HP 409054-003 - Manual (Page 23)

Cascading console switches 23
Cascading console switches
Cascading console switches overview
Review the following information before you cascade console switches with this product. This product
supports three levels of cascading.
NOTE: The console switch does not support Compaq KVM PCI Cards or HP legacy console
switches.
You can cascade multiple console switches to enable one or two users to connect up to 4096 servers.
For Virtual Media to be supported in a cascaded console switch system, you must use the following
console switches:
• HP 2 x 1 x 16 IP Console Switch with Virtual Media [PN: AF601A]
• HP 4 x 1 x 16 IP Console Switch with Virtual Media [PN: AF602A]
• HP 2 x 16 Server Console Switch with Virtual Media [PN: AF600A]
When cascading console switches with Virtual Media, be sure the following requirements are met:
• HP Server Console Switches with Virtual Media are cascaded below HP IP Console Switches with
Virtual Media.
• Interface adapters are not used to cascade console switches. If interface adapters are used to
cascade console switches, you will not have a seamlessly integrated OSD, and you lose Virtual
Media support.
• Cascaded console switches have the most current firmware. To upgrade console switch firmware,
see "Upgrading the firmware (on page
78 )."
Cascading console switches matrix
As shown in the following table, for Virtual Media to work properly in a two-level cascade configuration,
you must have an HP Server Console Switch with Virtual Media or an HP IP Console Switch with Virtual
Media as the main console switch and an HP Server Console Switch with Virtual Media as the secondary
console switch. For Virtual Media to work properly in a three-level cascade configuration, you must have
an HP Server Console Switch with Virtual Media or an HP IP Console Switch with Virtual Media as the
main console switch and an HP Server Console Switch with Virtual Media as the secondary and tertiary
console switches. For both configurations to work properly, you must have an interface adapter with
Virtual Media connecting each server to the console switch. For more information, see "Using Virtual
Media (on page 58 )."
HP Server Console Switches, expansion modules, and Compaq Server Console Switches are not Virtual
Media capable. When cascading an HP Server Console Switch, expansion module, and Compaq Server
Console Switch, you cannot tier any console switches below them. See the following table.