Intel® vPro™ Technology

  Section 8 of 13  

Mobile Manageability in Low-Power and Operating-System-Absent States

Manageability Differences Between Desktop and Mobile Computers

Let us look now at the relevant differences between desktop and mobile computers:

• Desktop computers are stationary, while mobile computers are not. Or, translating this to IP-speak: desktop platforms can operate fine with static IP addresses; mobile platforms cannot. Because of roaming, mobile platforms require frequent changes to their IP addresses. In other words, they require dynamic IP addresses that are obtained by means of DHCP leases. It should be noted that the use of DHCP leases has become more and more common even for desktop computers; however, at the time that the ASF specification was written, this factor may not have been taken into account (refer to the limitation of the ASF standard quoted in the Alert Standard Format section of this article).
• Desktop computers mostly use wired LAN, while mobile computers often use WLAN (wireless LAN—as defined by IEEE’s 802.11 suite of protocols [4]). With a wired LAN, a physical cable is connected to the LAN network port. Determining the existence or nonexistence of network access is simple: if there is no network access through the cable, then there is no network access—period. In contrast, with a WLAN, determining the existence or nonexistence of network access is more difficult. It requires scanning for a suitable wireless Access Point (AP) within range. Loss of network access through one AP, or movement of the computer out of an AP’s range, requires that the scan for networks be repeated.
• The usage of WLAN also has an impact on security. As the security of wired LAN is inherently better than the security of WLAN (due to the physical properties of the transmission), there is a demand for WLAN networks to compensate for the reduced physical security by adding a link-layer security protocol. (In standard communication models, the link layer is the layer immediately above the physical layer.) A common protocol used for this purpose is 802.1x [5]. Thus, mobile computers that typically operate in WLAN networks would also typically have to operate in 802.1x networks. In contrast, for wired LAN networks, 802.1x is not as prevalent as it is in WLAN networks. Since desktop computers typically operate only in wired LAN networks, support for 802.1x is not as strong a requirement for these types of computers.
• Desktop computers are left on the corporate premises; mobile computers are moved around within the corporation and/or they are brought to locations outside the corporation and to employees’ homes. Outside the corporate premises, the computer may be located in a network whose protection mechanisms (firewalls or NAT) are not controlled by the corporate IT department.
• When desktop computers are powered, it is always from a virtually unlimited AC power source. Mobile computers may also be powered from an AC power source; however, they may also be powered from a limited battery (DC) power source.

  Section 8 of 13  

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