Figured this might be of interest for some homelabbers. For intel CPUs supporting vPro/AMT you can basically get KVM via MeshCommander (or a Fork like MeshMini). This also allows to mount a .iso file from your client like you would a USB stick via the MeshCommander Remote Desktop! So, once you have the remote access configured, you can completely reinstall your computers remotely as long as they are connected to the network.
One thing to notice is that the boxes need to have some DisplayPort output used to actually show something in Remote Desktop which kind of contradicts the whole setup. But there are DP dummy "cables" for exactly this purpose for 5-10bucks.
Generally spoken, the process is like this:
- Set up MeshMini on some server you don't want to access with it (some spare raspi or the like)
- Set up AMT/MEBx in the BIOS of the vPro box
- Register box in MeshMini
If an instance decides to not federate with another one they don't see each other anymore. You can't subscribe to their communities and vice versa, you don't see their users posts in third instance communities. From your perspective it stops existing.
It's sometimes necessary e.g. if an instance doesn't do moderation by itself and hoards of trolls are coming from one instance spamming in many communities so you don't have to ban each of their trolls. It can also be a tool if moderation goals differ too strongly from each other, and some instances have decided to defederate from lemmy.ml and more vocal tankie instances like lemmygrad and hexbear.