topic Re: Exploring alternative Operating Systems in Intel vPro® Platform

Exploring alternative Operating Systems

idata — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:39:16 GMT

I have decided to use Intel processors and chipsets on our new notebook computers, and employ vPro technology on our Intranet., and I am about to start exploring use of alternative operating systems for use on notebook computers.

We are running Windows XP Pro on our notebooks and desktops, and we have a Linux based server that supports an Intranet with about 50 remote users.

I have a 300GB external hard drive on which I thought I would install two virtual environments, one for Ubuntu and the other for Vista. Please advise how to set this up. What not to do. What are the critical issues, and how to evaluate performance.

I realize this is a broad subject, but I thought it would be interesting to see where the discussion goes.

Re: Exploring alternative Operating Systems

Terry_C_Intel — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:57:30 GMT

A broad question\request indeed.

The core Intel AMT management engine will operate regardless of the client operating system. For full functionality - OS based drivers and services are recommended and can be obtained from supporting OEM websites. For Linux based client operating systems - check out http://www.openamt.org

for the infrastructure - any DHCP and DNS solution with support for DHCP option 15, dynamic DNS updates, and so forth works. Most of the environments I've worked with are Microsoft DNS and DHCP based. Have also worked with DHCP services provided by Cisco routing switch or UNIX based servers. This seems to be work fine.

For enterprise mode - you'll need some type of setup and configuration application. The Intel SCS - which some management console use - is built on a Windows2003 environment.

If using TLS - you'll need a Microsoft Certificate Authority environment if using Intel SCS. If using planning to use Kerberos Authentication - you'll need a Microsoft Windows 2003 Active Directory environment.

How's that for a start?

Re: Exploring alternative Operating Systems

idata — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:25:44 GMT

Have available notebook computer and external hard drive with the following specs. Where should I obtain OS based drivers and services?

Operating system: Windows XP Professional, version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600

System manufacturer: Intel

System model: Calistoga & ICH7M Chipset

System type: x86-based PC

Processor: x86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping & Genuine Intel ~1829 Mhz

BIOS Version/Date Pheonix Technologies LTD Q 3B81, 10/30/2006

SMBIOS Version 2.4

Total Physical Memory 2,048 MB

Internal hard drive Seagate, ST9160821A, 160GB

External hard drive Seagate ST330063, 300GB

Re: Exploring alternative Operating Systems

Brian_Cockrell — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:58:56 GMT

WinXP professional drivers can be found here for your 945 based mobile chipset:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=2300&OSFullName=Windows*XPProfessional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go%21

This web page is also useful to find drivers for different operating systems for Intel chipsets:

http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/software/driver/index.htm# q965

Re: Exploring alternative Operating Systems

idata — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:34:59 GMT

Thank you for replying to my post. I appreciate your help. I am eagar to develop the ability to pro-actively monitor remote clients and unobtrusively solve technical problems, so our users can stay focused on their jobs. vPro will be included on our new notebooks.

Since my last post I haved changed my host operating system from Microsoft to a Linux based system. What brought this about is the realization that Virtual machines must be able to get the time updates they need from the host. Since Linux is faster, I decided to virtualize Windows. I realize timekeeping in virtual machines is a complex subject that I would like to understand it more clearly.

I am about to download Ubuntu 7.4 and intstall it on a notebook computer I have available. The system has an Intel Pentium M processor, 2MHz, 2GB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive, and an Intel 2915abg WLAN adapter. First I am going to clean-up the hard drive and run diagnostics before making the installation.

After installing Ubuntu as the host operating system I plan to install VMware server and create two virtual environments. One environemt will be used to simulate a notebook computer running Windows XP Professional and where speech recognition is used to build a personal database. A Polycom Communicator (combination microphone/speaker) attached to the USB port, is the primary input device for audio communication. The other simulated environment is a notebook computer running Windows XP Pro 64-bit. This notebook is used by a mobile worker who primarily works outside the office. He uses a Blackberry handheld device.

What scripting tool do you recommend I use for my project in order to dispense information to remote clients? Are there Demos I can watch? Is there any online training available?

I believe to take maximum advantage of vPro technology I need to develop appropriate client profiles, and needs constantly change. What issues should I be concerned with, and what tools should I install to make evaluations in my virtual environments?

Message was edited by: kcav45