Intel's Built-in PC Remote Control

It's been out on the market for a while now, but it seems Intel's vPro technology might finally be appearing on more businesses' radar screens.

Short summary of the technology: it's an embedded technology on select Intel motherboards. It requires Intel's new Q35 chipset, a Core 2 Duo Processor and Intel 10/100/1000 Networking (though the LAN does not need to be running Gigabit). It allows BIOS-level remote access - basically KVM via IP. Unlike most other protocols (MS Terminal Services, VNC, etc.), it does not require a functional OS.

Here are four of my favorite features about the technology:

1) Remote diagnostic and control for failing system. Since vPro does not require a functional OS, RAM and hard drive failures can still be diagnosed remotely. This is very handy for Foxtrot, as we have several customers for whom we do on-site hardware support . . . so it allows us to know what to bring before we even move our wheels to go on-site.

2) Remote wake-up. Remote control capability is great - except when they're off!! vPro provides a slick interface for sending a wake-on-LAN signal to start a computer up. It'll be a nice energy saver to let end users turn their computers off at the end of the day, knowing that the computer can be woken up for updates, patches and other middle-of-the-night maintenance . . . and then shut back down.

3) OS Agnostic. Because it runs at the BIOS level, it does not matter whether the system is running Windows, Linux, or whatever. The software just sends whatever's on the screen, regardless of the bits on the back-end.

4) Remote image deployment. vPro can be used to deploy an image from an image repository to a desktop that may have become corrupted or needed to have its hard drive replaced. It's kind of like old PXE boot, but with the ability to control and execute the boot from a remote location.

We have a reasonably-priced vPro-compatible config posted and ready for purchase. And of course we'll help with the vPro setup for those who require assistance. Call or e-mail for more info.