KVM switches for the desktop
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Wether we want it or not, the 2020 pandemic changed the way the
industry works. For me, it meant working remotely 90% of the time. I
could bring my company's docking station, screen and laptop home, to
work from here. This sounded cool until I realized how small my « desk
» really is [0] ...

On this desk are connected my personnal computer (tower build), work
laptop (docked) and a PS4. I can fit them all on this desk ! Hooray !
What's tedious though, is switching between them. Let's cconsider 2 use
cases:

- Switching from my tower to PS4
- Switching from my tower to the laptop


So here I am, chatting on IRC or browsing the gopher space on my
computer, when a friend calls me up to play video games. It takes quite
a few steps:

1 - Turn on the PS4 using the  controller
2 - Plug in my headphones to the controller
3 - Switch monitor input to HDMI
4 - Replug the mouse from my tower to the PS4
5 - Plug a new keyboard to the PS4

And I'm set ! A few explanations here. I must plug headphones to the
controller because the PS4 only has 2 USB ports, which I use for
keyboard and mouse. And as my monitor doesn't have speakers, I must use
the controller for sound output.
I use another keyboard rather than the currently plugged in to avoid
having to unplug 2 devices from my tower. It's more "convenient". When
I'm done, I just put it away. When switching back to my tower, I just
do the same tasks in reverse.


Now, here is my « working commute » (switching from tower to work
laptop) :

1 - Turn on/wake up laptop from the dock
2 - Switch monitor input to Display port
3 - Turn on the wireless mouse
4 - Swap cable connected to my keyboard

This is a bit simpler. I use a wireless mouse plugged to the dock so I
don't have to swap my main mouse which is plugged behind my desk, and
thus hard to reach. Same goes for the keyboard, which is why I have two
cables that I can plug to the keyboard to « switch » computers. So
switching between my tower and work laptop doesn't require going under
the desk, Yay !



You certainly understand how tedious this is, and when I heard that we
might eventually keep working remotely for a few more months, I decided
it was the time to optimize that workflow. That's when I bought a KVM
switch, which stands for « Keyboard, Video, Mouse switch » [1].

It's a device that lets you connect your KVM devices to different
computers, and switch them using a simple button press. I bought one
with 4 inputs, with HDMI support. Its main advantage is its
compactness, and that plugs are packed on only 2 sides, helping with
cable management.

Since I have this device, switching between my 3 computers is as simple
as pressing a button ! I use the same mouse/keyboard everytime, which
is much more comfortable as well.

I though that KVM switches were a datacenter thing. Nope, and I wonder
how I did without it all these years !
--
~wgs

[0]: gopher://z3bra.org/I/u/tiny_desk.jpg
[1]: gopher://z3bra.org/I/u/kvm_switch.jpg

20201216.0450