Clearspace Server Syndication Feed

Time to get activating - but wait.. is it Secure?

josh.hilliker — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:44:00 GMT

I was recently asked about the security of vPro and Intel Active Management Technology, therefore I started to pull together all the resources I leverage when discussing this topic and help to alleviate concerns of the Information Security folks in the IT shops. here are those links and if you find additional ones that help please add on to the blog.

Hardening Measures Built into Intel® Active Management Technology
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/3703.htm

AMT System Defense Usecases
http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-1278

Intel® Active Management Technology Protect Use Cases
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1031.htm

Intel® Active Management Technology Use Case #7: Hardware-Based Isolation and Recovery (Protect)
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1179.htm

If any questions on security of vPro please let me know.

Virtualization and Legacy Replacement - where there's risc there is risk

K_Lloyd — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:31:29 GMT

I recently spoke with a large financial customer that has several hundred sparc boxes ( mostly inherited from an acquisiton). These systems are a challenge in that they are aging - some running out of available maintenance, slow, old, and the expertise in the company just doesn't extend to this architecture.

They were also very proud of there virtualized Xeon architecture where they could move vm's quickly to maximize efficiency and optimize resources. I think it is time to bring these two together.

So given 500 solaris servers:
about half of these are running enterprise applications - like Oracle(tm) - that run just great under windows or linux. Move these today.
Of the other half, most of these are - performance wise - tiny servers. You could put dozens of them - maybe all of them - in VMs on just a few large xeon servers. ( Don't forget about the phenominal virtualization perofrmance on the Xeon 7400 that Intel announced last week at IDF )

So how do I move these custom solaris sparc based physical servers into my super efficient Xeon based virtual machines?
Three ways:
1) recompile the apps for solaris 10 - which runs great in a vm on your virtualized pool
2) Use transitive quicktransit and move the binaries to Solaris 10 or Linux vms in the pool
3) Move to the windows or linux version of the software, or replace it with software that does the same business function.

Presto - 500 physical legacy servers - collapsed into a more efficient, more manageable, more modern pool of resources. What will you do with all the free space?

NEBS Compliance, Enterprise Performance... a dream come true?

simonstanley — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:47:09 GMT

Embedded system designers have many fewer processor and chipset options than colleagues designing enterprise class systems. AdvancedTCA is a great platform for NEBS compliant, carrier grade systems but the 200W per blade power envelope further restricts the options for system designers. So the introduction of new processors and chipsets with lower power and extended life cycles, that have been developed with ATCA in mind, is an important development that opens up new opportunities for system designers.

With the introduction of the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 5400 Series embedded performance has moved to the next level. These 45nm devices not only integrate twice the number of cores found in a dual core 5100 series processor but also 50% more cache per core, further increasing performance. As discussed in a recent Webinar hosted by Light Reading quad core processors can dramatically increase system performance, especially in embedded applications which are usually well suited to parallel execution.

For embedded systems in general, and ATCA based systems in particular, performance per watt is a key parameter. This metric needs to be applied to a complete board implementation not just the processor, so chipset and memory are also important. The Intel® 5100 MCH chipset delivers significant power savings with DDR2 memories instead of power hungry FBDIMMS. Combining the latest quad core processors and chipsets delivers increases in performance per watt of over 70%.

According to a recent report on ATCA from Heavy Reading there are already five vendors with dual-core Intel® Xeon® Processor based ATCA blades. With the significant increase in performance per watt offered by the combination of Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 5400 Series, Intel® 5100 MCH chipset and DDR2 memory we can expect to see these vendors, and more, bringing out ATCA blades with two quad core processor devices, delivering greater than 2x performance within the 200W power envelope.

The Manageability DTK, formally known as the AMT DTK, is now available for download

dbrunton — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:52:50 GMT

The DTK is now available for download. Please note the new name: Manageability Developer Tool Kit. The Manageability DTK underwent internal review and improvements and is now available in conjunction with Intel's Open Source efforts. The compiled applications included with the Manageability DTK introduce a client limit of 20. This setting, along with other settings, options and features can be modified using the provided source code included with the Manageability DTK package. Please review the Manageability DTK release notes for a comprehensive list of updates and changes.

You can download the DTK at the following URL: http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1034.htm

For on-going DTK questions and comments, please visit the Intel Software Network and the Intel vPro Expert Center online communities.

Dialing in your Datacenter - using Intel Dynamic Power Datacenter Manager

Todd Christ — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:19:05 GMT

Everyone is talking “green-energy” and “power-efficiency” these days. Reducing carbon footprint, renewable energy, CFLs, solar power, biking instead of driving, etc… the list goes on forever. Many people are excited to do something to change power consumption, but as a server administrator - are the proper tools in place?

Many of you have probably experienced the power/efficiency example at home. When the summer gets hot - many of us run to the thermostat and set it accordingly. When it's REALLY hot outside, we tend to twist the dial cooler - knowing all along, that our electric bill will most likely be higher at the end of the billing cycle. So, what do we do?

Some of us just live with the higher bills, some of us turn off the A/C and struggle in the heat - but I'd hope that most of us set the thermostat to a 'livable' temperature - it may not be the coolest, but it's enough to do the job and keep the electricity bills at a more moderate level - in a sense, it's a happy medium. In today's modern age, thermostats are programmable - taking a lot of the guesswork out of our hands and automating many of the old day-to-day temperature functions that our parents had to follow... Intel server platforms are evolving in this realm as well!

As a server admin, do you have the tools and technologies to reduce power consumption? There are several avenues addressing this issue, and I suggest reading the post from Lori Wigle on Data Center Efficiency. The datacenter is different from the desktop… server admins aren’t likely to enable sleep states to save energy – but rather, increase utilization on fewer servers to maximize your performance output in relation to your server footprint.

When was the last time you looked at your server’s power footprint? Do you even know how much power you’re using? Some of you may have some power meters and can monitor a server (or a few servers) at a time… but how many of you can monitor a rack or servers or a datacenter?

What if this capability was built into your current generation Xeon server platform? The good news is that modern processors DO have power management capabilities. Based on the ACPI specs:

P0 Performance State
While a device or processor is in this state, it uses its maximum performance capability and may consume maximum power. Thereby the processor uses it's maximum power allocation.

P1 Performance State
In this performance power state, the performance capability of a device or processor is limited below its maximum and consumes less than maximum power.

Pn Performance State
In this performance state, the performance capability of a device or processor is at its minimum level and consumes minimal power while remaining in an active state. State n is a maximum number and is processor or device dependent. Processors and devices may define support for an arbitrary number of performance states not to exceed 16.

Each Pn State is a "notch" in the processor's performance powerband (as seen below)

As these performance notches are set, the processor will lower it's power envelope and reduce the power needed in order to save energy. Just as a note, EIST must be enabled in the BIOS for this performance enhancement to work on your platform.

If you attended Intel’s IDF (Intel Developer Forum) you may have run into a few demos in regards to Datacenter Power Management, my booth showcased 4 current generation Intel Servers based on Bensley/Starlake Xeon DP boards and Xeon 54xx Series (codename Harpertown) Processors.

Here’s a quick video showcasing the demo – and just a note - we’ll be redoing this in a higher-quality format soon – so stay tuned!

Hopefully if you’ve watched the video – you’ve got some questions! The good news is that we have a new website from the Intel Software Network that is focused on Intel® Dynamic Power Datacenter Manager. The site lists the features, system requirements, downloads, and FAQ to get you started!

I’m looking forward to your feedback and questions!

Multi-Core in the Embedded Smaller Form Factor

Jones_advantech — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:05:05 GMT

Looking at the main trends for CPU and chipset development, we see performance increasing but board and chip sizes getting smaller and smaller, this change is driven by popular demand for smaller embedded form factors. Smaller form factors help system designers integrate their solutions into a wider variety of applications. Take the advertising industry; display advertising is powered by ever-larger digital signage screens that require a robust back-end infrastructure to deliver rich media content in public spaces. Retail kiosks need powerful CPU performance to distribute engaging content and interactive solutions at the point of information and sale.

Intel 945GME-based platforms support a range of powerful multi core engines and rich I/O features. They are perfectly suited for Advantech's reliable 3.5" Biscuit embedded SBC platforms. Dual Independent displays and unique Module I/O (MIO) interface answers the need for powerful and flexible 3.5" SBCs requiring high resistance to vibration, and plenty of expansion possibilities. MIO integrates the most popular bus signals together into a high-density 160-pin connector. These bus signals include PCI, High-Speed USB 2.0, Digital Video Output (DVO), Low Pin Count (LPC), and AC97 audio.

SCCM SP1 hotfixes KB955355 & KB956337 released

miroyer — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:42:57 GMT

Microsoft has just released two additional hotfixes that address issues with System Center Configuration Manager SP1 and vPro/AMT Out of Band Management. Please reference the following WIKI for a comprehensive list of required software bundles and hotfixes for SCCM SP1 and vPro/AMT Out of Band Management: http://communities.intel.com/openport/docs/DOC-1897

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (KB955355):

Description: A distinguished name that contains more than 100 characters and that is discovered from Active Directory for an AMT host causes the SMS_EXECUTIVE service to crash in System Center Configuration Manager 2007
URL: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955355

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (KB956337):

Description: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 is unable to remove AMT user ACLs during the provisioning process for AMT 2.x computers
URL: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/956337

--Matt Royer

Happy 1st Birthday Open Port!!

KellyFeller — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:23:35 GMT

Josh thinks we should have cake. But I prefer champagne. Whatever your fancy, this week is Open Port's 1st birthday as a community destination--and we couldn't be happier about that. What a momentous occassion!

The site was born because we folks in marketing (shh, I know...marketing ) believed we needed a better way to help you--Intel customers--find and understand information about Intel products. However, suprisingly (to us, probably not you) Open Port has evolved into so much more. Although we know it's not yet perfect, the site continues to grow as more folks join our community. And I think it's only going to get better in the years to come.

So how did Open Port come into existence a year ago? Well, the infamous Bob Duffy was doing his usual "looking under the hood" of stuff and realized folks weren't connecting with the technical content that was available on the intel.com website (uh, as in traffic was pretty bad). So he looked around at some other sites, like Slashdot and Ars Technica, and realized many folks were getting their information--yes, even technical information--from each other on forums and in discussions. "What if we hosted discussions on Intel technology on our site?" Bob wondered. And the rest, they say, is history.

Open Port first launched with three "communities" or "zones:" the general community, the vPro Expert Center, and the IT@Intel community zone. We've now grown to 7 communities overall with plans to add more and re-organize the content so you, our wonderful users, will have more control over the content you see on the site.

So what are some of the highlights of the past year? Well, you'd have to ask those who've been around longer for their unique perspectives. But here are some of the things I know:

Just this year alone site visits, comments on posts, and logins have grown at about 2.5 %
User registrations for the community have climbed by 6%
More and more content is coming from you--our wonderful community--than from Intel folks...this includes our superstar technical expert Javed Lodhi who keeps answering questions in our Ask An Expert forum. Thanks and keep up the great work, Javed!
We've made some mistakes, heard your comments, and hopefully changed things for the better both here on Open Port and in our technology as well.

Josh goes into greater detail on many of the highlights and lowlights of the past year on his Happy Birthday blog so I won't bore you or steal his thunder.

What I will tell you that you may not yet realize is that Open Port represents a monumental shift in the way Intel talks with our customers and community. I say "with" purposely because in the past Intel's primary way to "get our message out" was to talk at people instead of with them. But inviting you, our community, to share your ideas with us and engage in dialogue, you not only learn from us but from each other--and we learn from you. And that, at a minimum, is enough to inspire me to raise a glass and make a toast.

Oh, and lest I forget...thank you to you and to everyone who makes this community so terrific. We couldn't do it without you!

SCCM SP1 hotfixes KB954718 & KB955126 released

miroyer — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:29:17 GMT

Microsoft has just released 2 hotfixes that address issues with System Center Configuration Manager SP1 and vPro/AMT Out of Band Management. Please reference the following WIKI for a comprehensive list of required software bundles and hotfixes for SCCM SP1 and vPro/AMT Out of Band Management: http://communities.intel.com/openport/docs/DOC-1897

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (KB954718):

Description: You cannot use the Out of Band Management console in Configuration Manager 2007 to connect to computers that use versions of Intel AMT that are earlier than version 3.2.1
URL: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954718

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (KB955126):

Description: The SMS_Executive service process (Smsexec.exe) in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 may crash if you have Intel AMT-related software installed
URL: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/955126

--Matt Royer