With the aim of making the management of enterprise PC networks
less costly and more simple, Intel has aligned its vPro technology
with the newly-released versions of Microsoft's System Center
management solutions and has incorporated new PC management
standards.
Intel’s next-generation vPro technology, codenamed Weybridge,
adds support for the new Web Services Management (WS-MAN) standard
and includes new Intel “Active Management Technology” for the
reduction of viruses and worms spreading through the
enterprise.
vPro also will support an upcoming Digital Management Work Group
(DMWG) specification for interoperability across PC hardware and
software developed by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF),
the company noted.
Further, to enhance the ability of IT organizations to protect
computers from viruses and help lower maintenance costs, the
Weybridge vPro technology desktops and the next Centrino mobile
technology for notebook PCs, codenamed Santa Rosa, will support a
variety of Microsoft System Center solutions to include System
Center Operations Manager 2007, which monitors system health, and
System Center Essentials 2007, a comprehensive management program
aimed at small- and medium-size businesses.
Intel also noted that its Core2 Duo processor provides new
remote management capabilities called “Active Management
Technology” that are meant to accelerate maintenance functions and
improve security while reducing costs through remote diagnosis
along with PC repair even if it is turned off, or crippled by a
crashed operating system or hard drive.
Intel and Microsoft said they led the development of WS-MAN as a
standards-based method of accessing and managing PC fleets, as
founding members of the DMTF, which developed the interoperable
management specification.
The Santa Rosa Centrino mobile processor technology is expected
in Q2 and the Weybridge vPro technology in the second half of the
year.
In other Intel-Microsoft news, the companies said they are
collaborating on System Center Operations Manager 2007 to allow
Intel Xeon-based servers with System Management Software 2.0 to
create a comprehensive manageability solution for small- and
medium-size businesses, which Intel said it will deliver to its
ecosystem and customers.
The System Management Software 2.0 manages Intel-based desktop
and mobile PCs, and servers, and is meant to lower maintenance
costs. For large enterprises, Intel-developed software for servers
and for Intel vPro-based clients also will be available as add-ons
for Ops Manager 2007, Intel concluded.