VM over IP - Why so expensive?

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2005/07/01 KVM over IP - Why so expensive?

I don't understand why KVM over IP is so expensive. I don't find anything under $500.00, and that just doesn't make sense to me. Conceptually, this is no more complex than a firewall with connections for PS/2 devices, so at the low end it would seem that it should be under $100.00 or thereabouts. Also, other than BIOS level access, what are you getting that any remote access product (VNC, etc.) doesn't offer for free? Admittedly, BIOS level is important, but does it justify that much extra money? At the real low end, these products have to attach to an existing KVM switch, making them even more expensive.

For Unix machines that can have a serial console, this isn't much more than a terminal server - yet Digiboards Console Management Server is over $1,000.00! I must be missing something very obvious, because I just don't see it.

Somebody needs to make a cheaper model. Maybe the concept is just too new - remember when plain old KVM switches were a lot more than they are now? Maybe that's all it is.