Explained
What is a KVM?
Keyboard, video, mouse. The name for anything that lets you use a computer’s screen, keyboard and mouse from somewhere other than right in front of it.
The switch on the desk
The first KVMs were switches. One keyboard, one monitor and one mouse plugged into a box, a few computers plugged into the other side, and a button chose which computer you were using. They still sit in server rooms and on desks with two machines under them.
KVM over IP
KVM over IP is the same idea across a network. A small box sits beside one computer. It takes that computer’s video output in, it presents itself to the computer as a keyboard and mouse, and it puts the picture and the controls in front of you, in a browser, wherever you are.
Because the box is outside the computer, the computer only ever meets ordinary hardware: a monitor and a keyboard. Nothing gets installed on it.
How it differs from remote desktop software
Remote desktop software does a similar job from the inside. Both have their place; the differences decide which one suits a machine.
| Question | Remote desktop software | A KVM over IP box |
|---|---|---|
| Installed on the computer | Yes, an app or a service | No, nothing at all |
| How the computer sees it | Software running inside it | A keyboard, a mouse and a monitor |
| Uses that computer’s network | Yes | No, the box has its own |
| Needs updating on that computer | Yes | No. The box updates itself |
| Needs the computer switched on | Yes | Yes |
Where KiteRelay fits
KiteRelay is a KVM over IP box for one computer: HDMI in, USB-C to act as its keyboard and mouse, and a page in your browser. It adds what a box can do on its own: unlocking the screen once you have set it up, keeping the computer awake on a schedule, and unplugging itself when idle. Away from home it reaches you over Tailscale, straight between your browser and the box.
What a KVM is not
It is not a way into a computer you have no business in. It needs its cables plugged into that computer, and KiteRelay is sold for a computer you own, or one you are authorised to manage.
See how KiteRelay compares with other KVM over IP boxes on the comparison page, or read who it is for.