HP Teams with Intel to Remotely Manage Laptops

The company exploits the new Centrino Pro technology to ease notebook management.

Hewlett Packard will chime in on Intels Centrino Pro launch on May 9 with greater manageability for laptops using the new mobile processor technology. HP worked early on with Intel to allow IT administrators to secure and manage notebook PCs across a variety of wireless devices, according to Lee Bailey, manager in the client manageability solutions group at HP, in Nashville, Tenn.
The enhanced HP Change and Configuration Center console can now use Centrino Pro technology "to do out of band management over wireless," he said. A new Out of Band Management Console in the HP software can be used to power devices on in order to deploy patches or perform troubleshooting remotely over a wireless link. "If a device wont boot up, we can turn it on and cause it to remote boot to a different OS located elsewhere on the network using [Intels] Integrated Drive Electronics Redirection," said Bailey. "IDER redirect is an important building block of our Active Management Technology that can be used with other pieces of hardware and software to create a mobile client that can be managed," said Mike Trainor, chief mobile technology evangelist at Intel, in Santa Clara, Calif. The aim of the new HP out-of-band management feature is to help improve security by allowing faster deployment of patches to mobile devices and isolating infected PCs based on IT policies; speed troubleshooting and repair of remote devices by giving technicians access to the devices even when they are powered off or when the operating system is unresponsive; and reduce the number of deskside visits required of technicians to maintain notebooks. Click here to read more about HPs new notebooks with the Intel Centrino Pro processor. The new Out of Band Management Console, which works with HPs Configuration Management Solution and Client Configuration Manager, is due in early June as a free upgrade for existing customers. It works with both Intel vPro processor technology in desktop PCs and the Centrino Pro processor technology for notebooks. Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news in desktop and notebook computing.