions enterprise IT engineers ask about KVM Switches & Extenders, with practical answers from Pro Disk Engineering. Questions sourced from Server Fault and Network Engineering Stack Exchange under CC BY-SA — see source links per question. Answers are original Pro Disk Network content with links to our buying guides and product catalog.
Difference between KVM and QEMU
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
iSCSI / FC LUN scanning: from Linux iscsiadm -m discovery + iscsiadm -m node --login; on Windows, refresh in iSCSI Initiator. Rescan SCSI bus with echo "- - -" > /sys/class/scsi_host/hostN/scan.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (220 votes · 202,435 views) ›
How do you increase a KVM guest's disk space?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (138 votes · 350,915 views) ›
What is the difference between IDRAC, IPMI and ILO?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (50 votes · 180,052 views) ›
Correct way to move kvm vm
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (69 votes · 140,671 views) ›
Is it possible to reset the password on a SuperMicro IPMI interface?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (43 votes · 189,369 views) ›
KVM/libvirt: How to configure static guest IP addresses on the virtualisation host
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (50 votes · 167,308 views) ›
Is there a way to run virt-manager on Windows?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
Linux memory accounting: RSS = physical RAM in use, VIRT = virtual address space (includes mapped files), PSS = proportional shared pages. The "available" column in free already accounts for reclaimable cache — use that as your real free-RAM number.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (42 votes · 166,226 views) ›
Is there any way to shrink qcow2 image without converting it raw?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (50 votes · 126,910 views) ›
Difference between Xen PV, Xen KVM and HVM?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (57 votes · 101,266 views) ›
Forwarding ports to guests in libvirt / KVM
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
iSCSI / FC LUN scanning: from Linux iscsiadm -m discovery + iscsiadm -m node --login; on Windows, refresh in iSCSI Initiator. Rescan SCSI bus with echo "- - -" > /sys/class/scsi_host/hostN/scan.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (48 votes · 119,132 views) ›
Configuring SuperMicro IPMI to use one of the LAN interfaces instead of the IPMI port?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (40 votes · 129,521 views) ›
What are the iDRAC 7 default settings?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (13 votes · 130,755 views) ›
free up not used space on a qcow2-image-file on kvm/qemu
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (41 votes · 74,285 views) ›
Isn't Ctrl-Alt-Delete on Linux *really* dangerous?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (55 votes · 20,504 views) ›
Accessing Supermicro IPMI via SSH
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (21 votes · 85,439 views) ›
Replace VMware vSphere infrastructure with open source alternatives?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (42 votes · 35,550 views) ›
Can't enter iLO3 at bootup (HP ProLiant DL360 G7)
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (13 votes · 68,574 views) ›
LOM vs. NIC for iDRAC with Dell PowerEdge R720xd
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (8 votes · 75,237 views) ›
How does IPMI sideband share the ethernet port with the host?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (29 votes · 31,624 views) ›
iDRAC Enterprise vs iDRAC Express on Dell Server
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
Interface selection: NVMe (PCIe Gen4/5) for random workloads above 500 IOPS. SAS SSDs for mid-tier. SATA HDDs for capacity / backup tiers. Match drive interface to RAID controller; mismatches force fallback to lowest common denominator.
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
HBA firmware mode: IT-mode (pass-through) is required for software RAID (ZFS, vSAN, Ceph). RAID-mode for hardware RAID. LSI/Broadcom 9300/9400/9500 series HBAs flash between modes cleanly.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (11 votes · 66,608 views) ›
iLO 3 Firmware Update (HP Proliant DL380 G7)
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
BIOS / firmware update: flash before installing newer-generation CPUs. Many motherboards refuse to POST with unsupported CPUs long enough to flash. Modern BMCs (iDRAC, iLO) include online flash without OS interaction.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (13 votes · 62,065 views) ›
What's the difference between IPMI cycle and reset?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (18 votes · 51,154 views) ›
Configuration of ILO port on HP servers
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (9 votes · 65,964 views) ›
How can I manage hundreds of IPMI BMCs?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (31 votes · 9,625 views) ›
Is it possible to connect a single NIC to two different VLANs?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
VLAN basics: access port = untagged single VLAN, trunk port = multiple tagged VLANs. The 802.1Q header adds 4 bytes to the Ethernet frame. Modern data center fabrics replace flat VLANs with VXLAN overlays (BGP-EVPN) for scale beyond 4094 segments.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (9 votes · 44,656 views) ›
Securing a SuperMicro IPMI BMC
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (17 votes · 28,595 views) ›
How to utilize IPMI on Windows?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (9 votes · 43,536 views) ›
Any trick to connect to the DRAC console from a mac?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (7 votes · 46,758 views) ›
iDRAC login loop
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (13 votes · 30,195 views) ›
Install existing SSL certificate on Dell iDRAC7
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (12 votes · 29,768 views) ›
HP ProLiant Shared ILO port disadvantages?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (8 votes · 31,849 views) ›
How to enable and use the serial terminal of a HP Microserver Gen9?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (8 votes · 27,970 views) ›
Nested RDP and VMWare and ILO console sessions: keystroke repetition and latency
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
iSCSI / FC LUN scanning: from Linux iscsiadm -m discovery + iscsiadm -m node --login; on Windows, refresh in iSCSI Initiator. Rescan SCSI bus with echo "- - -" > /sys/class/scsi_host/hostN/scan.
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (19 votes · 5,733 views) ›
What is the NAND used for in the HPE ProLiant DL360p Gen8?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (7 votes · 28,506 views) ›
Accessing temperature data on ESXi5.1?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
The answer depends on your specific platform, workload, and operational requirements. For environment-specific guidance, email sales@prodisknetwork.com with your server model and target configuration.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (7 votes · 24,441 views) ›
Is iLO safe enough to be hung on the WAN
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (15 votes · 6,304 views) ›
Dell iDRAC6 virtual console viewer from GNU/Linux command line
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (9 votes · 16,251 views) ›
Real benefits of serial console servers (with modern server hardware)?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
Original question on Server Fault (13 votes · 2,883 views) ›
ILO client for OSX
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
How can I get the Dell iDRAC IP address from Linux?
KVM questions split between physical KVM hardware and software hypervisor KVM (separate category).
BMC access: ipmitool -H <ip> -U admin -P <pw> chassis status for remote IPMI. For Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo IMM/XCC, Supermicro IPMI — all expose Redfish REST API as the modern alternative.
Pro Disk Network ships IP KVM switches, matrix KVMs, and extenders. KVM buying guide · KVM catalog
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