Avocent 280ES manual

Installer/User Guide F or models: 1 40E S 1 80E S 280E S 1 1 60E S 2 1 60ES 4 1 60E S OutLook ES Series[...]

INSTRUCTIONS The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance. DANGEROUS VOLTAGE The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to th[...]

OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Avocent, the Avocent logo and “The Power of Being There” are trademarks of Avocent Corporation. OSCAR is a registered trade- mark of Apex Inc. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. © 2001 Avocent Corporation. All rights reserved.[...]

USA Notification Warning: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment. Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are de[...]

T able o f Cont ent s Chapter 1: Product Overview OutLook ES Features and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter 2: Installation Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Rack Mounting your OutLook ES Unit . . . .[...]

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Contents 1 Product O v er view OutLook ES Features and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5[...]

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Chapter 1: Product Overview 3 Chapter 1: Product Overview OutLook ES Features and Benefits Avocent’s family of OutLook switches allows you to control up to 256 computers from one keyboard, monitor and mouse. Out Loo k s wit ches a re ava ilable in singl e or m ultius er ver sions and are e asily cus tom ize d t o fit your p articu lar netwo rk an[...]

4 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide FLASH upgradable The OutLook ES is FLASH upgradable. This allows you to update your firmware at any time through a simple serial connection to ensure that your OutLook system is always running the most current version available. Built-in scanning capabilities A built-in scanning feature allows you to automat[...]

Chapter 1: Product Overview 5 Figure 1.2: OutLook ES Model Comparison Safety Precautions T o a vo id p o te nt ia l vi d eo a nd /o r k ey bo ar d pr o bl em s wh en us in g Av oc e nt p ro du ct s : • If the b uil din g has 3-phase AC pow er , ens ure tha t the com puter an d moni t or are on the sam e phas e. F or b est re sults, the y sho uld [...]

6 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Rack mount saf ety considerations • Elev ated Am bient T emperature: If inst alled in a closed rack assembly , t he operation temperature of t he rack environment may be grea t er than room ambient. Use care not to exceed t he rated maximum ambient temperature of the unit . • Reduced Air Flo w: Inst alla[...]

Contents Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Rack Mounting your OutLook ES Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Installing a 4- or 8-Port Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Installing a 16-Port Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Installing a Multiple Switch System . . . . . .[...]

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Chapter 2: Installation 9 Chapter 2: Installation Getting Started Before installing your OutLook system, refer to the lists below to ensure that you have all the items that shipped with the OutLook as well as all other items necessary for proper installation. Supplied with the OutLook Your OutLook switch package contains the following items: • Ou[...]

10 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide CA UTI ON P ower C on side rati ons : C on nec t onl y to the p ower s ourc e sp eci e d on th e uni t. Wh en mul tip le el ec tri cal c om pon ents a re in st all ed in a r ack , a ss ure th e tota l co mpo nent p ower rat ing s do not e xce ed ci rcu it ca pa bili tie s. O ver lo ade d power s our ce s[...]

Chapter 2: Installation 11 Installing a 4- or 8-Port Switch (140ES, 180ES and 280ES models) The diagram below illustrates one possible configuration for your 4- or 8-port switch. Follow the step-by-step instructions to properly install your new OutLook switch. Figure 2.2: 8-Port Installation Example WAR N IN G : T o re duc e the r isk o f ele ctr i[...]

12 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide T o install a 4 - or 8-port switch: 1 . Prepare the loc ation for the swit ch. See Rack Mounting your OutLook ES Unit in this c hapter if y ou are rac k mounting t he unit. 2. Selec t cables with appropriate c onnect ors and length. ( See Appendix B for cable specic ations.) NO TE : C ab le le ngt h af f[...]

Chapter 2: Installation 13 Installing a 16-Port Switch (1160ES, 2160ES and 4160ES models) The diagram below illustrates one possible configuration for your 16-port switch. Follow the step-by-step instructions to properly install your new OutLook switch. Figure 2.3: 16-Port Installation Example WAR N IN G : T o re duc e the r isk o f ele ctr ic sh o[...]

14 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide T o install a 1 6-port switch: 1 . Prepare the loc ation for the swit ch. See Rack Mounting your OutLook ES Unit in this c hapter if y ou are rac k mounting t he unit. 2. Selec t cables with appropriate c onnect ors and length. ( See Appendix B for specic ations.) All 1 6-port swit ches require one high [...]

Chapter 2: Installation 15 Installing a Multiple Switch System The following diagram illustrates one possible cascading configuration using your OutLook switch. Perform this installation if you want to add another switch to your existing system. Follow the step-by-step instructions to properly cascade your new OutLook switch. Figure 2.4: Multiple S[...]

16 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Checklist of Steps for Adding a Secondary Switch At the Primary Switch At the Secondary Switch 1 . Select its location. 2. Connect cables to station connections. 3. Connect cables to a port. 4. Plug in power cord. 5. Power up switch. 6. Assign specic device types. 7 . Connect servers. 8. Power up servers[...]

Chapter 2: Installation 17 9. If a secondary swit ch was previously used as a primary switch, reset OS CAR sett ings by doing the following: a. A t t he primary switch, press Print Screen t o open the Main dialog box. Select t he port number of the secondary swit ch. b. Press Print Screen again to gain ac cess t o the Main dialog box on the seconda[...]

18 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Powering up the OutLook Switch System The switch must be powered up before the attached servers since the switch stores mouse and keyboard connection and rate data for each server. The switch uses this information to initialize the keyboard and mouse interfaces of the servers. If the servers are turned on b[...]

Contents Viewing and Selecting Ports and Servers . . . . . . . . . . . 21 OSCAR Navigation Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Setting up OSCAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Using Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Resetting your Keyboard and Mouse . . . . . . .[...]

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Chapter 3: Basic Operations 21 Chapter 3: Basic Operations Viewing and Selecting Ports and Servers Use the Main dialog box to select, control and configure servers in your OutLook system. T o access the Main dialog box: Press Print Screen to start OSCAR and gain access to the Main dialog box. Figure 3.1: Main Dialog Box Viewing the Status of your S[...]

22 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Selecting Servers Us e t he Mai n d ial og box to se lec t s erv ers . W hen yo u s ele ct a s erv er, th e O utL ook sw itc h r eco nfi gur es the ke ybo ard an d m ous e t o t he set tin gs for th e s ele cte d s erv er. T o select servers: 1. Double-click the server name or port number. - or - If the dis[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 23 OSCAR Navigation Basics Use the following keystrokes to navigate though OSCAR. This Keystroke Does This Print Screen Opens OSCAR. (T o print a screen, see Sending the Print Screen Keystr oke in Chapter 3.) F1 Opens the Help screen for the current dialog box. Escape Closes the current dialog box without saving changes [...]

24 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Setting up OSCAR You can configure your OutLook system from the Setup dialog box. Use the Scan, Menu, Flag, Security and Broadcast options to manage routine tasks for your servers. Use the Devices and Names options when initially setting up your switch system to assign device types and to identify servers b[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 25 Assigning Server Names Use the Names dialog box to identify servers by a unique name that makes sense to you and reset names back to the default settings. T o access the Names dialog box: 1 . Press Print Screen . The Main dialog bo x will appear . 2. Click Setup - Names . The Names dialog box appears. Figure 3.3: Name[...]

26 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Changing the Display Behavior Use th e M enu dialo g box to cha nge the s erver displa y orde r, set th e Dela y Time for OS CAR af ter pr essing Print Scree n a nd cha nge th e swit ch con nectio n mode . T o access the Menu dialog box: 1 . Press Print Screen . The Main dialog bo x will appear . 2. Click S[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 27 Preemptive to hav e the OutLook allow any user to selec t any serv er at any time; a request from anot her user disconnec ts t he current user . 2. Click O K . Setting up a Scan Pattern In scan mode, the switch automatically scans from port to port (server to server). Each user can scan the entire system sequentially [...]

28 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide T o remove a server from the scan list : 1 . In the S can dialog box, click t he serv er t o be remov ed. 2. Press Delete . — or— Press Shift+Delete to remov e the selec ted server and all entries below it. 3. Click O K . T o set up a custom scan pattern: 1 . In the Scan di alo g b ox , ty pe the nam e [...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 29 Controlling the Status Flag The status flag displays on your desktop and shows the name or port number of the selected server or the status of a particular port. Use the Flag dialog box to display the flag by port number or by server name, limit the time the flag displays, change the flag color, make the flag transpar[...]

30 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide 5. T o position t he status ag on t he desktop: a. Click Set P osition t o gain acc ess to t he P osit ion Flag screen. Figure 3.7: Position Flag b. Left clic k on the tit le bar and drag to t he desired location. c. Right clic k to return t o the Flag dialog box. NOTE : Change s m ade t o the ag posi[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 31 Passw ords can be up t o 1 2 c haract ers long and are case sensit iv e. Legal charac ters are: A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and (spac e). 3. In the Repeat bo x, t ype the password again and press Enter . 4. Click O K . T o password protect your user station: 1 . Set your passw ord as described in t he previous procedure. 2. Selec t[...]

32 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide T o enable the screen saver mode with no password protection: 1 . If y our st ation is passw ord prot ect ed, perform the previous procedure rst . 2. Now select Enable Screen S av er . 3. Type the number of minutes for Delay T ime (from 1 to 9 9) t ha t y ou want to delay ac tiva t ion of the sc reen sav[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 33 Figure 3.9: Broadcast Dialog Box NO TE : B roa dc ast ing Key st roke s - Th e keybo ar d sta te mus t be id enti ca l for a ll se r ver s re cei vin g a bro adc as t to inte rp ret key stro kes i den tic all y. Spe ci c all y , t he C aps L ock a nd Num L oc k mod es mu st b e the s ame o n all key boa rd s. W hil[...]

34 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide T o turn broadcasting on or off: F ro m t h e C om m an d s m en u , c li c k t o e na b le or di s ab l e t he Br o a dc a st Ac t iv e c h ec k bo x . Using Snapshot Snapshot saves the keyboard and mouse information of the servers that are powered up. The OutLook switch uses this information to initialize[...]

Chapter 3: Basic Operations 35 Displaying Version Information Use the Version dialog box to display the version number of the firmware as well as keyboard and mouse information for the currently selected server. This information facilitates system troubleshooting and support. For optimum performance, keep your firmware current. T o display version [...]

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Contents Assigning Device Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Accessing OSCAR at a Secondary Switch . . . . . . . . . . 40 Scan Behavior with a Multiuser Cascaded System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Broadcasting to Cascaded Configurations . . . . . . . . . 42 4 Adv anced Operati ons[...]

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Chapter 4: Advanced Operations 39 Chapter 4: Advanced Operations Assigning Device Types Us e t he Dev ice s d ial og box to as sig n d evi ce typ es to eit her ma ke you r p rim ary sw itc h a war e o f a se con dar y s wit ch or to del ete a dev ice fr om the Ma in dia log bo x. T o access the Devices dialog box: 1 . Press Print Screen . The Main [...]

40 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide 3. Choose one from the following : • No Device: If no switch or server is a t tac hed and y ou want to delete it from the list of devic es in the Main dialog box • Computer : If a serv er is att ached (default sett ing) • P ort number: If a secondary swit ch is attac hed, select t he num ber of ports [...]

Chapter 4: Advanced Operations 41 Scan Mode Behavior Full Connection User has k eyboard and mouse control. W atch Connection User sees video only; has no keyboard or mouse control. Skip Connection User cannot select the server because access is unavailable. Either the port connection is in use or the power is turned off to the port. Scan Behavior E[...]

42 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Broadcasting to Cascaded Configurations Broadcasting to a cascaded configuration requires special consideration at both the primary and secondary switches. Follow these step-by-step instructions to properly configure your system for cascaded broadcasting. T o set up servers attached to secondary switches: 1[...]

Chapter 4: Advanced Operations 43 4. From the Commands menu, c lick the Broadc ast A c tive checkbox to act iva t e the broadc ast mode for the primary swit ch. 5. From a user station att ached to t he primary switc h and connec ted to t he secondary swit ch, type t he information and/or select t he mouse mov ement s y ou want to broadcast . NO TE [...]

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Contents Appendix A: FLASH Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Appendix B: Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Appendix C: Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Appendix D: Connecting the 280ES DC Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Appendix E: Troubleshooting [...]

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Appendices 47 Appendices Appendix A: FLASH Upgrades OutLook Firmware Upgrade Instructions Yo u c an upd ate th e f irm war e o f y our Ou tLo ok swi tch by us ing a spe cia l u pda te ut ili ty pro vid ed by Avo cen t. Thi s u til ity au tom ati cal ly con fig ure s t he por t co mmu nic ati ons se tti ngs to al low di rec t d own loa din g f rom t[...]

48 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Appendix B: Technical Specifications Product Specications Dimensions Model 1 40ES , 1 80ES, 280ES , 1 1 60ES , 2 1 60ES , 4 1 60ES Height 1 .75 in (4.5 cm) Depth 8.00 in (20.3 cm) Width 1 7 .00 in (43.2 cm) W eight 1 40ES 5.25 lb (2.38 kg) 1 80ES 5.25 lb (2.38 kg) 280ES 5.7 0 lb (2.60 kg) 1 1 60ES 5.7 0 [...]

Appendices 49 Appendix C: Technical Support Our Technical Support staff is ready to assist you with any installation or operating issues you encounter with your Avocent product. If an issue should develop, follow the steps below for the fastest possible service: 1 . Check t he pertinent sect ion of the manual t o see if the issue c an be resolv ed [...]

50 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide Appendix D: Connecting the 280ES DC Switch Use only #18 AWG stranded wire UL 1007 or UL 1015. The maximum length should not exceed 10 meters (32.8 feet). WAR N IN G : A lways d isc on nec t powe r befo re ch ang ing a ny wir ing . T o re duc e th e ris k of el ect ric s hoc k or da mag e to the e qui pme nt[...]

Appendices 51 Appendix E: Troubleshooting VIDEO No OSCAR or video at server Check for loose video cable connection or bad video cable. Conrm Devices, Names and Flag settings. Reset settings to default in these dialog boxes. No OSCAR at primar y switch On the front panel of the switch, conrm that the LED lights (if applicable). Reconnect the p[...]

52 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide KEYBOARD Conso le keyboa rd is not worki ng or cannot star t OSCAR Ensure that Delay Time is off. Click Setup - Menu, T ype 0 secs for Delay Time. Check keyboard operation. See if the Num Lock and Caps Lock keys light. Keyboard worked , but then stopp ed working with one ser ver Check for loose k eyboar d c[...]

Appendices 53 ST A TUS SYMBOLS No or shows nex t to ser ver number or name Check for loose k eyboard cable connection between server and switch. Di sc on ne ct a n d re co nn ect t he k ey bo ar d ca bl e at th e sa me po rt n u mb er on t he s wi tc h. Restart OSCAR: Press Escape or click X in Main dialog box to exit OSCAR. Then press Print Screen[...]

54 OutLook ES Series Installer/User Guide FIRMWARE UPDA TES Firmwar e doe s not download Check for loose cable connections. Replace serial cable. Check that the serial cable is connected to the COM port on the server and to the serial port on the switch. Downlo ad timed out Conrm that the correct port was selected. If another pr ogram is using t[...]

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LIMITED WARR ANTY A vocent Corporation warrants to t he original ret ail purchaser that this produc t is and will be free from defec ts in materials and w orkmanship for a period of 1 2 mont hs from the date of purchase. A ddit ionally , all A vocent product s carry an uncondit ional thirty- day satisfac tion guarant ee. If, for any reason, y ou ar[...]

590- 203-00 1 Rev . A For T echnical Support: Avocent Corporation 4991 Corporate Drive Huntsville, Alabama 35805-6201 USA Tel: +1 256 430 4000 Fax: +1 256 430 4031 Avocent International Ltd. Avocent House, Shannon Free Zone Shannon, County Clare, Ireland Tel: +353 6 1 7 1 5 292 Fax: +353 6 1 4 7 1 8 7 1 Avocent Asia Pacic Singapore Branch Ofc[...]