What is PiKVM?

PiKVM is a feature-rich, production grade, open-source, Raspberry Pi based KVM over IP device. It will help you to manage servers or workstations remotely, whatever the state of the operating system or whether one is installed. PiKVM allows you to turn on/off or restart your computer, configure the UEFI/BIOS, and even reinstall the OS using the Virtual CD-ROM or Flash Drive. You can use your remote keyboard and mouse or PiKVM can simulate a keyboard, mouse, and a monitor, which are then presented in a web browser as if you were working on a remote system directly. It’s a true hardware-level access with no dependency on any remote ports, protocols or services!

Here is our Discord server, Github, and the website.

PiKVM started a few years ago as a small pet project to develop a Do-It-Yourself KVM over IP. We wanted it inexpensive and better than existing commercial units. To reach this goal, we gathered a large community of IT experts with a lot of experience in DIY solutions, and we used their ideas, suggestions and feedback to create our first PiKVM HAT for Raspberry Pi. It successfully transformed Raspberry Pi into a reliable and convenient KVM over IP! 

Now, after 6 years of hard work, thousands of lines of code, and several prototypes and pilot versions, we are finally ready to reveal the result of our efforts and hope that with your support we will be able to not only fund the first production batch but also bring it to many server rooms, test lab, mining farms, basements, data centers and anywhere else you might find a computer that needs to be running 24/7. 


So, how is PiKVM different?

PiKVM is very different from the "industry standard" commercial KVM over IP solutions:


Why do you need PiKVM?

You may ask: “Yeah, that’s all great, but why not to use VNC, Remote Desktop Protocol, or something else like that?” 

The answer is simple: those tools work as long as the operating system is alive and related services are running on the system you are connecting to. But what if it’s not the case? 

Another common use case: often, for security reasons/policies, remote connection tools can't be installed/launched on those systems. This is a problem only PiKVM can solve: Power management, BIOS/UEFI-level access, connecting without ANY software/network/security configuration on the remote system, and the ability to boot an OS or a live image—RDP doesn't do this and neither do many commercial KVMs!

We asked our customers how/why they use PiKVM, and we got hundreds of replies! 

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We picked a few most common use cases:

The fastest video streaming 

PiKVM software isn’t just a bundle of various existing tools and packages! As an example, we possibly created the fastest video streaming server to date, uStreamer, to fix issues with other streaming software. With uStreamer, we achieve 100–150 milliseconds latency for 1080p MJPEG video and 100–250 ms for H.264! The second method is especially important for poor networks; it consumes very little traffic. PiKVM comes with a customized and fine-tuned Linux-based operating system and has a polished web management interface.


Power management 

Any computer with an ATX-like motherboard can be commanded to turn on/off or perform a hard reset on a frozen OS, get into the BIOS and then load a bootable CD. All you need to do is connect a small interface card to the motherboard and the PiKVM. A custom-designed ATX controller adapter card comes with every PiKVM. Once connected to the motherboard LED and switch connectors, you will be able to manage the computer power supply through hardware (using the ATX controller) or via software/API.


Features