This week we wanted to look at a server-automation package, but as we started to work with it we quickly decided the computer room was way too hot and claustrophobic. Obviously, remote access would be better than sweating. Now a few months ago we discussed a system called VNC that operates rather like pcAnywhere but is free. Well, as good as VNC is, its response time is a little slow for extended use.

Here at the secret subterranean Gearhead laboratories, we get a fair amount of products to test, and the problem is we only can get through a limited amount in the time we have available. So stuff sometimes gets shelved for far longer than we'd like. We often think "such-and-such would be really cool to fool with . . . er, test," but time slips away and suddenly we're feeling guilty. (Public relations people, please note that we only feel a little guilty.)

Anyway, a product we've had around for far too long turned out to be the answer to avoiding our computer-room sauna. The product is IP Reach M-Series from Raritan Computer, the latest version of the company's hardware-based remote access tool.

IP Reach is a hardware-accelerated and highly manageable alternative to remote-access software packages such as VNC and pcAnywhere. The device connects the keyboard, video and mouse of up to four PCs or KVM switches (the number of ports depends on the model) and one serial port to a remote PC using Secure Sockets Layer over IP on a LAN, WAN, Internet or dial-up connection.

The product can be used to access Wintel- or Sun-based devices. In fact, because IP Reach is handling raw KVM connections, you even can access BIOS and boot-up services. Combine this with remote power management and you have complete control of all modes of PC operation.

If you use IP Reach to access a KVM switch, you can gain control over every server to which the switch is attached. IP Reach ports can be assigned as private, shareable only by administrators or shared by any authorized user. Moreover, the ports can be accessed independently - that is, remote users can access separate ports.

Users can be restricted to Web access and/or modem and serial console access, and allowed to have full control of the mouse and keyboard or see only screen updates. Users also can be restricted so that they can connect only from a specific range of IP addresses.