BliKVM PCIe puts a computer inside your computer

Here is the BliKVM PCIe, a complete computer on a PCI Express card. It is an IP KVM (Internet Protocol Keyboard-Video-Mouse) that can be placed inside another computer or server.

Most server motherboards already have built-in remote management functionality. Most often this is called IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface, but Dell calls it iDRAC and HPE calls it OIT.

But not all servers have it. And even if they do, sometimes you have to pay extra to use it, or the version you have is not maintained and it would be a security risk to run it on your network.

This is where the BliKVM PCIe comes in.

It runs open source software called Pi-KVM, and once installed it can control everything, even if the computer is turned off!

You can start the computer and force shut it down. You can remotely control it anywhere during the boot process, so you can even manage BIOS settings or install an operating system.

But how does it work? I mean, it's a PCI Express card. Doesn't it turn off when you turn off the computer?

Well, this is where it gets a little weird.

See those pins? The only ones connected to anything are actually the ground pins. All data pins are disconnected.

So this card is a PCI Express card... but not really. It uses the slot as a convenient location to mount inside a PC or server, so you don't have a Raspberry Pi hanging out the back.

On the back of the computer are an HDMI and USB input, activity lights, a USB-C power input, and a Gigabit Ethernet port, capable of using Power over Ethernet to power the computer. device. So technically you can skip the USB-C power jack if you have PoE.

But the heart of this board goes above: a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, a complete computer on a tiny system-on-module board.

blicube (maker of BliKVM PCIe) provides lots of accessories in the box, including a heatsink and a fan, so if your case has poor airflow, you can get more airflow to the Pi so it always stays fresh.

There's also an OLED screen that will tell you the IP address of PiKVM, and other stats like CPU and memory usage.

The front of the board has two headers: one for an internal USB 2.0 connection and another for the front panel ATX IO connections (power, reset, and LEDs).

You can see how I installed it on my desktop tower PC and how the PiKVM UI works in my latest YouTube video:

This thing is not for everyone. Remote Desktop or VNC is sufficient for simple remote access. And dedicated apps like Parsec are better if you need low-latency remote access. But if you need full remote access with lights out management and don't already have IPMI/iDRAC/ILO, this is a great option. It's a bit pricey, but much cheaper than most external IP KVMs.

And with a CM4 base model it's cheaper than