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FAX
256.430.4030
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0805-KHOUTV-CS
“Our number one goal is to stay on the air
and provide the community with important
news and breaking weather information,” he
said. “We can’t do that if our systems are
underwater. So, we’re trying to be better pre-
pared should the building flood, again.”
Before Allison, all weather computers were
stacked in the weather office on the first floor
of the building. Although on the same floor,
some hardware was in different rooms
connected by Avocent LongView
®
extenders,
providing access to an individual item from
one room to another. At multiple locations,
eight different PCs or servers were connected
to one KVM switch and each system had a
dedicated monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Users would have to roll among the differ-
ent computer systems throughout the day
and know which servers enabled access to
which box.
After the Allison flood incident, the KHOU-TV
IT staff placed an emphasis on removing
technical hardware off the first floor and that
required a solution that would enable remote
access to their equipment. Learning about
the Avocent AMX switch solution at the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
trade show, Lovetinsky was impressed with
how it could address his needs for remote
control in a broadcast environment. At the
same time, the AMX switch delivered addi-
tional benefits like centralized management.
Users could log on at any workstation and
gain access to servers or PCs without having
to travel throughout the building.
“One of the reasons we chose Avocent is
because we used their hardware solutions in
the past and were always pleased with their
performance and reliability,” said
Lovetinsky. “The AMX solution has made
relocating our weather systems to another
floor while giving us the connectivity we
need a reality.”
KHOU purchased the Avocent AMX5120 user
station, three AMX5010 switches and one
AMX5000 switch. In addition, the station
purchased the Avocent AMIQ server interface
modules for their PS/2, USB and serial-
based devices. The AMIQ module provides
connection from the server to the switch,
reduces cable bulk and saves rack space.
“We began with implementing access to all
of our weather computer systems such as
our on-air weather radars and satellite imag-
ing,” said Lovetinsky. “Now we have expand-
ed the solution to include our master control
on-air operations, graphic systems and all of
the IT server systems.”
Lovetinsky advises others who consider pur-
chasing an Avocent AMX switching system
to buy the biggest one available as there will
always be more devices they will want to
connect to their system. And, in order to
connect more and more devices, you need
additional ports. At KHOU, they have over
120 devices connected to the switches and
plan to add more.
Distance range an added benefit
Although the biggest benefits of the system
are remote access and centralized control,
Lovetinsky also appreciates the cleaner
cabling benefit and distance range. The AMX
system connects to multi-platform KVM
peripherals and sends the KVM signals over
an industry-standard UTP cable to an
Avocent AMX matrix switch.
“Cabling through the CAT 5 cable infrastruc-
ture has been great,” he said. “It is much
cleaner and we can use the same cabling for
KVM that we have in the walls for Ethernet.
The other thing that has been super is the
distance range. Before, we could only get a
maximum of 25 feet away from the KVM
switch. Now we can get high bandwidth
video from up to 1,000 feet away.”
Moving forward, Lovetinsky anticipates
taking advantage of new features as the AMX
switching system evolves. Of immediate
interest is getting tablet connectivity on cer-
tain user stations and audio capability to
allow IT staff to transmit sound across other
user stations. For now, Lovetinsky plans to
add more systems to the solution with its
simple plug and play connectivity.
“The Avocent solution gives us the connec-
tivity we need and has allowed us to put our
hardware in a centralized rack room, allow-
ing user access throughout the building,”
Lovetinsky concluded. “We had a need to
locate our computer hardware separate from
our users and the system met that need. It
was very easy to install, easy to reconfigure
and as the product grows and comes out with
new features we intend to implement them.”
About Avocent
Avocent
®
is the leading worldwide supplier
of KVM (keyboard, video and mouse) switch-
ing, remote access and serial connectivity
solutions. IT managers benefit through
access and control of servers and other
network data center devices.
Branded products include switching,
extension, intelligent platform management
interface (IPMI), remote access, wireless,
mobile, and video display solutions.
DSView
®
3 management software provides
fully redundant failover authentication.
Avocent KVM solutions are in Fortune 100
companies globally. Avocent has sales,
operations and R&D centers worldwide.
Corporate headquarters are in Huntsville,
Alabama. Visit www.avocent.com for more
information about Avocent products.
The Avocent AMX5010 KVM switch captures the
keyboard, video and mouse signals from each
workstation and relays them to the relevant
server. Staff can share information from the same
computer just as if they had direct access.