Hello fellow lemmings!
Cross posted.
I am in need of some advice on how to expand my workstation.
I currently have 2 monitors and 2 laptops with 1 docking station that I switch back and forth between (I do have a second Bluetooth mouse that I connect to the laptop that is not currently connected to the docking station, if I need to).
I would like to have 4 monitors by the upcoming tax season. Also, I would like the option to expand to a total of 3 laptops within a couple years.
I have looked into KVM switches and the only one that I can find for 4 monitors and 2 computers is upwards of $800. Is there a KVM switch out there for 4 monitors and 3 computers, or is this just a pipedream?
What other solutions should I consider? When I expand to 3 computers in the upcoming years, would having 2 workstations be cheaper/more efficient?
Need more information: Why do you want all laptops? Why do you think you need multiple computers at all?
I haven’t used this in many years so I can’t vouch for the current state, but I’ve used synergy to share the same mouse and keyboard across multiple computers. I think this should enable your 4 monitor dream - 2 externals and two laptops.
You’ll also likely run into a situation where a single laptop can’t drive 4 monitors - keep that in mind.
EDIT: I don’t know why you’re targeting 3 laptops in the future, but I would heavily suggest looking at framework laptops. They’re upgradeable, modular laptops where you can buy new motherboards to upgrade. Once you do upgrade, you can actually use the old Mobo as a desktop machine.
Synergy can be pretty good. I think it syncs clipboards and stuff like that, doesn’t it?
The website suggests it does. I just remember it served me well when I needed it.
Windows 11 has taken a feature from Linux distros called “Task View” where you can create additional “desktops”. You could do something similar with that and forego the additional laptop/desktops.
This might be a little unorthodox, but this is an option to reduce hardware costs and maximize desktops.
- 1x PC
- 4x Monitors (or more if you want to buy another video card)
- 1x server to be used as a Proxmox Virtualization Environment server to host as many desktop OS’s as you want.
you can split your four-monitor workstations’ screen real estate any way you like. keep using the same mouse and keyboard and just tab through the virtual workstations that you need to work on.
Proxmox is free for personal use. You can run it on a dedicated desktop workstation connected to your network. you are limited to the resources in your hardware. RAM, CPU, Storage. you’ll be slicing that up between the number of Virtual Machines that you create, so think about what you will be wanting. For example, if your specs are one desktop with 8G of ram and 128G of disk space. multiply that time the number of workstations you want, add the basic requirements of Proxmox as a server, and you have a good idea of what you are going to need.
If you want tons of resources you could buy a decommissioned server off of ebay. something akin to a Dell R720 or better. They can be upgraded to quite a bit of RAM and storage space. I think mine has something like 2 physical CPU’s @ 32 cores, 256G of RAM, and 3.2T of disk space (RAID10). I paid around $500 for mine a few years ago. and a few dollars more to max out the RAM, and a few dollars more to add some sold state drives in the drive bays. The entire system came in under the cost of a mid-range gaming pc. or a little under the price of one NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080.