Computer equipment monitor and discriminator

A computer monitoring system for selectively monitoring a plurality of computers mounted within a computer equipment rack, comprising:

• a storage housing, slidably mounted within the equipment rack, having a front partition adjacent to a rear partition, a keyboard positioned in the front partition of the storage housing, a display pivotably connected to the storage housing in a configuration such that the display is rotatably moveable from an erected position to a collapsed position, wherein the display has a vertical height in its collapsed positioned which allows the storage housing to be slidably recessed into an opening in the computer equipment rack;
• a selector input device for selecting one of the plurality of computers for monitoring;
• and
• a discriminator, responsive to the selector input device, for operatively connecting the keyboard and the display to the selected computer.

A computer monitoring device for monitoring a plurality of computers mounted within a computer equipment rack, comprising:

• a storage housing having a front partition and a rear partition wherein the storage housing is slidably mounted in an opening within the computer equipment rack;
• a flat panel display mounted in a display housing, the display housing pivotably coupled to the storage housing between an erected position and a collapsed position, wherein the flat panel display is dimensioned in the collapsed position to allow the storage housing to be positioned into an opening in the computer equipment rack;
• a keyboard removably mounted to the front partition of the storage housing;
• and
• a discriminator, mounted in the rear partition of the storage housing and electrically connected to the keyboard and the display, having a micro-controller responsive to the keyboard for selecting one of the plurality of computers to be monitored, the discriminator including a plurality of buffers and line drivers for operatively connecting to the selected computer to the display and the keyboard.

A computer monitoring system, comprising:

• an electronic equipment rack for mounting computers wherein the equipment rack has a recessed opening;
• a base housing having a first partition and a second partition, wherein a keyboard is positioned in the first partition and a display is mounted in the second partition so that the display can be moved between a first position and a second position wherein the display is dimensioned in the second position to allow the base housing to be recessed in the recessed opening in the electronic equipment rack;
• a plurality of computers mounted within the rack;
• and
• a monitoring device selectively operatively connected to the plurality of computers, wherein the monitoring device has a minimum vertical height of one retma unit.

A computer monitoring system, comprising:

• an electronic equipment rack for mounting computers which includes a opening in a position within ten retma units of the middle of the rack;
• a plurality of computers mounted within the rack;
• a storage drawer, slidably mounted within the opening in the equipment rack having a keyboard removably mounted in the storage drawer and a display pivotably connected to the storage drawer in a configuration such that the display is rotatably moveable from an erected position to a collapsed position so that, when the display is in the collapsed position, the storage drawer can be slidably recessed into the opening in the equipment rack;
• a selector input device for selecting one of the plurality of computers for monitoring;
• and
• a discriminator having a plurality of computer interfaces, said computer interfaces having first inputs operatively connected to a plurality of discriminator interfaces and having second inputs operatively connected to the plurality of computers, wherein the discriminator is responsive to the selector input device, and wherein the discriminator enables the computer interface and the discriminator interface connected to the computer selected by the selector input device, and wherein the discriminator operative by connects the display and the keyboard to the selected computer.