Manage Intel vPro Enabled Desktops and Laptops From the SBS 2011 Essentials Console: Intel Small Business Manageability Add-In

We saw some screenshots of the Intel Small Business Manageability Add-In at yesterday’s Intel Channel Conference here in Edmonton.

The product will give full vPro feature access as per the page linked below.

• Intel® Small Business Manageability Add-in: What is the Intel® Small Business Manageability Add-in?
• Intel Support Page: Intel Small Business Manageability Add-in

We use Intel’s vPro/AMT based desktops and laptops throughout our client’s locations. Once vPro has been set up we can power up the unit, troubleshoot it, and have out-of-band access to the system’s firmware and logs.

The remote VNC feature is not so important for those of us in the SBS world since Remote Assistance access is built right into the SBS Console and setup or RDP access once the machine is up and running.

However, in the end, the extra cost for the out-of-band management that vPro enables for us and our clients is saved when we can work on something remotely just once. vPro is worth it.

• Intel vPro Technology Page

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Intel vPro System Defense Utility Now Available

We use the Intel System Defense Utility to manage our smaller clients that have vPro enabled workstations.

The utility gives us the ability to power cycle the system, remote boot via image for troubleshooting or OS load, and more.

It is available here: Intel System Defense Utility.

Some prep work on the workstation needs to happen prior to being able to connect with the ISDU.

• AMT password set.
• System Name.
• AMT management set to SMB versus Enterprise.
• AMT set to the newest version.

We keep a record of all of the system names and their AMT passwords.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SMB I.T. Consultants and a vPro Based Lab

This is a cross post: Intel vPro Expert Center.

One of the things we advocate when mentoring new I.T. start ups is to take "Baby Steps" in their business building processes.

One of the critical areas that the new I.T. shop needs to build up is the lab.

A simple lab setup that has a relatively low cost, but provides excellent value is the following:

• Intel DQ35JO
• Intel Q6600 or Q6450 Core 2 Quad
• 8GB Kingston KVR800D2N5K2/4G non-ECC RAM
• 2x 500GB Seagate Barracuda in RAID 1
• Antec Sonata or Minuet.
• Intel PRO/1000 PF PT Dual Port Server Adapter

This is our base configuration. Quad Core gives us the necessary power to run a number of virtual machines with 8GB giving us the space to run at least one or two server OSs and perhaps one or two desktop OSs at the same time.

The host OS to begin with is Windows Vista Business x64 with Virtual PC providing for the virtualization needs. Down the road either Server Core with the Hyper-V role installed or the new Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 can provide the host foundation.

RAID 1 via the on board controller is a first step. The second, once the consultancy has grown some, is to install a second pair of 500GB Barracudas to open up the I/O bottleneck a bit with RAID 0+1.

Licensing would be covered by the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription to begin with. TechNet Plus would provide the lab licensing further on.

Why vPro? Because, a business is very conscious of every dollar being spent during the startup and early phases of its existance. Active Management Technology provides a simple but effective way to faciltiate reduced expenses.

While the DQ35JO may cost a bit more than say a Classic series board out of the box, those extra dollars are returned very quickly in two ways:

• Power savings by having the lab system or systems off while not in use.
• The consultant can fire up that lab system when they are not in their office.

The built-in hardware support for virtualization is also a key feature.

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 or 2008 provides an SSL secured remote access method to the internal network via the Remote Web Workplace.

The methodology is quite simple:

• Log on to RWW as a domain admin.
• Log onto the server via "Connect to my Server" link.
• Use the Intel System Defense Utility to connect to the lab system and power it up.
• Log off SBS and RWW.
• Log onto RWW as the lab user
• Connect to the lab system via the "Connect to my computer" link.

Once logged onto the lab system's desktop the consultant is good to go with whatever tasks they are looking to test on the lab setup.

Prior to vPro and AMT, we were leaving our lab systems online all of the time. We had to, as there was no guarantee that the lab would be needed while on-site working on a critical issue. And, if a problem arose where the lab system had locked up, there was no way to power cycle the system.

For us, vPro and AMT just make cents!

UPDATE 2008-10-22: Adapter was the wrong model, and added the Kinston part number.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Intel AMT - Active Management Technology and vPro gives us the edge

Having the ability to work with servers, workstations, and now laptops at a level where the machine's current power state is irrelevant can give us the edge when it comes to managing our client's networks.

Intel's AMT, or Active Management Technology, gives us that edge.

Using a simple tool like Intel's System Defense Utility, we are able to power cycle a system, redirect the boot source to a network based image, and more.

All of Intel's Q series Executive desktop boards and any of the new Centrino vPro series laptops have AMT built in.

Out of the box, we need to enable it in the system's BIOS, setup a new password (default out of the box: admin), and configure AMT for either an Enterprise environment where management servers will exist, or Small Business which essentially means it is stand alone.

Add a product like Microsoft's System Center Essentials to the mix along with Intel's AMT management pack, and we have an excellent foundation for our Managed Services solution.

While problems with the AMT setup are rare, they do happen.

We had a new Acer 6592G series laptop hiccup after the AMT was initialized and we had finished setting up the client's apps. On a reboot, a red flash went by where the AMT messages should have been. It took a number of tries to get to the message: AMT Error was all it said.

A call to Acer's support line, and subsequently into their top tier support people, and we needed to RMA the laptop. There was no simple way to reset the BIOS, TPM, and AMT.

Some AMT links:

• Intel vPro Expert Center
• Intel Active Management Technology
• Intel AMT Quick Reference Guide (PDF)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Intel DQ965GF - Error on PCI Simple Communications Controller in Device Manager

We just completed a StoragCraft ShadowProtect v3 P2P migration of our data mule system from an Intel D945GTP series with a Pentium D 2.8GHz plugged into it to an Intel DQ965GFEKR series with an E6600 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo plugged in.

Other than a hiccup with the recovery portion of the P2P transfer (will blog about that in a separate post), things went relatively well.

After installing all of the updated drivers into Windows XP Pro SP2 on the system, we still had an error in the Device Manager: PCI Simple Communications Controller - Drivers not installed.

The other message we were getting, which was wrong, was from the AMT driver: AMT is not enabled. We set it up in the BIOS, so the above error was somehow tied to the AMT setup.

In the Device Manager, the PCI Simple Communications Controller did not give us any indication as to what it was though.

The solution was pretty simple though:

Intel Support Site

One needed to find out what the device was and download the driver via Intel's support site!

Intel site links:

• Desktop Boards: Error on PCI Simple Communications Controller in Device Manager
• Intel Download Locations for: Intel® ME: Management Engine Interface Driver (32bit only)

If the download link does not work, then click the link above it to hit Intel's Download Finder site and search for the Management Engine Interface Driver. Many results for the same file will come up.

Install the driver, reboot the system, and the AMT message will now indicate that AMT is enabled if it was during board setup.

UPDATE: Note that for Vista x64 and DQ965GF and DQ35JOE boards, one needs to hit the following download links:

• DQ35JOE Windows Vista x64 Downloads
• Intel® ME: Management Engine Interface Driver

Note that the 64bit version in the second link will work for both boards.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

System Builder Tip: DQ35JOE, DQ965GF and Active Management Technology

Notes from the Intel Channel Conference Lite (ICC) in Red Deer, Alberta. To keep things simple and easy to search for there will be several posts covering different Intel product areas.

Since the release of the Q series Executive desktop boards, Intel has really poured on about Active Management Technology (AMT) that is built into the Executive series boards.

When we started building on the DQ965GF series board, AMT was an attractive element to the new Executive series boards.

But, at that time there was one problem to the whole thing: When we were investigating the product and its features, it was indicated to us that we were going to need to outlay a large sum of money on third party applications to get the whole thing working. And, due to the newness of AMT, they were not kidding. So, we essentially left it alone.

Today, things have changed ... or at least they have for us. We were give a pretty good explanation of the features and benefits of AMT:

AMT Features & Benefits (Intel's site)

From Out of Band management which is no power or OS to the system needed to connect and work with the system at the BIOS level, to rIDE (Redirect IDE) which can redirect a system to boot from an ISO hidden on the system's hard drive to restore it back to the image state there are some pretty neat features.

The ability to manage a system right down to the minutiae is possible with AMT.

The first thing one must know is that AMT on the Q series desktop boards is disabled out of the box. One must go into the BIOS and set a password to access the AMT features.

Once that has been done, one can access some simple management features by directing a Web browser to http://192.168.22.227:16992 (IP or system name works with port 16992).

We don't have a screen shot yet, as we don't have any of our DQ965GF/DQ35JOE AMT features activated! We will make sure to activate them on JOE (previous blog post) when we get back to the shop though.

One other aspect of AMT that came to light today: There is a free utility from Intel that can be used to manage any Q based system with AMT activated on the LAN.

The utility is called the System Defense Utility. It does not offer remote access from outside the LAN, but it is definitely a step in the right direction for managing a number of AMT activated systems.

Here is a screen shot:

Intel System Defense Utility

So, we have the ability to get to the system via a Web browser, or the System Defense Utility independent of any OS being active or not. While these means of managing systems are excellent in and of themselves, the thing that should get us to stand up and take note is: AMT management features are available to Microsoft System Center Essentials (SCE).

Why is this important to us? Because SCE is included with SBS 2008 Cougar! (Microsoft's SBS FAQ) and, SCE will also now be included and licensed with the new "R" code Intel Server Boards ( previous ICC blog post).

Think about the possibilities that this integration gives us. With SCE, we should be able to funnel all of our client's system telemetry into our shop for at-a-glance management. We can charge monthly fees for this service. Or, we can augment our Platinum Level Managed Services Agreement (Karl Palachuk's excellent series on converting an I.T. business model to a Managed Services model in a Month) with these management features if we haven't already done so.

Being that we are a small shop, we prioritize all of the info that passes by us. In this case, we will be giving our investigations into AMT a top priority. Why? Because we can augment our already comprehensive preventative maintenance services we provide our clients with the ability to deepen our proactive management of their systems.

By the way, some laptop models are now being shipped with AMT built in. They will have "Centrino Pro" indicated on them. Keep that in mind when quoting clients that are primarily running their businesses on laptops. It would not be too difficult to justify the additional costs on the laptop with a demonstration of what AMT can do for them and for our ability to be there for them.

Links:

• Intel's Active Management Technology product site.
• AMT at Wikipedia provides an excellent explanation as well.

More to come...

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.