Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) vPro

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) (Intel vPro) is hardware-based technology for remotely managing and securing PCs out-of-band. Currently, Intel AMT is available in desktop PCs with Intel Core2 processor with vPro technology and available in laptop PCs with centrino or centrino2 platform with vPro technology

Overview of Intel AMT

Intel AMT is hardware and firmware technology that builds certain functionalities into business PCs in order to make the PCs easier and less expensive for businesses to monitor, maintain, update, upgrade, and repair. Intel AMT is part of the Intel Management Engine, which is built into PCs with Intel vPro technology. Intel AMT is designed into a secondary processor located on the motherboard.

Remote configuration options, including certificate-based zero-touch remote configuration, USB key configuration (light-touch), and manual configuration.

AMT is not intended to be used by itself; it is intended to be used with a software management application. It gives a management application (and thus, the sys-admin who uses it) better access to the PC down the wire, in order to remotely and securely do tasks that are difficult or sometimes impossible when working on a PC that does not have remote functionality built into it.

Hardware-based AMT features in laptop and desktop PCs

Hardware-based AMT features include:

• Encrypted, remote communication channel for network traffic between the IT console and Intel AMT.
• Remote power up / power down / power cycle through encrypted WOL
• Remote boot, via integrated device electronics redirect (IDE-R).
• Console redirection, via Serial Over LAN (SOL).
• Network Isolation a PC that might be compromised or infected.
• Agent presence checking, via hardware-based, policy-based programmable timers. A “miss” generates an event; you can specify that the event generate an alert.
• Remote configuration options, including certificate-based zero-touch remote configuration, USB key configuration (light-touch), and manual configuration.

What makes Intel AMT motherboard makes Special?



Cool Features of Intel vPro Technology





To know more about this technology and features of Intel vPro refer below links:
http://www.intel.com/technology/vpro/index.htm

http://communities.intel.com/community/vproexpert

http://www.intel.com/products/vpro/index.htm

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5

App-V 4.5 is the first Microsoft-branded release of the product formerly known as SoftGrid. It includes new capabilities designed to help IT support large-scale virtualization implementations across many sites and provides multiple delivery options, including over-the-Internet application availability to meet your business needs. Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC) provides administrator-controlled virtual application communication and interaction; compliance with Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing and Secure by Default initiatives, integration with Microsoft System Center Management Products and infrastructure updates via Windows Update.

Additionally, Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services has also been updated to the same standards and now supports Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 will be available as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services

Microsoft Application Virtualization can help solve your business challenges. See more information below

	Centralized Management, Scalable Infrastructure Publish, deploy, and manage your virtual applications while leveraging your existing technology investments and software distribution processes.
	Readily Accessible Applications Deliver applications that meet the needs of your users regardless of whether they are in the office, on the road, in a remote site, or holding a meeting at the local coffee shop.
	Simplify Application Deployment, Reduce End User Interruptions Give your staff time back for other projects by reducing test cycles and delivering applications more quickly to your end users while providing seamless application updates that don’t require reboots.
	Dynamic Application Virtualization Turn physical applications into virtual applications that are never installed but can seamlessly communicate with the local operating system, middleware, plug-ins, and other applications.

For additional understanding of the App-V infrastructure and virtualization see the Overview of App-V 4.5 Technologies

April deadlines for Windows XP, Office 2003 product support

Folks itz the time to upgrade your older Microsoft Windows and Office products

Next month marks the deadlines for support — in some cases, free support, in other cases, paid — for a handful of older Microsoft Windows and Office products. Ref Support Life cycle Index

Windows 2000: Free support ended June 30, 2005; paid support ends on July 13, 2010. Service Pack 3 was retired on June 30, 2005. No more SPs planned.

Windows XP SP2: Service pack will be retired on July 13, 2010.

Windows XP SP3: Service pack due to be retired two years after SP4 (if there is one) releases or in April 2014, whichever comes first.

Windows Vista Business: Free support ends on April 10, 2012; paid support ends on April 11, 2017.

Windows Vista SP1: Service pack will be retired two years after the release of SP2 (which is expected in April 2009), so likely in April 2011

Office 2003 SP3: Service pack will be retired one year after SP4 (if there is one, which is doubtful) is released or in August 2014, whichever comes first.

Office 2007: Free support ends on April 10, 2012; paid support ends on April 11, 2017.

Office 2007 SP1: Service pack will be retired a year after SP2 debuts, so likely in April 2010.

Windows Server 2008: Free support ends September 7, 2013; paid support ends October 7, 2018.

Installing Win7 using a USB Stick

The below video shows, how you can install Win7 on notebooks. Which do not normally come with a DVD Drive. The video shows you how to prepare a USB drive with the installation bits and install from it.

Go through the Video in Below Link:

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Installing-Win7-using-a-USB-Stick/

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)

Overview:

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) helps IT professionals improve control of their desktop environments with a comprehensive set of tools to help IT professionals move their organization’s desktop strategy from a basic infrastructure maturity level to a dynamic maturity level. This document provides a basic technical overview of the tools included in MDOP. A discussion on how each tool helps organizations move through the infrastructure optimization model is also provided so that IT professionals and managers can better understand how MDOP can benefit the organization as a whole.

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows XP

Download the Guide in below link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bf5c4b63-b484-4003-9343-f497fc8c9fb3&displaylang=en

See a Video Overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/videos/mdop_sa.asx

Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs

Explore the new and updated features in Windows 7, from AppLocker to the Problem Steps Recorder, with short video screen casts in below link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/hi-in/windows/dd320282(en-us).aspx

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP)

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning is an agent less toolkit that will find computers on a network and perform a detailed inventory of the computers using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), the Remote Registry Service, or the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The data and analysis provided by this toolkit can significantly simplify the planning process for migrating to Windows Vista®, Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Server® 2008, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 (formerly SoftGrid), Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Online Services, Forefront and Network Access Protection, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, and Virtual Server 2005 R2. Assessments for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista also include device driver availability and recommendations for hardware upgrades that may be required.
MAP includes features for gathering performance metrics from computers you are considering for consolidation using Hyper-V in addition to Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. Using the performance metrics and a model virtual server host computer, you can generate reports that recommend placement of the physical servers in a virtual server environment. Other new reports include a Security Center Assessment for client computers, a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 inventory report as well as an enhanced virtual machine inventory report to help you assess your virtualization efforts to date. MAP incorporates the assessment features provided by the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator, including localization of the Windows Vista assessment reports in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

System Requirements:

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Professional Edition
  

• Hardware Requirements:
  

>1.6-GHz or faster processor minimum (dual-core for Windows Vista)

> 1.5 GB of RAM minimum (2.0GB for Windows Vista)

> 1 GB of available hard-disk space required

>10/100 Mbps network adapter required

• Software Requirements: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition for storing inventory and assessment data. Microsoft Word 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Excel 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Excel 2007 for generating reports..NET Framework v3.5SP1,Windows Installer v4.5


• CPU Architecture: The Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit can be installed on 32-Bit and 64-bit versions of any of the supported operating systems.
  

For more Details:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx
For Downloading MAP Toolkit:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=67240b76-3148-4e49-943d-4d9ea7f77730&displaylang=en