vPro Inside: New Intel management tech debuts in HP's dc7700

In a smaller and more horizontal profile than the minitower, this is the "small form factor" edition of the dc7700. It's not as expandable as the minitower, but it's more expandable than the ultra-slim model.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP dc7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

For installations requiring the smallest form factor possible, HP offers an ultra-slim edition of the dc7700. Smaller but less expandable than the others. Again, for complete specs check out HP's Web site.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

Intel's vPro brand is very much like Intel's Centrino brand. vPro itself is not a technology. For a ssytemt to get the vPro sticker, it must include three things (1) An Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (left), Intel's Q965 chipset (middle, the chipset that includes Intel's Active Management Technology), and Intel's 82566 Gigabit Ethernet technology(right).

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

In the tight quarters of the slimline version of HP's dc7700, a PCI riser card can make it easier to fit a larger PCI card into the system (one that wouldn't otherwise fit).

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

The dc7700 has six USB 2.0 ports. Two on the front and four on the back (see next screen shot). In addition to the 2 USB ports on the front panel, there's also a headphone and microphone jack.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

Four of the dc7700's six USB 2.0 ports on the back of the system, along with an RJ45-Ethernet port that has Intel's 82566 Gigabit Ethernet technology behind it.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

Altiris' Network Discovery application can search the network for Active Management Technology (AMT)-enabled systems.

As you can see from this screen shot, there are fields for a login ID and a password. For the Altiris management solution (or any other AMT-compliant solution) to be able to access an AMT-enabled system, that system's AMT must be "protected" with the same credentials.

Here, the Network Discovery Solution is being configured to scan the network for AMT-enabled systems. AMT-enabled systems can be discovered whether they are on or off (as long as they are plugged in).

As you can see, there are two modes: the Enterprise Mode and the Small Business Mode. According to Altiris, the Enterprise Mode is more scalable and secure than the Small Business Mode. In the Enterprise Mode, Altiris' Out of Band Management Solution provides the option to encrypt out-of-band network traffic via transport layer security. (Out-of-band in this case refers to accessing a system's management technology without going through the operating system).

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

After discovering AMT-enabled systems, you can easily manage them using Altiris' Resource Manager (free). In one role, Resource Manager is a remediation tool for trimming or eliminating downtime for end-users without requiring a deskside visit. In the next screen shot, you'll see the sort of functionality that's accessible through the the Real-Time System Manager.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

Using the Remote Hardware Management features of Altiris Real Time System Manager, IT managers can gain limited "Remote Control" access to systems in order to remedy certain problems like corrupted files. Seen near the bottom, there's even an option to point the system to a boot image of the IT Manager's choice in order to get a system started. That image can be pretty much anywhere; on the management workstation, on a shared directory on the network, or on a special hard drive partition on the managed system.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

This is just another example of how, through the Real-Time System Manager, IT Managers can get remote access to a managed system's local file systems in order to repair potentially corrupted files.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

This is a screen shot of Altiris' Out of Band Management Solution. In the context of managing AMT-enabled systems, "out of band" is not the classic "out of band" that's associated with managing network gear over serial connections. Out of band means that certain aspects of the system can be managed without the operating system being operational (or any management agents that require an OS in order to function).

Through out-of-band management, IT managers still have access to certain parts of the system. For example, they can reprovision a system with a new OS or access its BIOS (see the next screen shot). In this screenshot, systems that can be managed out of band are listed and some of their details are shown.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

One example of an out-of-band or "agentless" operation is accessing a system's BIOS using Altiris' Real-Time System Manager. Here, an IT manager has "Remotely-Down the Wire" access to a BIOS (again, no deskside visit required) without any OS or agents running on the managed system. Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) is the only thing that's required

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.

Here, Altiris' Real Time System Manager is shown accessing local asset information from a managed system's BIOS. Through Intel's Active Management Technology, this task can be accomplished even when an AMT-compliant system is turned off.

For David Berlind's write-up on the HP DC7700, see his post in ZDNet's TestBed blog.