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Intel KVM: This is your SOL on Steroids

By Shmuel Gershon (Intel) (26 posts) on October 18, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Intel AMT lets you connect to your managed computer remotely. SOL lets you connect to its COM port and control selected input/output. Nothing new there, right?
In the last IDF, Intel pulled back the curtain on a revolutionary feature: Intel KVM. KVM stands for "Keyboard, Video and Mouse", and it lets you control the, er, keyboard video and mouse of a remote station.

Out Of Band KVM is no triviality. Imagine your PC user calls you with a connectivity problem: You can ask her questions about the system... or you can use Intel KVM to control her system, seeing her screen and controlling her mouse -- discovering that the network driver isn't installed is a breeze, and fixing it is as simple as inserting the installation disc in your own machine and executing it through IDER (previous Intel AMT features are, of course, available concomitantly).

Intel KVM will show you the entire remote desktop in any case, even in a BSoD, or with a missing hard-disk or CPU.  As much as this is exciting, this sounds scary: what if users want some privacy?
Well, all and any KVM connection starts with a secure graphic output containing a secure password, and this password is required in order to make the connection. This means that there is no Intel KVM session unless the computer user is now in front of the screen and willing to give control. The remote session is indicated to the user, and he has also full control to halt the session at once at the press of a mouse. Reviewed by an internal privacy review board, the technology is planned to be friendly to IT Managers and users alike.

This new feature will be available in some of the 2010 platforms, and is an incredibly useful addition to the other manageability (and remote desktop or KVM) solutions IT shops already have in their toolbox.
In a recent demonstration I performed for local IT Managers, the reception was overwhelming! Instead of performing this full demo on the web, I'll let you with this teaser.

We'll be soon posting on this blogs new information about this technology (with videos!). Stay tuned, it is going to be an exciting topic!

Categories: Manageability & Security
Tags: active management technology, AMT, Intel, kvm, Manageability, Remote Management, SOL, Steroids

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Comments (8)

October 19, 2009 8:40 AM PDT Gael Holmes Hofemeier (Intel) Total Points: 23,389 Black Belt

Thanks for posting this Shmuel!

October 19, 2009 2:11 PM PDT Shmuel Gershon (Intel) Total Points: 2,750 Registered User

Gael, I hope to be posting some better examples of the technology in the near future. I bet this will be one ofthe favourite features for ISVs and end users (soon: "I <3 KVM" t-shirts?).

October 19, 2009 4:40 PM PDT Jim Corrigan

Well Done! This enhancement is fantastic. So it is a hardware and firmware enhancement, yes? Might you be able to tell me When will Apple allow their Intel servers and desktops to integrate with AMT? We would like to offer our EMSER technology to Intel to use a means to gain access to a command line for Windows, Linux, and All major UNIX vendors. Using our technology will mean users will no longer need Console Servers! Please let me know what you think of the EMSER white paper I emailed to you. Again, great enhancement and I want the t-shirt when it is available :-) - On the back it should have cable clutter with a big circle with a line thru it - saying "NO more cable Clutter!" Jim

October 22, 2009 10:53 AM PDT Collin C. MacMillan

Will AMT include a facility for Media-over-IP to manage remote BIOS updates & CD-ROM booting? Cheers! Collin C. MacMillan http://blog.solori.net

October 26, 2009 10:10 AM PDT Shmuel Gershon (Intel) Total Points: 2,750 Registered User

Jim, yes, the new feature was implemented in firmware, using the hardware from the newer machines. I am afraid I am not able to tell you when Apple will provide Intel AMT in their systems :), both because we can't disclose information on our roadmap, and because I don't know! :) Thanks for commenting -- If we ever print the sirts, I'll make sure to save one for our commenters here :)

October 26, 2009 10:16 AM PDT Shmuel Gershon (Intel) Total Points: 2,750 Registered User

Collin: Intel AMT provides what is called IDE-Redirection - it maps a drive (floppy or CD) over IP, and registers it locally as one of the devices of the machine. The managed system 'sees' the drive as one of its local drives. An IT Manager can then load an application from this drive, or even reboot the machine and make it boot from it.

December 11, 2009 6:00 AM PST Ghosh

Is it backward compatible with previous versions of AMT..as it is or needs some updates to work with the earlier AMT versions.

December 18, 2009 4:52 AM PST Shmuel Gershon (Intel) Total Points: 2,750 Registered User

Ghosh, this is a great question! As the KVM feature needs the new capabilities programmed in the hardware of the new platofrms, old Intel AMT platforms will not present the KVM feature.

Trackbacks (3)

• Intel Software Network Blogs » New video, Community Member at Large Chosen, Odds and Ends…
  November 4, 2009 8:44 PM PST
• New video, Community Member at Large Chosen, Odds and Ends…
  November 5, 2009 2:20 AM PST
• Intel KVM: This is your SOL on Steroids | Rachna
  November 9, 2009 8:37 AM PST

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