Blicube BliKVM V4: Is This the Best Linux IP KVM Yet?
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- lawrence.video/
AliExpress
www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
GitHub
github.com/ThomasVon2021/blikvm
Documentation
wiki.blicube.com/blikvm/en/
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Chapters
00:00 Blicube BliKVM V4 Price
01:01 What's included when ordering
02:15 A look inside
02:28 The Web Interface Features
04:30 The GitHub Project and Documentation - Věda a technologie
THANK YOU! Actually stating the price up front makes the review for me. So many times creators bury the price comparisons or don't even give the price in their reviews. I got your channel from a random suggestion from YT, and am now subscribed. Again, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Not giving a price is understandable. It will vary over time, plus will also differ between retailers, countries, local taxes, etc.
@@davepusey I always add to myself while watching "as of the creation of this video" to ALL reviews, as prices can change, FEATURES can change, literally EVERYTHING can change. If I like a review, the first thing I check is when was it created? Then I do a search for whatever it was, software, hardware, whatever, starting with the reviewer's source to get current prices, specs and sources. If I am still interested, I'll then look for 'more current' reviews.
Like I said, I appreciate reviewers who give their prices up front so I can decide if I want to invest the time to see their opinion.
Prices don't age well. Soon that price will be irrelevant. Sticking with the solid facts is often the chosen route.
@@Domanost Again, I wouldn't expect the prices to always be 'the same', but to have a ballpark price for the item helps. I would doubt a 100% price change (doubling) or dropping by half would occur. I wouldn't even watch the video if it was outside my price range. Who does it hurt? Only the manufacturer in the end. It benefits the creator by indicating they have the viewer in consideration. Like I said, this creator is doing something beneficial in my opinion.
$160 USD vs 400 for the TinyPilot is the only argument I need to hear.
I'd love to know how it compares to the pikvm.. the one that supposedly tinypilot took his code from...
@@majorpayne4795 I actually have the blue version from this company. Cant remember what version it is but it works great. I have pikvm running on it. The only grip is it only support 1080p @ 30hz so I have to use a scaler for some of my devices. Therefore I was debating getting one of these so I dont have to deal with that anymore. There is a way to run arm version pikvm on this but all features are not there yet.
@@majorpayne4795 Spec-wise, the video is better on the BliKVM; the PiKVM v3 is limited to 25 FPS 1080P; the v4 is considerably pricier, uses a CM4 module, which is included in the pricey price ( $275 or $385 depending upon which V4 ). But the PiKVM v3 at least is fully baked. To me, the BliKVM was released before the software was completed in my opinion; kind of beta-ish. I do not have a BliKVM; I'll stick with what I have for the interim. But at $160, I'd likely bought a BliKVM to experiment with; it's a newer design on newer, dedicated hardware that was designed for the task. Even with the little bugs, it's probably more than suitable.
The PiKVM v4 supports 60 fps 1080P in case you were wondering.
Personally, I still want to get one of the Aurga viewers; but that comes from Hong Kong directly apparently.
so cost is your only concern?
@@psycl0ptic No but when the difference is this big there's little to be said otherwise.
I don't even watched till the end of the video, but the fact that you state the price and details upfront, letting people decide if they want to continue to watch the video or not, deserves my immediate like, and probably a subscribe if you have more interesting content! Thank you. I hope more content creators realize this.
This video intro is the gold standard of what review videos should have every time. Thank you
Thank you for mentioning the ATX cables as a pass thru and that you can still use the case controls. I could not tell from their website, or I just missed it.
Ordered one of these a week ago to replace my BliKVM v1 CM4 version! Should be here in a week or so. The built-in HDMI mirroring pass-through is what sold me on the upgrade, and the ATX board is a nice to have also.
How about a more in-depth comparison of Pi-KVM, TinyPilot, BLiKVM and others? There is a new device every few years and they all get updates. It would be good for an update on the pros and cons for 2024.
Definitely will buying some v4. Awesome product
Great video and edit. Well done. Thanks!
I've been looking for a replacement for the Idrac in my R710 so I don't need Java. This looks like a good candidate if they restock. Great video.
would love to see some future work with a KVM switch. To cycle through different systems. (maybe in addition a custom switch for the ATX managment?)
Adding to this maybe a multimount rack kit to mount 1-8 side by side into a rack to manage different systems similar to what mikrotik is doin with their 10 inch mountable switches
Agreed
I believe in Jeff's video he does mention it does have support for a KVM switch...
There's been many occasions where I've had to leave a system unattended where I would've liked remote access but the system in question had issues that required BIOS access, physical rebooting, errors before windows loads, etc. this would've been so handy.
Good video Tom !!
4K30 input is a nice feature over the other options on the market
Great review thank you.
If blikvm came up with a 4/6 port hdmi/ATX switcher to pair with this then it would be a great combo
It does. Look for BliKVM-Switch-V1.0
Tom, good video. I ordered one of these little boxes about a week ago. It arrives around January 9. I have a couple of questions, if you'd indulge me. What are the full-height and short brackets for? I am looking to use the device with a bunch of 1 liter tiny/mini/micro machines, which have vPro built in, but I find are impossible to fully manage with just that.
Regarding using the device with multiple machines, I saw that you could use the BliKVM to front a KVM switch. I saw one CZcams video where a pushbutton KVM switch was used. Can I use an IP KVM? Would you recommend one? I have seven total of these small 1 liter machines (four are a vSAN cluster, and three are a second/remote vSphere site to a pair of primary site PowerEdge servers).
Thanks for your time and guidance over the years. Have a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
The back plates are for installing it into a case and I am not certain what other KVM it could be tied to.
Great video.
Any chance of getting a review of the new Geekworm 4PC PiKVM? I've been thinking about it but there are absolutely no reviews (I can trust) around! Also I think that BliKVM supports also 4G connectivity, not just wifi with that antenna, or am I wrong?Did you manage to test that?
I use Geekworm KVM-A3 and it works very good. Connected to ezCoo EZ-SW41HA-KVMU3P switch. It runs on PiKVM V3 platform.
$150 is fine. A decent ip kvm from Raritan, the connectors for the server cost $200 and thats after you spend $2k-$5k on the controller.
I wonder if this will resolve a problem I have so here is my scenario.
I have a network cabinet in a room with a pfsense box, 2 mini Dell PC's & a NVR. I also have on top of the cabinet a Monitor, keyboard & mouse to connect to these devices when needed. I have a laptop which I use to work from my office on the other side of the building so I use tailscale for pfsense & teamviewer for the Dells for day to day stuff but on occasion I need the console or bios.
So my question is this. Would I be able to use the BliKVM in the cabinet for these devices connecting from my office instead of having to walk over & manually connect the monitor keyboard & mouse to each one if & when needed?
This thing looks awesome!
Admins are very happy now
can POE and USB-C and or barrel jack DC power be used at the same time for power fail over power, in case one power source fails?
Is this able to fully manage a mini-PC where you won't be able to use the little ATX card that connects to all the front-panel pins?
Probably cheaper than an advance ipmi/iLO license, but it really needs a VGA option to work in the server room space. Great for homelab made with computers that have hdmi though.
Simple vga to hdmi adapter just be aware of which direction it is converting. I put in "vga to hdmi converter" in Amazon and about half of its suggestions were the other way. A lot were under $20 US, too.
@@kevinshumaker3753 I have a few and they do work, but just one more thing to deal with when setting your system up.
I just got mine and is great. Although at least on windows the mouse cursor in not in synch with the remote computer. Is displaced
How well does the hdmi out work? Is it a physical actual loop out or going through some software processing chip and then outputted
It passed through to my monitor just fine, I did not dig deeper into it.
I dont understand why it comes with rack ears, is somebody out there selling a 3inch server rack?
Any solutions for PS2 Mouse/Keyboard control , would like to place this unit on my "regular KVM Console port which uses PS2" , the BlackBox USB to PS2 adapters are over $100 alone....
How about a video on what a IPKVM can do and have an explainer video using a couple computers
No auto update feature out of the box? I mean I guess you could set up a cron job to check and install but still. My home lab is getting large enough that having auto updates is pretty critical for me at this point.
I think there is. I ran their software one time and remember seeing an update button.
Security ? I definitly don't want to give anyone unlimited acces to my systems !
I have been using in it for the last 2 months. While it is a nice concept, it's not that well executed. Updates need to be done via command line, uploading an image for the mass storage drive to allow the remote computer to boot from it takes forever and often fails. They have good support via email. There is still some items on the user interface that are written in Chinese. On the plus side, the web interface is very responsive and the remote image drawing latency is very low. Considering the price, I guess it is not bad.
Their new user interface will resolve those issues.
Hey Tom, there’s a button next to the ISO drop down saying “All ISO” does that show you all the ISOs on boot?
That did not work last I tested it.
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS ah fair enough! I might need to get one to play with!
I need a KVM and by KVM I mean a box that has one connection for Keyboard/Video/Mouse which then, somehow, connects to multiple computers that I can then select from where I am sitting. I assume this is why CZcams recommended your video to me. I watched your video and have no idea what this thing does, what the PCI card does, or how it connects to other computers. It workes over IP but does that mean a driver has to be installed, making it an expensive alternative to free remote software? I don't know. If it needs a driver then does it support Mac or *BSD's? I don't know. It apparently supports passing USB through so could this work with game consoles? I don't know. Is the remote session being displayed directly or in a browser? I don't know. What is it running that would necessitate you SSH'ing into it? I don't know. You mention IPMI so does this have access outside of the OS? I don't know. You showed some kind of input box which you touted as helping so you didn't have to type something on the keyboard and then demonstrated how it works by typing something on the keyboard. I went to their website to see if it had anything and found their website to be extremely hostile to accessibility tools and, after I was finally able to read their sales page, it shed no light on what it is doing.
What you want is called a KVM switch. This is not a KVM switch. This box allows you to remotely assume control of the physical buttons and LEDs on the computer case: The power button, the reset button, etc, and you can remotely see the POST, so you can work on it remotely with no OS installed.
Now this is cool. I have an original pikvm
Looks like a good device. But how is it supposed to be rack mounted? It's very narrow and doesn't fit in a normal 19' rack?
Uhh on the left or right side
How is the interface on an iphone? Can you zoom in, out, pan, see a mouse pointer etc?... I'm used to using MS-RDP on an iphone and I reall want to try this but I really need to be friendly on a mobile device.
I don't think it's mobile friendly and it's not an RDP replacement
Considering one of these for my i9 build for my homelab.
I am still using it and it works well.
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS I'll have to bite the bullet and grab one. Its hard not having hard power controls remotely if needed.
The ATX controls are interesting, but if you have an OEM system that uses their own standards, then I wonder how much functionality might be lost? I suppose it's only if you have a really janky system, but worth thinking about.
Most of the OEM IPMI solutions have full hardware monitoring, diagnostics and fan control from outside of the bios which this can't really hope to do. The problem is, if you're snagging cheap referb servers, odds are that OEM impi solution is either going to be really expensive, or no longer supported. In that case, this is a good stopgap to get at least -some- IPMI features.
Can I use as only IP kvm, not for power on my PC ?
I like these things when you only need to attach usb to your remote machine and can do reset or poweroff without these pins and cables on the motherboard
Calling it a KVM is a bit of an under-sell honestly, it's an IPMI replacement/addon, which is really great.
Really my only concern is, if you were deploying this, you're not going to waste 1u of rack space to mount it. They should really make a rack version that has a full compliment of ports for a bunch of servers and sell it cheaper than existing options. Being able to jack into existing ATX button ports is quite useful, especially for older servers that might have IPMI, but aren't supported anymore.
I'm curious, how does it control the keyboard & mouse? I don't see any type B ports on the back of that thing, only a type A port.
There is type C connector labelled as USB-PC
Noice!!
Any power consumption results?
so its idrac/ilo for a single device. nothing wrong with that but if i'm paying that much i'll just license what i already got on my server... if i wasn't using a box that had its own solution maybe.
Can ebay a multi device ipKVM for less but probably have to get the cables separate and probably have to fiddle around to get the software to work since what you would buy there at this price point is probably pretty old.
They also sell a 4 port switch add on which can be controlled through the web interface. It works pretty well although I am having trouble getting anything running redhat to display on it.
It's tempting, but $150+ just for IP KVM.... 🤔 I'll keep the tab open for a couple months, glancing at it and pondering from time to time, then probably forget about it.
Wait aren't the others Tinypilot, PiKVM like double this price ...
Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero ?
Or multiseat if you are close
Bkmrk
As someone who has been looking for one for a while this is by far the most affordable option. Pikvms are double
nice but what about the software? Can you reinstall it? Where to download it? Does it use an SD-Card? or separate storage (i.e., SSD)?
SD card and software is on their GitHub
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks!!! is this based on the Pi-KVM open source solution? Can we attach an external HDD via USB to boot the image instead of the SD-Card?
You sold them out. Way to go.
"Turns on fast in less than a minute"
Makes me question any other praise given to this.
Thanks for the great review! Can you do a comparison video between BliKVM, PiKVM, and Tiny Pilot?
If not, which do you prefer?
Does Bli KVM work with Tailscale?
Yrs it does
Also Zero Tier
Also, what software does this need on the target computer being controlled? VNC? RDP?
This is all done via the web interface.
BliKVM emulates mouse and keyboard, it captures the machines video output. relaying it to a web interface were you control it from. you can remotly hard reset or start a machine from off state, boot in to BIOS.
@@Tofflus I didn't see anywhere on the back to connect up to the target system with the usual KVM snake cable, just ports for the local console. Therefore I presume you need to install some kind of software agent onto the machine to capture the desktop and act as a virtual keyboard and mouse?
@@davepusey nope, noting needs to be installed on the machine you want to remote control. you connect HDMI and a USB cable between BliKVM and the machine. additionally the ATX hardware inside the case of the machine. so you can start the machine if its powered off or hard reset if the machine is locked up.
Does the BliKVM v4 support ISOs over 2GB? I've had that issue with the pikvm.
Not something I tested
It uses Ventoy which I understand supports > 2GB
neat and not super expensive, odd little rack ears though
😍😍😍😍
"Besides those screws being a little bit missing"
😂
Unlikely to happen again.
It would appear the front fell off.
cool
Rack mount ears... but it's not the full 19 inch rack width?
Yeah, makes it look cute though 👂👂
Maybe it has a nice personality! 🥺
so do you just mount it to the post on one side?
its so small and light that you only need to mount to one post. could even mount to the rear of your rack @@matt42hughes
@@matt42hughes Do they provide mounting hardware to join multiple together? Say 4 or 5 of them in one horizontal rack U?
Does this allow firmware access like commercial server BMC?
It's just a KVM
Does the HDMI in/out add any sort of latency? (like this would be ok for basic tasks but if there was videos or gaming, would there be some perceptible delay / latency added?)
The video latency but the input latency would make it bad for video games.
Idea for using on a non IP KVM multi port switcher... Hmmmm....
Malicious/unknown traffic from the device? My newly purchased device tries to contact the IP 110.40.128.155 on port 10086 every time it is switched on. I have not yet investigated this in detail, but it is strange. It is an IP address in china.
The developers have contacted me. They have apologized, they had forgotten to remove a debugging tool. The problem will be fixed in the next update.
Any competition at this price tag?
DIY Pi-KVM.
Those rack ears are useless, right? Do they make 3" racks or something that I'm unaware of?
Just mount it to one side. It's small enough you only need one ear.
@@ParkerTyler and waste an entire 1u on a 3” box?
@@FACENC no different than if it was a full 19". you could put one on each side of the rack. Have 2 in a single U
is this working with a kvm switch?
I have not tested it with other KVM switches
Nanlite pavotube over your left shoulder glowing orange?
Nope, Phillips Hue rope light I bought on clearance
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Ahhh now I see the rest of it... They diffused well. Looks like Phillips has moved away from requiring a hub versus wifi/BT controller on board to connect they're devices?
@@Logan5Greye They are Zigbee and I have a Zigbee controller for my Home Assistant
any audio support?
Nope
Tinypilot has some competition
pikvm to
at ~500$ for the tinypilot with poe i'd say the tinypilot gets curb stomped.
@@AtomskTheGreat tinypilot can be installed on a raspberry pi. Not sure where 500 dollars comes from
Unless you count a tiny pilot device. Those are $399.00
@@spencer3175 forgot to mention that. That was my thought vs tinypilot, but i said tinypilot
is here a way to connect to this IP KVM via RDP (windows remote desktop)?
It has a web interface, so no rdp needed
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS yes i know and this is great for many scenario, but i was wondering if RDP is possible because it should be great for others
Can I use that as SRT or NDI receivers or sender ?😕
It only has HDMI
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS can I input camera with that hdmi.
HDMI only? That’s a deal killer in most environments. Why no DisplayPort?
Because HDMI is cheap and at least it's not VGA. You can also adapt HDMI to other standards if you need to.
Wouldn't the 'All ISO' option have selected all the ISO's........ it was right next to the indicidual list
That is what I thought, but not how it actually works.
Sold out on AliExpress at 5:30PM PST
When you snooze…. Lol
4:30 how about the "All ISO" button next to it
You would think that would do it... but no
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS that’s sad
What’s the antenna for?
WiFi
wish this guy had a vga input... dont like that i would have to have a dongle on a piece of important rack gear
I wish this with Tailscale = Real work from anywhere
It works with Tailscale and zero Tier
I have no idea what this is or does. I remember KVM switches from years ago but they were physical devices. Frankly all this computer hacker stuff drives me nuts. I will stick to my 486 and XP
Sold out :(
Looks like they already ran out of stock on AliExpress, damn.
latency ? latency is my main issue with kvm's.
Very very low when running local.
Sigh... no USB 2.0 forwarding?
have a look on the package 'usbip', i am quite sure it is supported out of the box.
Hey Tom, just so you know this device is now an abandonware. No bugfixes, feature updates, nothing since January.
It's open source so someone can fork it if they want to update or fix issues
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS problem is nobody does. Even their own team doesn’t fix it, let alone relying on OS community.
Holy crap when did you get a wig???? That hair is long 😂😂😂
I DID SAY:
There will be a FAIRLY priced ARM KVM at some point, didn't I?
True you said so
I love they not using RPI
aaaaa it so fucking cute is a little rack
HNY2024!!!!
Raspberry pi way better You can buy enclosure setup for raspberry pi 4
You can't even buy it!
I bought one last week.
useless if you have multiple servers as you can only connect to one
Chinese? pass
Agreed. It does look well built to be fair, but I can't get over my hesitation to grant the lowest level KVM system access to critical infrastructure (including the entry of e.g. full disk encryption passphrases) to a closed-source device originating from that country. It exceeds my personal comfort level.
@@dudeh9702 yep agreed, these devices are literally granted root to the machine once they have keyboard and mouse USB access so I'll have to pass.
All the code and the OS is open source.
@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Including the firmware?
Block it from the internet.
I can't believe that nobody is talking about security here.
How can we all trust so easily a Chinese firm with our most intimate servers??
All of your passwords and most secure connections are running through an unknown Chinese device that we have to trust that is not sending all that data back home.
Yeah right...
It's running an open source OS and using an open source project from GitHub so all the code can be looked at. It also does not require an internet connection to work.
So this is for a single computer? Not at all worth it. Just walk over to it and hit the power button. I mean let along if you have a couple or more machines, this will get expensive real quick.
I use mine with the 4 channel ezcoo hdmi kvm. This hooks up with usb to it and you can change channels from the software
Kind of hard to walk over to the machine when it's 300 miles away.
@@ParkerTyler true, but you could set up Wake-On-LAN, which costs nothing.
@@yourpcmd that doesn't give me access to the bios if the machine doesn't boot properly.
@@ParkerTyler I dont know what to tell you then. In my business, I have real servers I manage all on IPMI, and use a VPN to log in.
Great video.