Intel Showcases Mobile System Management

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August 04, 1998 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Jennifer Hagendorf Follett ,

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel previewed Monday new system-management capabilities for mobile systems at its Wired for Management Summit, held here.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company (company profile) demonstrated management features for notebook systems that allow for remote system wake-up and universal network boot. These features enable remote, off-hour administration and configuration of mobile systems via LAN or telephone line, said Terry Dickson, director of Intel's Wired for Management Initiative.

The new features, which are being implemented now, bring remote management to all three segments of enterprise computing: desktop PCs, servers, and now notebook computers, said Dickson.

Intel spearheads the initiative, an industrywide push to lower total cost of ownership (TCO) by enabling remote management of enterprise systems, with the support of vendors such as Computer Associates, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Compaq, Toshiba, and Gateway.

Industrywide, 28 major vendors ship Wired for Management technology on 139 systems, officials said.

System management "is one of the few problems addressed by the whole industry," said Dickson, noting that interest in TCO has dropped only because the problem has been addressed so effectively, leaving IT managers free to concentrate on other plaguing issues such as year 2000 compliance.

In a separate demonstration Monday, Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates used Wired for Management technology to perform remote disaster recovery on servers. Using the technology, IT managers can both diagnose and repair servers that crash or are in distress, said Dickson.

Intel also introduced the latest version of its management software, LANDesk Client Manager 3.3, which extends system management capabilities to existing systems, he said.