Recently forum members spotted a great deal on used Lantronix SecureLinx Spider USB units. For those that are unfamiliar with the devices, they essentially act as a IP-over-KVM device, especially for servers and workstations that do not have built-in iKVM capabilities. If one is familiar with server remote management with KVM-over-IP these devices are very similar however they do not (with the base device) allow for remote power cycling. The major advantage to using a device such as this is that it provides an easy way to get remote keyboard, video and mouse capability and have remote ISO/ disk mounting capabilities on machines that normally do not have them.
For reference, Lantronix SecureLinx Spider USB units usually retail for around $275 (see Amazon as an example).
A seller on ebay has several hundred for sale and has them priced at around $115 each. Here is a direct link to the listing which is over $100 less than the next lowest cost listing.
In the lab we currently have a Supermicro X10SBA which is based on the Celeron J1900 processor. This motherboard is not a Supermicro “-F” motherboard and does not have an onboard Aspeed BMC providing remote management. Using a Lantronix SecureLinx Spider we can simply plug in an Ethernet cable, USB cables and a VGA cable and that functionality is added. Further, the Lantronix SecureLinx Spider does not require its own external power supply so in situations such as datacenters where power distribution units (PDUs) are out of reach, this is a big benefit to management.
Recently we started adding resources to the forums and one of them involves how to setup a network to host different Lantronix SecureLinx Spider USB easy to remember addresses across subnets. More to come on these units including a review to follow soon, but this is a great deal.
