Novell today announced support for Intel* Active Management Technology (AMT) in the next version of Novell® ZENworks®, due in the first half of 2005. As a result, customers using ZENworks with Intel AMT will significantly reduce the time required to re-image replaced or upgraded system hardware, increasing productivity for both IT administrators and end users. Novell today also announced it will incorporate support for Intel Virtualization Technology into future versions of SUSE LINUX-based servers and desktops.
Novell ZENworks Support for Intel AMT
System information required for an efficient rebuild is stored on the hard drive and can be lost when the hard drive is replaced as organizations make routine system updates or need to repair a machine that has locked up. Intel AMT solves this problem by providing nonvolatile memory in which to store the unique machine ID. ZENworks will be able to identify the machine, not only while a hard drive is inoperable but also after the drive is replaced, and automatically restore the appropriate image. This includes the device personality, system settings, group policies, security settings, and previously delivered updates and applications.
“For most organizations, the process of rebuilding systems where hard drive failures or upgrades have occurred is a logistical nightmare for both the administrator and the end user,” said David Litwack, Novell senior vice president and general manager for Identity-Driven Products. “Using ZENworks with Intel AMT will automate and speed up hard drive replacement and re- imaging, ultimately increasing IT efficiency and minimizing the downtime for users.”
Novell ZENworks provides the ability to store information and image identification on the device hard drive, allowing administrators to centrally manage when a machine should be re-imaged. Intel AMT enhances ZENworks by storing that information on the processor, allowing image management with network devices even when the hard drive is replaced. Novell also uniquely leverages the AMT architecture by applying ZENworks’ powerful, policy-driven automation to hardware re-imaging and recovery.
Hans Geyer, Intel vice president and general manager of the Networking and Storage Group, said, “We’re pleased to work with Novell to streamline various systems management processes such as hardware upgrades and replacements. We share the common goal of developing solutions that meet the need of business end users, which has been accomplished through hardware and software collaboration of Intel AMT and Novell ZENworks.”
Novell SUSE LINUX Support for Intel Virtualization Technology
Intel Virtualization Technology provides hardware enhancements to Intel platforms that allow multiple operating systems and applications to run independently on the same machine. The result is more flexible use of server and desktop computing resources. Novell recently announced that its upcoming data center software solutions and future versions of SUSE LINUX will also support the open source virtualization technology Xen. The combination of Intel Virtualization Technology and Xen will enable IT professionals to support multiple operating systems on the same Linux server. This allows maximum use of hardware and software resources as application environments can scale across all available computing resources along with more dynamic provisioning of resources based on application need.
For more information about Novell ZENworks, please visit http://www.novell.com/products/zenworks . For more on Novell’s Linux strategy and complete line of Linux offerings, see http://www.novell.com/linux .
