HP Business Desktops BIOS

Stability
The HP BIOS development team understands the needs of enterprise customers. Each year, new
products are introduced at a rapid pace. New technology can improve productivity, but business
environments also need stable technology and computers that can be trusted to work in their existing
enterprise environment.
Minimizing changes to stable products
Companies carefully evaluate and test potential business products. Significant time and money can be
required for the development of one or two computer models and software images for an
organization. Given the rapidly changing computer market, the length of time required to evaluate a
platform could result in that model not being available as originally tested when orders are ready to
be placed or only being available for only a short time. As a critical component of the HP Business
Desktop computer, HP strives for BIOS stability for the ”Stable and Consistent” class of HP Business
Desktop computer products (the dc series). These products assure customers that the computer
hardware and software image will be stable for at least 12 to 15 months (depending on model and
region).
As a critical component of the stability strategy, the HP BIOS is tightly monitored by version control
software. BIOS versions used in the factories to produce the HP Business Desktop computer products
are only updated for critical changes. Strict rules govern the BIOS changes that are approved and
introduced into production versions. Normal problem fixes and updates are made available on
www.hp.com and can be tested and deployed by customers when they deem it appropriate.
In some cases, processor changes initiate BIOS revisions. Many processor technologies require the
addition of microcode updates (sometimes called ‘patches’) to the BIOS for proper functionality. The
HP BIOS has developed a flash delivery method in which new microcode patches can be added to
the BIOS without altering the core functionality. With this capability, the HP factory will load the
appropriate microcode update to the existing stable BIOS image. Since the BIOS remains on an
already tested version, business customers experience no impact to their software image by adding
only the microcode patches required to an already tested BIOS version.
HP works closely with all chipset and processor vendors to minimize hardware changes and prevent
any potential impact to customer’s software images or environment. HP BIOS fully supports Intel’s
Stable Image Platform Program (SIPP) as part of this process. Image and BIOS stability is a
fundamental concern in decisions made regarding BIOS contents, testing, and deployment.
BIOS change notification in advance
Critical BIOS changes for stable and consistent products that must be introduced into the factory are
preceded by a Product Change Notification (PCN) approximately 30 to 60 days prior to the update
for all the computers affected. This allows customers to plan for any impending BIOS changes.
Customers can register on the PCN website at
http://www.hp.com/go/pcn for specific computer
notifications.
Security
Information security is critical to any business. Securing the computer environment is a prime concern
in order to protect valuable information. The HP BIOS helps provide and enable several security
technologies to assist the business customer in protecting sensitive company data.
A security model may be divided into several parts:
• Physically securing parts of the computer
• Enabling user trust in the computer
• Enabling computer (administrator) trust in the user
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