Intel Active Management Technology
Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware for remote out-of-band management of select business computers, running on the Intel Management Engine, a microprocessor subsystem not exposed to the user, intended for monitorin ...
(AMT) is hardware-based technology built into PCs with
Intel vPro technology. AMT is designed to help sys-admins remotely manage and secure PCs
out-of-band
Out-of-band activity is activity outside a defined telecommunications frequency band, or, metaphorically, outside of any primary communication channel. Protection from falsing is among its purposes.
Examples General usage
* Out-of-band agreement ...
when PC power is off, the
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
(OS) is unavailable (hung, crashed, corrupted, missing), software management agents are missing, or hardware (such as a
hard disk drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
or
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
) has failed.
Versions
Intel AMT is built into a small secondary
processor
Processor may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Processor (computing)
**Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program
*** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit (I ...
located on the
motherboard
A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...
. This
OOB controller has embedded
firmware
In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
that runs on the
Manageability Engine (ME), a separate small processor built into the
northbridge (or
network card
A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter or physical network interface, and by similar terms) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.
Ear ...
for AMT 1.0) of the motherboard. The AMT firmware is stored in the same SPI
flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
component used to store the
BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...
and is generally updated along with the BIOS. FWH (Firmware Hub) or LPC firmware storage is not supported for AMT.
In general, an AMT version can be updated in software to the next minor version. New major releases of Intel AMT are built into a new
chipset
In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components
An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are ...
, and are updated through new hardware.
* Intel AMT 1.0 — Intel platforms based on the Intel 82573E (Tekoa; usually 945, ICH7)
Gigabit Ethernet
In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use i ...
Controller, e.g., the Intel D975XBX2 motherboard. This version provides basic
NVRAM
Non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) is random-access memory that retains data without applied power. This is in contrast to dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and static random-access memory (SRAM), which both maintain data only for as lon ...
, hardware asset, event log and other basic features. It does not provide Intel System Defense network filters.
* Intel AMT 2.0 (2007) —
Intel vPro
Intel vPro technology is an umbrella marketing term used by Intel for a large collection of computer hardware technologies, including VT-x, VT-d, Trusted Execution Technology (TXT), and Intel Active Management Technology (AMT). When the vPro bra ...
desktop platforms based on the Intel Q963/Q965 (Broadwater-Q, ICH8) chipsets, e.g., the Intel DQ965GF motherboard.
* Intel AMT 2.1 — Intel AMT 2.0 + AMT Power Savings (Intel Management Engine
Wake on LAN) and bug fixes (supported on same platforms as Intel AMT 2.0).
* Intel AMT 2.2 — Intel AMT 2.1 + Remote Configuration and bug fixes (supported on same platforms as Intel AMT 2.1 and Intel AMT 2.0).
* Intel AMT 2.5 — Intel Centrino Pro mobile platforms based on the GM965/PM965 (Santa Rosa: Crestline, ICH8M) chipsets.
* Intel AMT 2.6 — Intel AMT 2.5 + Remote Configuration and bug fixes (supported on same platforms as Intel AMT 2.5).
* Intel AMT 3.0 — Intel vPro desktop platforms based on the Intel Q35 (Weybridge: Bearlake-Q, ICH9) chipsets, e.g., the Intel DQ35MP motherboard.
* Intel AMT 3.1 — Intel AMT 3.0 + Linux (Red Hat and SUSE) support (supported on same desktop platforms as Intel AMT 3.0; uses same firmware).
* Intel AMT 3.2 — Intel AMT 3.0 + extra DASH 1.0 (simplified configuration) support and bug fixes (supported on same desktop platforms as Intel AMT 3.1 and Intel AMT 3.0).
* Intel AMT 4.0 — Mobile platforms with Intel Centrino 2 with vPro based on the GM45 or 47/PM45 (Montevina: Cantiga, ICH9M) chipsets.
* Intel AMT 4.1 — Intel AMT 4.0 + Intel Anti-Theft Technology. Supported on same mobile platforms as Intel AMT 4.0, and based on the GM45 (Montevina, ICH9M) chipset.
* Intel AMT 5.0 — Intel Core 2 vPro desktop platforms (launched September 22, 2008) based on the Intel Q45 (McCreary: Eaglelake-Q, ICH10) chipsets.
* Intel AMT 6.0 — Intel Core i5/7 vPro desktop platforms based on the Q57 (Piketon: Ibex Peak) chipset, Core i5/7 vPro mobile platforms based on the QM57 and QS57 (Calpella: Ibex Peak) chipset, and Xeon 3400 series/Core i5 vPro entry workstation platforms based on the 3450 chipset.
* Intel AMT 7.0 — Intel Q67 (Sugar Bay: Cougar Point) chipset, mobile QM67 and QS67 (Huron River: Cougar Point) chipset.
* Intel AMT 8.0 — Intel Q75 and Q77 (Maho Bay: Panther Point) chipset, mobile QM77 and QS77 (Chief River: Panther Point) chipset.
* Intel AMT 9.0 — Intel Q87 chipset, mobile QM87 chipset (
Lynx Point
The Platform Controller Hub (PCH) is a family of Intel's single-chip chipsets, first introduced in 2009. It is the successor to the Intel Hub Architecture, which used two chips - a northbridge and southbridge, and first appeared in the Intel 5 ...
). SOAP(EOI) protocol removed.
* Intel AMT 10.0 — Intel Q97 chipset, SoC only.
* Intel AMT 11.0 — Intel Q170, Q150, С232, CM236, C236 chipsets.
* Intel AMT 11.5 — Intel Q270, CM238, CM248 chipsets.
* Intel AMT 12.0 — Intel Q370 chipset.
* Intel AMT 14.0 — Intel Q470 chipset.
Comparison of AMT versions
The following is a comparison of the various features supported by each version of Intel AMT
See also
* Host Embedded Controller Interface
Host Embedded Controller Interface (HECI) is technology introduced in 2006 used for Active Management Technology (AMT) in Intel chipsets that support Core 2 Duo microprocessors.
Details
The HECI bus allows the host operating system (OS) to com ...
(HECI)
* Alert Standard Format
Alert Standard Format (ASF) (also sometimes referred to as ''Alert Standard Forum'', ''Alerting Specifications Forum'', ''Alert Specification Function'', etc.) is a DMTF standard for remote monitoring, management and control of computer systems ...
(ASF)
* Distributed Management Task Force
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry standards organization that creates open manageability standards spanning diverse emerging and traditional IT infrastructures including cloud, virtualization, network, s ...
(DMTF)
* Intelligent Platform Management Interface
The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a set of computer interface specifications for an autonomous computer subsystem that provides management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host system's CPU, firmware ( BIOS o ...
(IPMI)
* Baseboard management controller
The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a set of computer interface specifications for an autonomous computer subsystem that provides management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host system's CPU, firmware (BIOS or ...
(BMC)
* Trusted Platform Module
Trusted Platform Module (TPM, also known as ISO/IEC 11889) is an international standard for a secure cryptoprocessor, a dedicated microcontroller designed to secure hardware through integrated cryptographic keys. The term can also refer to a ch ...
(TPM)
* I/O Controller Hub
I/O Controller Hub (ICH) is a family of Intel southbridge microchips used to manage data communications between a CPU and a motherboard, specifically Intel chipsets based on the Intel Hub Architecture. It is designed to be paired with a second su ...
(ICH)
* Out-of-band management
In systems management, out-of-band management involves the use of management interfaces (or serial ports) for managing networking equipment. Out-of-band (''OOB'') management is a networking term which refers to accessing and managing network infras ...
Notes
External links
Intel Active Management Technology
Intel Manageability Developer Community
Intel vPro Expert Center
PRO TOOL WIKI
Intel AMT Open Source Drivers and Tools
(Tekoa)
ARC4 Processor
* ttp://video.intel.com/ AMT videos (select the desktop channel)
Intel vPro is everything we said it would be
AMT Over the Internet Provisioning (OOB Manager)
{{Intel technology
Active Management Technology
Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware for remote out-of-band management of select business computers, running on the Intel Management Engine, a microprocessor subsystem not exposed to the user, intended for monitorin ...
Out-of-band management
de:Intel vPro#AMT
pt:Tecnologia de Gerenciamento Ativo