StarTech.com 16 Port Rackmount KVM Console w/ 6ft Cables - Integrated KVM Switch w/ 19" LCD Monitor - Fully Featured 1U LCD KVM Drawer- OSD KVM - Durable 50,000 MTBF - USB + VGA Support

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

At ~£1.4k ex-VAT, this StarTech 1U rack KVM drawer is the sort of purchase you make when you *need* something rack-friendly and hands-off for daily admin work—not when you’re just trying to “get a KVM in the building.” The integrated LCD plus OSD controls are genuinely practical for servers in a tight data centre, especially if you occasionally have to troubleshoot before you’ve got proper out-of-band access. The USB + VGA angle also means it won’t feel too restrictive if you’ve got mixed device types, which is common in older estates.

That said, I wouldn’t buy it casually. If your environment is modern and you already rely on iDRAC/iLO/IPMI or a dedicated management fabric, a KVM drawer can be overkill, and the cost is hard to justify versus simpler, cheaper switching approaches. Also, with KVM drawers, the real risk is long-term usability—these units live a rough life in racks and downtime is expensive. If you can’t be confident you’ll use the local console regularly, you’ll end up paying for convenience you don’t really leverage.

Who it suits: UK SMBs and mid-market teams who run server rooms/closets without always-on out-of-band management, or who have a small number of racks that benefit from a local console at the same height as the gear. Who should skip: orgs with strong OOB management and no operational need for a built-in screen, or buyers chasing value where a basic remote approach would do the job cheaper.