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HOT TOPIC: MANAGEABILITY

Extending Intel® AMT to Embedded Devices

Narendira Kumar
Intel® vPro™ Platform Solution Architect

Many users of intelligent connected embedded systems clearly understand that Intel® vPro™ technology¹ offers compelling benefits in their day-to-day environments.

Because Intel® vPro™ technology was originally designed for business desktop and laptop computers, some have the preconceived idea that Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT),² the manageability technology built into Intel® Core™ vPro™ processors, might be difficult to deploy in connected embedded devices.

If I leave you with just a single point, it is that Intel® AMT is capable of meeting many of the unique requirements of today’s intelligent connected embedded systems.

In many cases Intel® AMT can be used in an embedded environment as-is, while in other applications some changes may be required. In these cases, Intel®’s vPro™ technology architects have the expertise needed to adapt the technology as needed. We understand that some embedded devices and applications have unique requirements, and in these situations we work with our engineering teams to help find appropriate solutions.

The key point is that embedded end-users, IT outsourcers, and service providers who are using the technology today are reaping the benefits of reduced operational costs.

These cost benefits explain why Intel® vPro™ technology is steadily gaining traction with end-users and service providers in retail, digital signage, healthcare, digital security surveillance and over two dozen other embedded market segments.

Intel® vPro™ technology: right for embedded

Intel case studies based on real-world deployments and pilot programs show that 85 percent of software related trouble tickets can be diagnosed and repaired remotely.³

We can also demonstrate how the ability to turn off groups of networked devices securely after-hours and turn them back on at the start of the next business day can save significant energy usage and boost return on investment for network users.

Among the most compelling benefits of Intel® vPro™ technology are in-band and out-of-band management capabilities that enable end-user IT staffs, IT outsourcing (ITO) providers and managed service providers (MSPs) to diagnose and repair many software-related issues without a service visit.

In the enterprise space, MSPs are reporting impressive results⁴:

When you consider that the cost of an onsite visit can range from $60 to $100 per hour, and a digital signage trouble call can be as much as $2,000 depending on the location, it’s easy to understand why Intel® AMT makes sense.

The benefits are not limited to problem resolution. Intel® AMT can help maximize service availability with automated proactive alerts that identify issues before they grow to become problems that require repairs. These include alerts about missing or disabled software, memory usage, hard drive health, fans, and power supplies.

Security is extremely important in embedded segments, and Intel® AMT delivers benefits here as well by facilitating the remote deployment of critical software patches. While Intel® AMT cannot do the actual software patching it paves the way. For instance, if a computer is shut down, a technician cannot patch it unless the system is powered back up. Intel® AMT allows the technician to wake up the system remotely and then use in-band tools to accomplish the patching.

In addition, Intel® vPro™ technology provides hardware-based filters that can isolate a compromised device and keep malware from spreading to other devices on the network, while maintaining a highly secure connection, based on transport layer security (TLS), to enable remediation of the affected device.

Simplifying deployment and configuration

While embedded users and service providers are aware of these benefits, we are consistently being asked how to implement the technology: specifically how to make Intel® AMT work with networked embedded devices, and whether Intel® AMT fits with the manageability consoles that users may already have.

The good news for the embedded community is that Intel provides support capabilities that let you add Intel® AMT capabilities to many existing management consoles.

For example, the Intel® AMT Software Development Kit (SDK) supports C and C#, which simplifies adaptation of Intel® AMT to a console based on these programming languages. We also provide an abstracted version of the SDK that enables users to efficiently and rapidly extend Intel® AMT to their legacy console using high-level APIs. And Intel® AMT can be extended easily to consoles that support scripting.

Implementing a standalone console is another approach that can accelerate the implementation process. We provide the Intel® Manageability Reference Console for this purpose. It consists of pluggable software modules that simplify deployment to meet particular sets of requirements. In some cases, this is the most cost-effective path to take when you are ready to ‘end-of-life’ an existing console to minimize support issues.

Because Intel® AMT has wide deployment in enterprise networks based on DNS servers with dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), embedded users often ask us whether Intel® AMT also works in a static IP mode. It does.

Building blocks for embedded manageability

At Intel we are consistently working to develop Intel® vPro™ technology-based solutions to address the specific embedded requirements, such as mapping Intel® AMT to work with headless unattended devices.

We are also adapting KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) technology to provide a remote view of what is happening in real time inside the device and the operating system. While it is not applicable to every embedded segment, KVM can be valuable in applications like digital signage and digital security surveillance, where it lets you see the feeds from individual cameras.

Intel also has outstanding online tools, collateral and other resources for remote manageability in embedded applications. Visiting our Intel® vPro™ Software Development site is a great place to start. Here you can ask technical questions while at the same time protecting the confidentiality of your solution.

Providing support for IT outsourcing is another area of focus at Intel. We are engaging with the ITO and MSP community, providing resources for organizations who are serving small to medium business in addition to larger enterprises.

Intel’s resource site for Managed Service Providers provides activation guidelines, case studies, technical collateral and recommended best practices for achieving significant cost reductions through remote services and remediation.

Intel teams are demonstrating the latest remote management technologies, and we provide the building blocks that enable ITO organizations to integrate technologies faster. Our goal is to make Intel® vPro™ technology even easier to deploy and implement, and we are doing it with host-based configuration as well as configuration tools that can be sent as patches to Intel® AMT-based systems

I want to leave you with this essential thought: Intel® vPro™ technology, like other Intel technologies, can support many of the unique requirements of embedded systems.

Whether you are an embedded user or an ITO, if you are interested in achieving the reliability, security and cost-savings of remote manageability for your embedded application, we have the technology building blocks, tools and best practices to make it work.