Intel V Pro - VPro Features

VPro Features

Intel vPro is a brand name for a set of PC hardware features. PCs with vPro have three main elements: 1) Core 2 Duo/Quad or Centrino 2 processor for business applications; 2) integrated components (such as 64-bit graphics) to reduce the number of discrete components in the system; and 3) hardware-based management and security technology (such as Intel AMT).

A vPro PC includes:

• Multi-core, multi-threaded Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad processor.
• Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), a set of hardware-based features targeted at businesses and which allow remote access to the PC for management and security tasks, when an OS is down or PC power is off. Note that AMT is not the same as Intel vPro; AMT is only one element of a vPro PC.
• Remote configuration technology for AMT, with certificate-based security. Remote configuration can be performed on "bare-bones" systems, before the OS and/or software management agents are installed.
• Wired and wireless (laptop) network connection.
• Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT), which is used to verify a launch environment and establish the root of trust, which in turn allows software to build a chain of trust for virtualized environments. Intel TXT also protects secrets during power transitions for both orderly and disorderly shutdowns (a traditionally vulnerable period for security credentials).
• Support for IEEE 802.1x, Cisco Self Defending Network (SDN), and Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) in laptops, and support for 802.1x and Cisco SDN in desktop PCs. Support for these security technologies allows Intel vPro to store the security posture of a PC so that the network can authenticate the system before the OS and applications load, and before the PC is allowed access to the network.
• Intel Virtualization Technology, including Intel VT for memory, CPU, and Directed I/O, to support virtualized environments. Intel VT is hardware-based technology, not software-based virtualization. Intel VT lets you run multiple OSs (traditional virtualization) on the same PC or run a specialized or critical application in a separate space—a virtual PC on the physical system—in order to help protect the application or privacy of sensitive information.
• Execute Disable Bit which, when supported by the OS, can help prevent some types of buffer overflow attacks.
• Support for Microsoft Windows Vista, including Microsoft Windows Vista BitLocker with a Trusted Platform Module version 1.2 and Intel graphics support for Windows Vista Aero graphical user interface.