this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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80
My PiKVM setup with a Pi Zero 2W (media.kbin.social)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/selfhosted
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Im still fiddling with my 3d printer to get it working after sitting on a shelf for most of a year because of a move so I can have a nice case for this but I was able to get this setup with these parts for ~$30 in parts not including the Pi and SD card. Setup was a breeze and there is some mouse lag but if you turn on the mouse dot option in TigerVNC then its not noticeable at all.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256802405917750.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256804395443471.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256802674996160.html

Also picked up some of these to keep it together until I get a case printed.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2251832676215215.html

Future case.
https://www.printables.com/model/131408-raspberry-pi-zero-2-w-case-pikvm

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Hmm, what do you actually use it for?

I always thought it is a neat idea, but the limited use-case wouldn't be worth the cost.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use it mostly for remote access to my Windows environment that I can't run as a VM. I would like to get a cell radio addon for true out of band remote access with one of the IOT type cell plans but I need to do more research on that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It's good for critical systems that you might need to reboot and do things like see the BIOS (which you can't see if you're using a normal VNC-type remote access solution). It's probably not necessary for most setups, but it can be very useful in certain situations. I made one myself, then literally never used it, and I'm now using that Pi in a different project.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I made one myself, then literally never used it

This is exactly my fear 😆

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I thought about setting one up for my main server because every time the power went out I'd have to reconfigure the bios for boot order, virtualization, and a few other settings.

I've since added a UPS to the mix but ultimately the fix was replacing the cmos battery lol. Had I put one of these together it would be entirely unused these days.

It's a neat concept and if you need remote bios access it's great, but people usually overestimate how useful that really is.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Right, a KVM's usefulness is narrow and you're ideally using it as a sort of backup to a backup of critical systems. That means you usually only hear about them in server environments, and that means that sysadmins pay a LOT of money for enterprise-grade KVMs.

But it's very cool that we can build a dirt cheap, half-decent KVM out of a Pi nowadays. I might have just left mine running if I there wasn't a Pi shortage; I wanted that Pi for other stuff.

[–] changeableface 3 points 1 year ago

Mostly use mine to view my hardware CCTV box. Means I can keep it hidden away but still easily get access to the streams for live viewing or playback.

Works well enough and was easier, less time consuming than the rabbit hole of selfhosted CCTV software.

Cost less than £50 to get setup and the software is available in a free version.