Never Pay For IPMI Again - BliKVM Review

Ever wanted to easily access and control your server remotely, but tired of outdated IPMI? While there are lots of free and open source options, sometimes you need a little extra juice, which is where the BliKVM comes in! Upgrade your server rack with this Raspberry Pi Compute Module powered gadget.

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[JeffGeerling]

I'm getting strong Dr. Claw vibes here... you just need to position the camera behind you 😂

[vomytdaug]

I like how the cat got bored and left . It’s like when I talk about tech and I look around and find everyone either gone or staring at their phones .

[gorrestfump]

props for wearing different shirts in the video vs in the sponsor segment. Also, that cat is adorable

[NiceAesth]

Haha, I was just looking into building a low power server but the lack of IPMI was a complete dealbreaker for me. Amazing timing, really useful video!

[TJMartinek]

I got this a few months ago and absolutely love it for my homelab. I had a minor hiccup because I used my own CM4, but Jeff helped me get through it with some quick advice.

[Thats_Mr_Random_Person_to_you]

Great to see this becoming more affordable. The place I work for uses PCoIP cards like this from Teradici/HP for secure workstation access (more complex solution than this for secure access management).

But yh, great to see much lower cost solutions that beat the iDrac/IPMI license/extortion etc..

Would be cool to see if they could use the PCIe to do the usb emulation instead of an external USB pass through (save the cabling).

With lots of servers only having a VGA out it might be helpful if they had a 1st party solution to deal with that.

Its definitely great to see these solutions growing!!

[paulbrooks]

You know what’s funny, I was trying to find something exactly like this for my two computers before I went to my parents house for Christmas and couldn’t. Thanks man!

[brycedavey]

I'm sorry but that cat!!! One very happy and relaxed kitty for sure 😊

[edwardfletcher]

Your gorgeous cat breaks your continuity really badly ! LOL 😆👍

[TankErdin]

It's worth noting as well that PiKVM, the actual project, has their second Kickstarter live right now. While it may be some time before the device arrives, it is always good to support the original creators. Their first Kickstarter went very well, and I have no doubt that their second run will be as successful.

[breademoji]

Happy New Year Jeff! I've been following Pi KVM projects with great interest. I was a Tiny Pilot early adopter, then when they started charging for basic features I switched to the earlier version of Bli KVM. The Tiny Pilot still comes in handy for I/O on my testbench, but for server management nothing beats the Bli, I love the ATX power management! I have mine hooked up to a hotkeyed KVM switch to handle multiple servers at once, which works way better than paying a premium for IPMI on each if you get the right brand of switch. I do miss out on ATX power control over more than one, but a networked power strip+AC Back in BIOS is a decent fallback.

[shadowflash]

This is really cool. I'm constantly pay walled behind HP old servers.

[audreydavis]

Great review! BliKVM is one of the best projects I've ever seen. The developer is not only incredibly talented, but a super nice guy. He really goes out of his way to help you out, and even add custom features! There is so much you can do with this software, it truly is mind-blowing!

[petermuller]

Finally a sane hardware implementation of a great software

[aboron_]

I got a 16 port Avocent MPU2032 from ebay for about $130 - and that can cover ipkvm for everything in my rack. Just add about $20 each for the dongles as you add servers. The latest freely available software for the MPU series does HTML5 just fine - so no need to go all "ancient ie/java secret". A much cheaper solution - although I have to go to a network controllable PDU for a hard server reset.

[GYTCommnts]

Nice Klingon t-shirt! 💪 And great vid, of course! Thanks!

[josephpalmer]

Your cat alone is going to make this a very great video. Thank you!

[MartinBogomolni]

We invented this at VA Linux Systems back in 1999 calling it a "nanoprobe" module on PCI, and it supported TCP/IP over PCI. Funny!

[joshuaboniface]

I'm still holding out hope for one of these with a low-end GPU on them that does connect over the PCIe bus, so that an inbound HDMI isn't needed. That would be a huge win for servers that don't have an integrated GPU.

[OneBiOzZ]

If it is not using the PCIE connector i dont think it should include the connector by default but instead use a plastic slot if you particularly care about possibly bending it. This way you can opt to install it in a blank slot without fouling on any chips or headers
I would also like some GPIO or at least i2c so its easy to install temperature or humidity monitors.
A proper datasheet on their website would be nice as well.