1. case study
Intel® Xeon® processors
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor with vPro™ technology
Enterprise Server, Enterprise Client
Virtualization: Dynamic Resource Management
Challenges
• Improve PC manageability. Older PCs based on non-Intel technologies were
experiencing high failure rates, and the lack of remote management capabilities made
them expensive to service.
• Optimize the data center. The IT team looks for technologies that enable them to
operate efficiently, drive down IT costs, and better support the business units.
Solutions
• Client refresh with Intel® vPro™ technology1
. Johnson Brothers is deploying new
Lenovo* desktop and laptop PCs based on the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor with vPro™
technology, and using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager* (SCCM*) to
manage them remotely.
• Virtualized servers with Intel® Xeon® processor-based blades. Johnson Brothers has
virtualized and consolidated on the Intel® Xeon® processor 5400 series, and is looking
toward the Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series to virtualize enterprise applications.
Impact
• Fast builds, rapid remediation. Johnson Brothers can deploy new PCs in roughly
one-fourth the time their old PCs required, and can diagnose and repair many problems
without shipping the PC to the home office.
• Fewer servers, more capacity. IT has retired 14 physical servers, saving thousands of
dollars on capital and maintenance costs.
• Smaller environmental footprint. The team has reduced energy consumption by
purchasing more power-efficient processors, using Intel vPro technology to turn off
PCs remotely, and consolidating onto fewer servers.
• Good to grow. With agile infrastructure and highly managed clients, IT can quickly
support new applications, offices, and workers.
Johnson Brothers Toasts
End-to-End Savings
Liquor distributor stirs up a potent brew of efficiencies with Intel® technology-based PCs, laptops, and servers
Johnson Brothers Liquor Company proves the adage that even in a tough economy, an agile company can thrive.
The St. Paul, Minnesota-based distributor adjusted quickly as consumers changed their drinking habits during the
recession—fewer expensive restaurant meals, more home entertaining. As a result, while some of its competitors
have folded, Johnson Brothers is experiencing double-digit growth and expanding into new territories.
Supporting the company’s growth is a lean IT organization that relies on end-to-end Intel® technologies.
“Wow, We Can Do That?”
Jason Sexton, IT infrastructure and
help desk manager at Johnson Brothers,
heads a five-person team that supports
900 PCs and laptops at 20 offices in 14
states, as well as the company’s server
infrastructure. So when aging PCs started
causing reliability problems and the best
option was to ship them back to the home
office for repairs, Sexton looked for a
better way.
“It used to take my staff
four-and-a-half hours to roll out
a new workstation. Now it’s an
hour and 10 minutes.”
– Jason Sexton
IT Infrastructure and
Help Desk Manager
Johnson Brothers

2. 1
Intel®
Active Management Technology requires the computer system to have an Intel®
AMT-enabled chipset, network hardware and software, as well as connection with a power source and a corporate network connection. Setup requires
configuration by the purchaser and may require scripting with the management console or further integration into existing security frameworks to enable certain functionality. It may also require modifications of implementation of new business
processes. With regard to laptops, Intel AMT may not be available or certain capabilities may be limited over a host OS-based VPN or when connecting wirelessly, on battery power, sleeping, hibernating or powered off. For more information,
see http://www.intel.com/technology/platform-technology/intel-amt/.
2
Intel®
Virtualization Technology requires a computer system with an enabled Intel®
processor, BIOS, virtual machine monitor (VMM), and, for some uses, certain computer system software enabled for it. Functionality, performance, or other
benefits will vary depending on hardware and software configurations and may require a BIOS update. Software applications may not be compatible with all operating systems. Please check with your application vendor.
This document and the information given are for the convenience of Intel’s customer base and are provided “AS IS” WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANT-
ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. Receipt or possession of this document does not grant any license to any of the intellectual property described,
displayed, or contained herein. Intel products are not intended for use in medical, life-saving, life-sustaining, critical control, or safety systems, or in nuclear facility applications.
Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computer systems and/or components and reflect the approximate performance of Intel products as measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or
configuration may affect actual performance. Intel may make changes to specifications, product descriptions and plans at any time, without notice.
© 2010, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, Intel vPro, and Intel Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Printed in USA 0510/YMB/CMD/XX/PDF Please Recycle 323142-001
perform automated, unattended upgrades
when users are out of the office.
Those changes are helping both the
company and the IT staff grow. “If we
open a branch tomorrow and need to set
up 50 new workstations, it’s doable,” says
Sexton. “Plus, there are a lot of more
interesting and valuable things to do than
image workstations all day long. Now, my
Help Desk team has more time to go out
on the floor and actually help people, or
learn about new technologies. It lets them
grow, and it lets us handle the company’s
growth without adding staff.”
Server Savings
In the data center, Johnson Brothers has
been ramping up its use of virtualization
on the Intel Xeon processor–and reaping
the rewards. From eight virtual machines
(VMs) on two physical servers two years
ago, the company has moved to 34
VMs on five IBM* blades based on the
Intel Xeon processor 5400 series and
VMware vSphere* 3.5. In doing so, IT has
eliminated 14 Intel dual-core processor-
based servers.
“We’ve been able to retire a ton of
equipment,” Sexton reports. “We have
avoided physical costs, and we avoid the
ongoing time and expense of maintaining
and supporting those physical servers.
We’re greener because of the newer
technologies, and we save on power costs
related to heating and cooling. We can
also get new business applications out
there much more quickly.”
Sexton expects further savings when IT
adds two blades based on the Intel Xeon
processor 5600, upgrades to vSphere 4.0,
and brings business-critical applications
into the virtual environment. Sexton’s
team will use VMware vMotion* and Intel®
Virtualization Technology2
(Intel® VT)
FlexMigration to move active VMs across
different generations of platforms, for
improved flexibility and efficiency in
managing server resources.
Those are benefits worth toasting.
Virtualization: Dynamic Resource
Management. Optimize server
utilization and increase agility through
virtualization and dynamic policy-
based resource management.
IT’s technology choices help a
small team keep pace with rapid
company growth.
Spotlight on Johnson Brothers
A privately held, family-owned
business, Johnson Brothers Liquor
Company was established in 1953 and
today is run by a second generation
of Johnson brothers. The company
is based St. Paul, Minnesota, and
distributes wines and spirits to retail
stores, restaurants, and bars across 14
states. Johnson Brothers has 20 local
and regional offices.
He found it in new desktop and laptop PCs
from Lenovo based on the Intel Core 2
Duo processor with Intel vPro technology
and managed with Microsoft SCCM*. Not
only are the new machines more reliable
and energy-efficient, but when problems
occur, the team can diagnose them over
the network, even if the operating system
is down.
“With Intel vPro technology and SCCM,
if you’re having a problem, we can
watch your post screen when you boot
up,” Sexton explains. “We can see the
problem—‘Oh, you have a corrupt config
file’ or ‘You have a corrupt registry.’ We
can fix it remotely. My staff was like,
‘Wow, we can do that?’”
With a small staff and a widely distributed
workforce, Sexton says, “This is becoming
a big boon for us. It saves hundreds of
dollars in shipping costs each month. And
users aren’t forced to do without their PC
for three or four days while we ship it, fix
it, and ship it back.”
The IT team also uses Intel vPro
technology and SCCM to speed new
PC deployments. “It used to take my
staff four-and-a-half hours to roll out a
new workstation,” says Sexton. “Now
it’s an hour and 10 minutes.” Intel vPro
technology will also simplify Johnson
Brothers’ planned upgrade to Windows* 7,
allowing IT to remotely wake up PCs and
Find a solution that is right for your
organization. Contact your Intel
representative or visit the Reference
Room at www.intel.com/references.