We have a small server farm (11 now, may add more in the future) of HP Proliant DL160 G6s. They all run either Linux (server only, no X11) or VMware ESX. We had intended to get models with iLO, in case BIOS-level remote admin became an issue, but that didn't happen.

I had an IP KVM switch recommended to me (along with some sort of Remote Reboot hardware.) I've since realized that none of our machines need GUI administration, so perhaps a serial console switch would be a cheaper and more appropriate option. Something like this: http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/serimux-cs-32.html

Do you folks have an opinions on which way is a better choice? Should we go for the ease of setup (plug and go, instead of turning on the feature in the BIOS and making sure the serial settings are correct) and the flexibility of an IP KVM switch even with the extra cost? Or is a serial console switch just fine?