Feature Advantages - Intel AMT and ASF part 5 (final)

By Shmuel Gershon (Intel) (8 posts) on January 10, 2008 at 4:33 pm

It's been a long time... :)
There are many excuses I can come up for the time without posts, but not one is good enough... For example, I could 'blame' the birth of my new son, but Joey used the same situation as a writing subject, so that would make a lousy excuse now ;) .

Pretexts aside, here is the 5th and last segment of the manageability comparison between ASF and Intel AMT.

After we covered the differences between the common features of both technologies (see part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4), today we'll see which features are inexistent in ASF, but are part of the feature set of Intel AMT.

All the articles in this sequence relate to Intel AMT up to its version 3.0, and while they're not the ultimate complete-feature-listing of what's in Intel AMT, they list what's relevant when contrasting Intel AMT with another solution.
For a very good explanation and list of the Intel AMT features in its different versions, a good page is the "Intel AMT SDK - Start Here!" guide. There you'll find explanations about the features and a cool table, check it out.
In the end of this post, I present my own diagram to summarize what we've been talking in this 5-posts series. Together, the two tables draw a very clear picture of the Intel AMT feature set.
So let's dive into...

ASF Vs Intel AMT part 5 - Capability distinctions

  1. Event Log
    • In the context of our posts, this is one major advance of Intel AMT over ASF.
    • ASF (== Alert Standard Format) was built specially for Alerts but nonetheless does not provide a method for logging events, or retrieving old ones -- more than that, the ASF rules say that alerts of a alert-triggering-event that happens and comes back to normal while there was no network (and thus no way of transmitting the alerts) are to be ignored and not communicated.
    • Intel AMT, on he other hand, lets IT Managers to log any event which happens (or filter specific events that should be logged)
  2. Discover - HW Inventory and (3rd Party) Data Storage
    • The ASF specification does not define any asset control or querying functionality, but Intel AMT provides methods of querying (and in consequence, monitoring) the platform hardware and software inventory. Intel AMT stores hardware information automatically, and any other desired asset information (software related, for example) can be stored by customized software applications.
  3. Heal and Protect - System Defense and Agent Presence
    • "Intel AMT with System Defense reduces exposure to virus infections by containing outbreaks and software tampering on the managed client, sealing the infected network element from the rest of the network. The Agent Presence capability detects whether critical applications such as anti-virus or software inventory programs are running. If they are not, Intel AMT can send a report immediately to an IT console and, if necessary, isolate the platform until an IT technician remedies the problem."
    • The text above is copied from the overview page :), so clear it is. As you may imagine, there's nothing close to these functions in ASF.

For more differences and comparisons, here is my own summary table -- I say "my own", because it is a personal non-official non-endorsed attempt at organizing the topics. I may be changing the contents if I receive corrections!

Manageability Stages

Thanks! I hope the series are useful!
The subject had a lot of popularity, with thousand of readers... So don't hesitate to comment or ask -- or asking for more -- although as of now this the last post of the series, if there are questions I'll of course address them in a sixth installment.

Posts in the series:
- ASF and Intel AMT - Spot the differences (part 1)
- ASF vs. Intel AMT part 2 - Technology differences
- More technology distinctions - Intel AMT vs. ASF, part 3
- Between Intel AMT and ASF, part 4
- Feature Advantages - Intel AMT and ASF part 5

Categories: Manageability, Software Engineering

Comments (2) Comments RSS Feed

By Software Alerts on January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
links from TechnoratiNabaztag knock-off… but it loves you. Don't build PC Gizmo cry — let it ready you to IMs, emails, VoIP calls, and its insatiable need for hugs. See PC Gizmo do its thing in the video ... Software Review & News - http://blog.lexprog.comFeature Advantages - Intel AMT and ASF part 5 (final)By Shmuel Gershon (Intel) ASF (== Alert Standard Format) was built specially for Alerts but nonetheless does not provide a method for logging events, or retrieving old ones -- more than that, the ASF rules say that

By Блоги Intel® Software Network » Top 5 ISN Blogs в январе on January 29th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] серию своих мегапопулярных статей со сравнительным анализом технологий Intel AMT и ASF. В предыдущих частях (1, 2, 3, 4), Шмюэль рассказал об [...]


What do you think?

Name (required)

Email (required; will not be displayed on this page)

Your URL (optional)

Comments (required)