What software switcher (KVM) do you use for multi platform development?

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What software switcher (KVM) do you use for multi platform development?

I am mostly interested in developing for windows (primary) and a mac.

I have a normal PC and a mac mini, and I want to be able to use a single keyboard, mouse and a monitor with both.

Which kvm software do you recommend?

I was looking for hardware kvms but I am using a 30" lcd which is only supported by 1 belkin kvm and people report it as not working.

+3 A:

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

Synergy is a software based KVM. It might take you some time to get it set up, but once you do, you'll love it.

willwillis 2009-08-10 23:21:07

I've used this to great effect between a Linux box and a Mac. Well worth the time to set up.

dbrown0708 2009-08-10 23:28:42

This will not share the monitor.

Nate 2009-08-10 23:29:37

I definitely need monitor sharing.

Joan Venge 2009-08-10 23:42:09

If the monitor has a secondary input, you could rig Synergy to work--you'd have to manually switch between monitor inputs though, which would get annoying very fast.

rob 2009-08-11 00:11:44

Has anyone had any success using this with Windows / Mac ? I have heard that its pretty buggy.

Nippysaurus 2009-08-11 02:03:10

No, I've only used it with Linux and Windows, or Windows and Windows. I think given that dbrown0708 said it works with Linux and Mac, you could make the logical conclusion that it should work fine with Windows and Mac. My guess would be that the person who said it was buggy either used an old (or beta) version, or they just didn't set it up right. The transition of keyboard/mouse control from one machine to the next is completely seamless, even over wireless-G.

rob 2009-08-11 07:02:20

Given how wonderful Synergy is, I'd reccomend getting a second monitor. Tell your boss each pc needs a monitor, like every other pc in the building.

Karl 2009-08-11 18:01:27

The most recent version of Synergy can be found here:http://code.google.com/p/synergy-plus/

Michaël Larouche 2009-08-11 18:05:20

+1 A:

I use VMWare in spaces, but if I had two boxes like you had I'd use a remote desktop connection.

dlamblin 2009-08-10 23:22:23

Thanks. What do you mean by "VMWare in spaces"?

Joan Venge 2009-08-10 23:42:53

"Spaces"..Multiple desktops in Mac OS X

prestomation 2009-08-11 01:02:54

+1 A:

If what you want is to have one monitor for two machines, then you probably need to either use a hardware DVI switch, or use a VNC/Remote Deskop client to pop in to the other desktop when you need to get there.

Personally, I have a 3 monitor, two machine setup. My main box has 2 monitors, the mouse, and the keyboard. The other box has the third monitor. As mentioned above, I use Synergy to share the keyboard and mouse between machines. In general it works very well.

Peter Loron 2009-08-10 23:54:30

+3 A:

In your case, I think the best software solution is to physically connect the Mac to the monitor, and using Remote Desktop to connect to the PC. You'll have very little display lag and almost zero input lag, compared to VNC.

As an added benefit, you can resize your Remote Desktop window to sit side-by-side with a window on your Mac, so you won't lose context when switching between Mac & Windows.

The only downside is that you'll have to crawl under the desk and swap the DVI cable if the Windows machine fails to boot when something goes wrong. That said, at my office we have a test machine that we've been using exclusively via Remote Desktop/VNC for about 3 or 4 years.

Every machine I use is running in a VM. I connect to the Windows machines via Remote Desktop, and I connect to the Linux machines via the VMware Remote Console.

rob 2009-08-11 00:00:38

THanks rob. Let me give a few more info. I don't think my monitor samsung 305t has vga/dvi switch like the others I saw. It just has brightness and on/off controls.

Joan Venge 2009-08-11 01:15:42

Other than that the only problem is, I want my primary machine to be windows, and this is important because I spend pretty much all the time on win environment. If I would have the ability to remote login there or switch there when I want, that would be very good.

Joan Venge 2009-08-11 01:16:50

Another thing that worries me is, mac mini requires another cable to just support a 30" lcd so I am not sure if software kvms work if everything is connected to my pc.

Joan Venge 2009-08-11 01:17:46

But I might give belkin dvi-d switch a try because that's hardware switch and if it works that would be brilliant.

Joan Venge 2009-08-11 01:18:18

Hey Joan, my primary development machine is a VMware VM on my local workstation that I Remote Desktop into--I actually do zero development on the physical, raw machine. As far as I know, Remote Desktop can run at any resolution your native machine (in this case, Mac) supports. If you've already got both machines, you can try it out pretty easily for an hour, and order the Belkin KVM switch if you don't think Remote Desktop is going to work out. It's an easy way to potentially save $50, and it only takes a couple minutes to try it out! :)

rob 2009-08-11 07:05:31

Also, I'm not sure if anyone has had any problems with other brands of KVMs, but the 2-node KVMs from IOgear that we bought at my office (5 or 6 different KVMs, 2 different models) all started acting quirky--they often needed to be unplugged and plugged back in, keys would get imaginarily stuck down for one machine on the KVM even though they worked fine on the other, the mouse would stop working, etc. On the other hand, our 8-node KVM has never acted up. If you think a software solution might be workable, I'd try it out first before spending any money on hardware.

rob 2009-08-11 07:10:29

Thanks rob. The only problem is to use the mac as the primary machine. I pretty much do everything on my pc, so this will make me to use mac as the primary. Do you know if there is equivalent app for a pc?

Joan Venge 2009-08-11 16:10:52

I don't think the consumer-level Macs have a built-in remote desktop-style service that allows you to connect to them. You could use the PC as your physical primary and VNC to the Mac, but you'll notice the poor performance. I know it seems a little backwards to use the Mac as your "primary" machine, but if you're running RD full-screen, the experience is almost exactly like using the PC natively. At that point, the definition of "primary machine" blurs, and if you hook a non-Apple keyboard and mouse up to the mac, you might not even realize you're remoting into the PC.

rob 2009-08-11 19:09:52

A couple caveats: if you use Skype on the Windows machine, tell your RD client to leave the audio at the remote machine instead of forwarding it through RD. (You could just use the Mac for Skype, but that wouldn't be as convenient.) Also, depending on the speed of your Mac and PC, full-screen video and Flash games won't be quite as smooth, although I've watched a few YouTube videos and played Desktop Tower Defense before in my VM over RD and they were fine. (It was off-hours, of course!)

rob 2009-08-11 19:17:16

ansaurus

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What software switcher (KVM) do you use for multi platform development?

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