Intel offers sneak peek at vPro upgrade

Intel's 2010 vPro platform is due in February

Intel has been showing off some of the capabilities of its new vPro platform ahead of the official launch on 4 February.

Security has been given a big boost with software hardwired into the system, and Intel has added remote management tools to allow IT support to predict and deal with problems.

"VPro was spawned in 2004 with a view to help IT administrators redeem costs, " said Brian Tucker, director of marketing for Intel's business client platforms. "But the improvements are not just about IT. It is also about improving employee productivity."

Tucker explained that, after four desktop and three laptop iterations of vPro, the new platform will offer significant improvements when the full specs are released next month.

The 2010 vPro platform will include the first update to Intel's Anti-Theft technology, which allows IT administrators to shut down an internet connected PC automatically. Hard drive encryption keys can also be disabled remotely.

Intel demonstrated the system using WinMagic's SecureDoc software, but vPro is compatible with other vendors' offerings, such as Absolute Software's LoJack system previewed at CES this year.

The platform will have full support for Advanced Encryption Standard New Instruction, and Intel showed how this gave a 3.5 times performance boost for a Core i5 system over an original vPro platform.

VPro 2010 will allow managers to access a hard drive remotely regardless of power state. The administrator asks the user for a code and this allows remote access and diagnostics.

Intel also demonstrated its Aternity remote monitoring software which uses vPro to dynamically monitor applications and locate heavy flow areas on the network, allowing IT managers to take remedial action.