3
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How does Synchrony work?
Synchrony is a small software utility that runs on each of your computer
systems and continually tracks the current mouse cursor position. One system is
designated as the ‘primary’ and the other systems use standard network links to
report their mouse cursor information back to it.
The primary system has an extra communication link directly to the ServSwitch
TDX switch. When the Synchrony utility detects that the cursor has moved
over the edge of a screen boundary, it instructs (via the primary computer) the
ServSwitch TDX to switch the common keyboard and mouse through to the
appropriate computer.
The ServSwitch TDX and Synchrony combination minimises any potential security
risks in two important ways:
• The network messages flowing between the systems contain only benign
cursor positioning reports.
• All keyboard and real mouse data flow only through the direct keyboard and
mouse connections via the ServSwitch TDX, not via the network.
The Synchrony utility provides straightforward configuration in which you
can define the connected systems, their network identities and their relevant
switching scenarios. The primary system runs Synchrony in
server mode
whereas
the other systems run Synchrony within its
client mode
.
Synchrony configuration tips
In combination with the installation instructions provided with the Synchrony
utility, please consider these configuration tips:
• You are recommended to use a native serial port or third-party serial card on
the primary system. USB to serial adapters will work, but won’t provide such
a rapid switching action between systems.
• Option switch 5 is used to place the ServSwitch TDX into Synchrony mode,
however, the setup switches are only consulted during the power on phase,
or when the ServSwitch TDX is reset using option switch 8. Moving option
switch 5 whilst the unit is on will have no effect.
• For each systems, the screen name that you enter in the Synchrony setup
must be the name that identifies the system on the network (it cannot be
random). In Windows this can be found in
My Computer > Properties >
Computer Name
. Alternatively, you can discover the screen name by running
the Synchrony software and selecting “Advanced”. The computer name of
the current computer is then shown in the
Screen Name
field.
PC1
(PRIMARY)
PC2
PC3
PC4
Full instructions on how to install
and configure Synchrony are
included with the utility which
can be obtained from Black Box
support.
Cursor position data sent to primary system via standard network links
Cursor currently
active on
system PC4
Switching commands sent from primary
system via special serial link
The primary
system runs
the Synchrony
utility in Server
mode. All
other systems
run the utility
in Client mode.
Common keyboard and mouse
links switched through to the
currently active system (PC4)