There are many scenarios for remotely controlling computers, such as sending files from the office computer to the home computer, but there is no one next to the office computer. For example, computers used for productivity are generally heavy, and it is impossible to carry them with you at all times, and it is necessary to operate them remotely occasionally. For example, if your equipment is in an environment with harsh working conditions, and you don’t want to carry a display screen and keyboard for operation and maintenance, if you can do operation and maintenance work in a comfortable environment by connecting an Internet cable, that would be great! The above scenarios all require remote control of the computer. There are three ways to implement remote control: software remote control, software remote control + remote power on and off, and hardware remote control.
software remote control
The most familiar way to remotely control computers is software remote control. Remote control software can be installed on both the controlled computer and the remote control computer, such as QQ, Berry Sunflower, and TeamViewer, to achieve remote control. Remote control software is free in most cases and very easy to use. However, remote control software is software that runs on the computer operating system. The prerequisite for remote control is that the computer has been turned on, the operating system is normal (no blue screen, crash, restart, etc.), and the computer is connected to the Internet.
Software remote control + remote boot
In some usage environments, considering the power consumption of the computer or other reasons, it is impossible for the accused computer to remain shut down all the time. In this case, there is a need for remote power on and off. There are mainly three ways to realize the remote power on and off, namely, the boot socket, the remote boot card and the remote boot stick.
boot socket
Some computer motherboards support the function of power-on and start-up, and the power-on socket can realize remote power supply and power-off. The working process is as follows. In the initial state, the socket is powered off and the computer is turned off. The user remotely controls the power supply of the socket, the computer is turned on, and the remote software starts automatically after the computer is turned on, and the user can remotely access the controlled computer. After use, the user softly shuts down the controlled computer. After the computer is shut down, the power-on socket is remotely controlled to be powered off, and enters the initial state to be used. For the stable operation of the remote control, be sure to pay attention to the sequence of computer power-on and power-on.
Remote boot card
Shorting the on/off line of the computer motherboard can realize the on/off of the computer, and pressing the on/off button on the case is directly shorting the on/off line of the ATX power supply of the motherboard. The remote power-on card is to connect a remote-controllable short-circuit switch to the ATX power supply of the motherboard, so that the remote power-on and power-on can be realized elegantly, just like sitting next to the computer and pressing the power-on button. This method is very elegant, but the disadvantage is that the user needs to be able to connect the switch wire on the motherboard. The motherboard manual will indicate the position of the switch wire, and the user can connect accordingly.
remote boot stick
The remote boot stick is a small device that supports Wake-on-LAN. Some motherboards support Wake-on-LAN, that is, the network wake-up function. When the computer is shut down, the network card of the computer will not be completely shut down. When the network card receives the Wake-on-LAN power-on signal, it will start the computer. The remote boot stick is such a small device. Connect the boot stick to the same local area network of the computer through a network cable, and then the remote power on and off can be realized. The disadvantage of this method is that the motherboard Wake-on-LAN function needs to be enabled, and some motherboards do not even support the Wake-on-LAN function.
hardware remote control
The above three ways of remote switching on and off can realize remote control with software remote control. However, if the accused computer is not connected to the Internet, and the computer system suddenly updates or crashes, the two remote control methods mentioned above will become invalid. The most stable and full-featured option is to choose hardware remote control, which requires the highest budget to purchase the corresponding hardware.
The remote control hardware on the market is mainly developed for enterprise users and only supports VGA interface, while there are not many remote control hardware developed for individual users to choose from. The remote control hardware that the author has noticed so far mainly includes the Sunflower control series launched by Berry and the BliKVM series launched by Beili Electronics. Those who have used soft control software should have heard of Sunflower soft control software, which is very easy to use, and the control series is a member of the Sunflower product hardware family, and there are boot sockets and boot sticks. Beili Electronics is an open source hardware studio, and BliKVM is an open source remote control hardware. Sunflower is a big factory, and there is nothing to say about product services, but because software comes first and then hardware, I personally think that software services limit control. Users of BliKVM can communicate directly with developers. The project is open source, the product is updated quickly, and it is a good choice to improve the product according to customer feedback.
Next, I will explain why I bought a BliKVM v4 after using Sunflower Control. The reason for choosing Sunflower Control A2 is very simple, the software is so smooth, and the hardware is not bad. I directly skipped the boot socket and boot stick and chose Konko A2. After connecting according to the manual, configure the device, and log in to the account to realize remote access to the computer, but unfortunately, the control A2 does not have the ATX boot function, and the remote power on and off needs to cooperate with the motherboard's Wake-on-LAN function. In the process of using, because the money spent is the money for buying hardware, some services need to be paid separately to use. But things are afraid of comparison, and the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead.
I originally thought that remote control needs to install software, but later I learned that BliKVM remote control does not need to install software, and can be directly accessed through a browser. This feeling is like watching videos without watching advertisements. BliKVM has an ATX power-on interface. After connecting it according to the manual, you can turn on and off the controlled computer no matter where you are through the power button on the web page, which is the same as pressing the power button for you in the office. What is more comfortable is that the status of the switch light is displayed on the web page, and the status of the computer can be known only by the status of the light.
The biggest difference between Konko A2 and BliKVM is the remote connection method. Konko A2 must be connected to the public network, and the login account can be used, and it cannot be used in an intranet environment that is not connected to the public network. This is what I understand that software limits hardware. Sunflower has software first, and hardware is also used as an extension of software functions. This blocks some users whose work network cannot connect to the public network. Especially for customers with high data security requirements, Sunflower provides services for secure data transmission, but what users can access, the platform can also access.
BliKVM supports intranet access, and the remote control interface will be opened by entering the IP address of BliKVM in the browser. The display of BliKVM can directly display the IP address of the device, which is very convenient. For remote access, users need to use some open source VPN solutions. For the VPN built by yourself, only you know the key. The BliKVM project is open source and transparent to users, who fully own their own hardware and software. The one I use is BliKVM v4, and I can even analyze the hardware block diagram and software architecture provided by the manufacturer.
If you are a Raspberry Pi enthusiast, then the Raspberry Pi-based BliKVM v1 v2 v3 may be a good choice. You can even plug the v2 in the form factor of a PCIe card directly into your case, which is of course the ultimate in elegance.
BliKVM product family
