Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT) improves the visibility of enterprise hardware platforms, dramatically improving the completeness of hardware inventories. Capabilities of Intel AMT help to reduce the impact of software-agent removals, powered-down machines, non-functioning operating systems, and other system failures during hardware inventories. These problems make as many as 15%-20% of all systems not visible down-the-wire at any given time. Wireless environments and laptops make this even more challenging since at any point in time, laptops may be connected over the wireless network (Mobile mode) or remotely connected to a corporate LAN via VPN (Remote mode) or may not be connected to an AC power source.

As a result, hardware inventories are more efficient to conduct, greatly assisting compliance with government regulations, as well as management of recalls, warranties, and configurations. This use case includes hardware inventory to determine the type and quantity of hardware in the environment, and the state of the hardware’s warranty.

Conventional tools have traditionally been available for hardware inventory work on an in-band basis only; that is, these tools require the target system to be operational, and they fail if the platform is powered off or if the operating system is non- functional. Moreover, users can intentionally or inadvertently remove the software agents on which the tools depend.

As a result, IT organizations must traditionally depend on users to report their installed hardware, or technicians must be sent to inventory the hardware manually. No common, persistent asset ID exists, and there is no remote down-the-wire method to discover hardware inventory information for platforms that are powered off.

Using a third-party hardware inventory management application that supports Intel AMT, the IT organization discovers platforms and their firmware-resident hardware information, remotely down-the-wire in the following scenarios:

• Desktop mode – Platforms are AC powered and connected to the corporate LAN via a wired LAN via a wired LAN connection (not over VPN)
• Mobile mode – Laptops in S0 that are on battery power or laptops on the corporate wireless network (not connected via VPN) and have access to their firmware-resident information remotely
• Remote mode – laptops in S0/H0 that are connected to the corporate network via VPN

Intel AMT makes that possible via out-of-band (OOB) remote access to the platform's persistent, tamper-resistant asset ID and firmware-resident hardware information (as populated by the BIOS during the last successful boot). Additional information per FRU can be stored in Intel AMT’s third-party data store by the remote management application or a third-party hardware inventory client application, which can be retrieved at any time (e.g., warranty information).

By gathering this inventory information accurately, quickly, and remotely, IT can more efficiently and effectively detect configuration drift, and manage its hardware inventories, recalls, and warranties.

In case of laptops, since all of them might not be within the corporate network (Mobile mode) or connected to the corporate LAN via VPN (Remote mode) when the inventory is taken, either some manual checking might be necessary, or the inventory might span over multiple days in order to catch all laptops connected appropriately.

The following table summarizes the features and functionality utilized in this use case that are provided by Intel AMT or enabled by Intel AMT in third-party software:

Utilizing Intel AMT in this use case reduces or eliminates the need for manual inventory audits, making asset inventory audits faster, more accurate, and more timely. Intel AMT makes this possible through remote, down-the-wire access, assuming that the platforms are either in desktop mode (AC powered, but not necessarily turned on) and connected to the corporate network via a wired connection (not over VPN)), mobile mode (within the corporate environment on wireless or battery connected (not VPN connected), or remote mode (connected via VPN - AC or DC powered and wired or wirelessly connected) to the platform's tamper-resistant, persistent asset ID and firmware-resident field-replaceable unit (FRU) list.

Inventory accuracy is improved, regardless of the platform's operating system or power state. More accurate FRU inventory information enables better management of FRU inventories, recalls, and warranties. In addition, these benefits facilitate regulatory compliance.

IT organizations can save substantially on hardware maintenance contracts (both platforms and hardware) by knowing which platforms require what maintenance levels (rather than covering them all with the most expensive option).

• Hardware Inventory Management Usage Case Implementation
• The implementation of the hardware inventory management usage case follows these steps:
  1. Regularly scheduled audit activities are initiated
  2. Audit technician uses MC to initiate a network-wide current inventory of systems
  3. MC is able to gather hostname, hardware, BIOS, FRU data from Intel AMT-enabled platforms
  4. Audit technician verifies against master inventory database and audit reports are generated

The workflow associated with this implementation is as follows:

The following tables provide an overview of Hardware Inventory APIs:

GeneralInfo APIs:

The GeneralInfo APIs provides general (read only) information for various (local or network access) management applications.

HardwareAsset APIs:

The HardwareAsset APIs perform operations that return hardware asset data. 

Remote Control APIs:

The Remote Control APIs managing the power and booting state of the Intel AMT managed system. 

ISV Storage APIs:

The ISV storage APIs are used by ISVs to access the Intel AMT non-volatile storage feature

The following SDK sample source code provides examples of Software Inventory Management:

• GeneralInfo
• ApiTest
• AssetDisplay

The following SDK Documents provide further information:

• Network Design Guide
• Storage Design Guide

§ The following assumptions underlie the analysis in this use case:

1. BIOS recognizes attached FRUs on boot.
2. ISVs have written software which writes to and utilizes the flash memory FRU list.
3. All research data was gathered from US-based global IT shops.
4. Platforms are connected to a power source (electrical outlet, battery, etc.), but the platform does not have to be powered on (Desktop mode) or are in S0 (Mobile mode) or S0/H0 (Remote mode) state and either AC or DC powered
5. Platforms are physically connected through a working Ethernet connection to the corporate LAN and not over VPN (Desktop mode) or are connected to the corporate LAN over a wireless connection and not over VPN (Mobile mode) or connected to the corporate LAN either wired or wirelessly (Remote mode) for OOB access.
6. Assumes a mostly wired environment or one where laptops are often wired.
7. Not all laptops can be discovered and inventoried at one time given that some will not be in desktop, mobile or remote mode.