NEC AccuSync LCD52V White Paper page 2

Local Area Network
Administrator's
Console
NaViSet Administrator operates over the LAN to query remote machines using WMI.
WMI Provider
NaViSet Administrator complements WMI by adding a powerful
component known as a WMI Provider, designed specifically to
facilitate the tracking and control of display monitor assets and
to provide capabilities way beyond those offered by the Windows
built-in features. This provider can be installed on each remote
machine throughout an installation enterprise.
The WMI Provider is responsible for receiving any queries related
to the display monitor, and then in turn enumerating and query-
ing any display monitors attached to the system. The response is
then formatted and relayed back. These queries can go beyond
simple requests for static metadata about the monitor, such as
serial number, model, etc., and extend into sophisticated com-
mands such as configuring the monitor controls, reading diagnos-
tic information or controlling the power state.
In order to perform such commands, a two-way communication
link between the host machine and the attached display monitor(s)
is necessary. NEC display monitors use a protocol known as
Display Data Channel - Command Interface (DDC/CI) which com-
municates to the display via the existing video cable and video
graphics card. This protocol was standardized by VESA and is
available on hundreds of different NEC display monitor models.
Large-screen (30"+) NEC displays can also be controlled by using
a standard RS-232 interface. On many of these large-screen mod-
els, the RS-232 connection can be daisy-chained between multiple
monitors, allowing up to 26 monitors to share a single RS-232
COM port on the host machine. Up to 16 COM ports are sup-
ported, allowing up to 416 display monitors to be controlled by a
single machine, which is ideal for applications such as video walls.
Since the WMI Provider uses standard WMI interfaces and proto-
cols, it can be accessed, with some minimal configuration, by any
preexisting asset management tools that are capable of utiliz-
ing WMI. This means that the benefits offered in terms of more
accurate and sophisticated remote monitoring and control are
available without the need to invest in any additional tools, and
without the risk of becoming locked into a proprietary solution.
Examples of other WMI tools that can be configured to integrate
with NaViSet Administrator are MOM, SMS, HP OpenView for
Windows (HPOV), CA and Kaseya.
NEC desktop monitor (dual)
The WMI Provider is also accessible through a variety of different
programming APIs in Windows such as: ActiveX script hosting,
including Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript); Microsoft
Jscript and Perl; as well as Visual Basic Applications; Active
Server Pages; C++ and .NET framework applications. The
NaViSet Administrator CD-ROM includes some sample VBScripts
that demonstrate how to access the monitor metadata and even
perform commands.
With the threat of network-based attacks constantly increasing
and the ever-present need for data security and integrity, NEC
understands that it is essential to minimize all possible vulner-
abilities on a computer system. Because the WMI Provider sits
under the overall security umbrella of WMI, it does not expose
the system to any additional vulnerabilities, such as other solu-
tions that install dedicated server services or open additional IP
ports. Access to the WMI Provider is governed by the WMI and
user rights controls in Windows, which provides the overall se-
curity and authentication for network communications, and user
access control.
The WMI Provider operates transparently on each remote ma-
chine and the user is unaware of its operation unless an obvious-
ly visible adjustment is made to their display monitor by remote.
It is only loaded into memory when a relevant request is received
by the WMI service, so there is no fixed memory or CPU overhead
in installing the WMI provider. Network traffic generated by WMI
is an absolute minimum.
Console
The second component of the NaViSet Administrator package is
the Console application. This stand-alone tool is typically only
used by the system administrator. It connects to remote machines
via WMI and queries the NaViSet Administrator WMI Provider
and the standard WMI classes and objects to gather detailed
information about not only the display monitor, but also the
machine as a whole, including the graphics system configuration
and machine metadata.
The Console application can be used to not only gather infor-
mation about the remote machines and the connected display
monitors, but it can also actively control and query them in real
time. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for remote
NEC large-screen displays