Intel® PAT cooperating with Founder provides a final solution to new e-classroom for Ningbo University.
Ningbo University has three computer labs with 500+ client machines that are operational for fourteen hours per day. Yulan Song, the lab IT administrator, must both maintain the computers and update the applications to meet the needs of both teachers and students. Multiple management solutions have been tested in an attempt to discover the most effective way to address the increasing workload.
There are two sets of computers used in the labs. One set is computers with hard disk recovery cards, the other is Founder’s Wenxiang E630 computers based on Intel® Platform Administration Technology. The lab administrator, Mrs Song, took some time to detail the differences between them in terms of installation, management, and security:
Installation:
In the Intel® PAT computer labs it only takes around two hours to install the OS, applications and data on 200 PCs. The deployment is fully controlled from the server. Adding new applications takes less than half an hour.
Maintenance and Management:
School computer labs constantly require time-consuming maintenance to address issues such as system crashes, software installation, system patch updates and device maintenance. Take software installation as an example. The traditional method of installing software on the lab PCs via hard disk recovery card is extremely time-consuming. Usually the software is dispatched from the recovery server to the clients and then the software must be manually installed on the client machines one by one, or the clients get the full disk image from the server and then write the image to the hard disk after the recovery server is installed. However, this method is not reliable because clients frequently get disconnected during the data transmission and sometimes the hard disk protection doesn’t work properly after the process is finished. This problem is generally caused by a compatibility issue between the client machine and the hard disk recovery card.
Mrs. Song found that using Intel® PAT to perform these tasks was much faster and far less troublesome. With Intel® PAT, she simply installs the software on a “golden machine” and then creates a “software update package” from the Intel® PAT server. The server makes a record of all of the changes to the hard disk and uses them to create the software update package file that is stored on the server. She then deploys the software update package to the other PCs in the computer lab, and their hard disks are updated within a matter of minutes.
Security:
Intel® PAT also has some security features not found on other tradition network management solutions. First of all, Mrs. Song found that the Intel® PAT hard disk protection feature was more effective at wiping the hard disk after each reboot, letting fewer viruses and other malware through. And another Intel® PAT strength is its ability to manage hardware assets. By sounding an alert on the server whenever a client PC chassis has been opened or a client PC has been locally powered off, the administration can know when to be on the lookout for someone potentially removing hardware without authorization. Furthermore the Asset Monitoring feature, which alerts the administrator when a newly powered-on PC’s hardware profile has changed, helps to protect against hardware assets being surreptitiously removed or replaced by inferior components.
Mrs Yulan Song emerged from her experience with Intel® Platform Administration Technology quite satisfied. Besides providing a solution to previously tedious management activities, Intel® PAT provided functionality beyond what she had come to expect from traditional solutions.
* Intel® Platform Administration Technology (Intel® PAT) is an integrated, easy to use solution included in Intel® PAT-enabled desktop motherboards, providing manageability that helps to maintain clean and stable systems in a network environment. Intel® PAT saves customers money by reducing maintenance, improving scalability, and lowering total cost of ownership.
†The materials and software here are for Intel's consumers as "original samples". Intel Corporation assumes no clear or connotative responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the document, material or any software, or update of them. Intel is entitled to modify the document and software without notice. If the technical support for Intel's desktop system motherboard is necessary, please connect the seller or system manufacturer, since they know well about accurate configuration and latest information of the product, and Intel only provides general technical support. Your desktop system motherboard or configuration may be different from Intel's standard products, so the materials and documents here may not apply to your hardware system.
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