A Principled Technologies Report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.

Introduction

Business-tier support services from at least three companies claim to be able to automatically predict hardware failures. These services include HP Device as a Service (HP DaaS) with HP TechPulse analytics, Lenovo Device Intelligence, and Dell ProSupport Plus. To test these services, a failing hard drive was installed onto the following machines:

• Dell™ Inspiron™ 13 5368 laptop
• HP ProBook 640 G5
• Lenovo® ThinkPad® L15

In the tests conducted, only the predictive software on the Dell laptop correctly identified the failing hard drive. HP TechPulse did not detect the hard drive even after running the HP ProBook 640 laptop for a full week. Issues were encountered with acquiring Lenovo Device Intelligence, which prevented testing that service on the Lenovo ThinkPad L15.

How We Tested

A hard disk drive in a near-failure state was tested. Near-failure was defined as observed degraded performance (slower than expected loading times) and unexpected scratching/clicking noises during normal operation. This type of failure cannot be repaired. The same hard drive was placed in three different systems to determine whether each vendor's software would detect the pre-failure state.*

*Note: We tested only one drive with a specific failure. The drive used may not be representative of all physical hard drive failures.

Testing Dell ProSupport Plus on a Dell Inspiron 13 5368 laptop

Before completing the following steps, it was ensured that the Dell Inspiron 13 5368 laptop was entitled with ProSupport Plus, and the failing drive was installed. Windows Update was run, and all driver downloads were confirmed successful. Windows power settings were configured to never turn off the display and never put the computer to sleep.

Installing SupportAssist

1. Download the SupportAssist software from https://www.DellTechnologies.com/SupportAssistInstaller.exe.
2. Run the SupportAssist executable.
3. In the installation Wizard, click Run.
4. Launch SupportAssist.
5. Close SupportAssist.
6. Restart the system.

Testing SupportAssist

Within 30 minutes, Dell SupportAssist displayed an alert in Windows Notifications indicating that it had detected an issue with the hard drive. The alert was also present in the Service Intelligence troubleshooting screen.

Testing HP Device as a Service (HP DaaS) powered by TechPulse

Before completing the following steps, the failing hard drive was installed within the HP ProBook 640 G5 laptop. Windows Updates were run, and all drivers were confirmed to be up to date. Windows power settings were configured to never turn off the display and never put the computer to sleep.

Configuring HP TechPulse

After purchasing the HP DaaS with TechPulse software with the appropriate number of seats, a welcome email was received. After clicking the welcome link, the following process was completed to set up the account:

1. On the Company Information screen, enter the information for the company, and click Next.
2. On the IT Administrator screen, enter the information for the IT administrator, and click Next.
3. On the Add Users screen, add users' emails. None were added, and Skip was clicked.
4. On the Channel Partner screen, enter the information for the Channel Partner. None were added, and Skip was clicked.
5. On the Secure your device screen, enter the HP DaaS Proactive Security subscription key, and click Next.
6. The Account Setup Completed screen confirms that the account setup is complete.

Acquiring the Company PIN

1. Log into https://www.hpdaas.com/ with credentials.
2. Under Settings > Preferences > Company Wide PIN, copy the Company PIN.

Downloading, installing, and enrolling the laptop in HP DaaS

1. Download the HP TechPulse Windows Application setup.exe file from https://www.hpdaas.com/software.
2. Run the setup.exe file on the local system.
3. At the Welcome screen, click Next.
4. On the License agreement screen, check the box to agree to terms and conditions, and click Install. Wait for the installer to complete. It will install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable (x86) package, if this is not already installed.
5. After installation, click Close. The system will automatically open the Enroll screen.
6. On the Enroll screen, select Company as the device owner, and click Next.
7. Enter the companywide PIN, and click Enroll. The companywide PIN can be found from the HP DaaS console.
8. Restart the system.

Testing the predictive drive failure feature

Verify that the system icon for HP TechPulse is viewable in the taskbar. From the HPDaaS device list, verify that the system is enrolled and detected. Test alerts for high memory utilization and OS Unexpected Crash/Reboot were generated to verify that alerts functioned as expected. The device was allowed to idle for one day. Then, a small mixed IO workload using IOmeter was run on the device for one week. Over that week, HP DaaS never generated an alert for the failing hard drive. ⚠️

Attempting to test Lenovo Device Intelligence

An attempt was made to test Lenovo Device Intelligence on a Lenovo ThinkPad L15 system; however, it was ultimately unsuccessful. Multiple avenues were pursued to try to purchase Lenovo Device Intelligence (LDI). Most Lenovo representatives spoken to had little information on the service or how to purchase it. A salesperson was eventually spoken to who knew about LDI. A Lenovo system was purchased, and the salesperson stated that the purchase included LDI; however, it was later learned that LDI is only available for customers with 1,000 systems or more. Thus, LDI could not be tested on the device.

Every Lenovo device comes with Lenovo Vantage software, which purports to be able to run device diagnostics. A Lenovo Vantage hardware scan was run to determine whether this software would detect the failing hard drive. The hardware scan failed during the targeted disk-read test, and Vantage recommended the action "repair bad sectors." The sector repair tool was run, and the error disappeared; however, this did not actually resolve the disk issue, leaving the hard drive in its irreparable near-failure state.

Our results

To learn more about how the wins in this report were calculated, visit http://facts.pt/calculating-and-highlighting-wins. Unless stated otherwise, the rules and principles outlined in that document were followed.

Table 1: Results of our testing

System configuration information

Table 2: Detailed information on the systems we tested.

Conclusion

Technology is not perfect, and when devices fail, businesses rely on the hardware vendor to resolve the issue quickly and effectively. Several vendors claim their support software can automatically detect hardware issues such as a failing hard drive. However, in tests comparing services from Dell, HP, and Lenovo, it was only possible to confirm this for Dell ProSupport Plus using SupportAssist.*

Dell ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist automatically detected a failing hard drive on a Dell laptop, alerted the user, and provided instructions for filing a claim with Dell. Previous testing indicates that ProSupport Plus can automatically open a support ticket with Dell, though this feature was not tested for this study. HP TechPulse did not detect the failing hard drive on the HP device. Because Lenovo Device Intelligence requires a minimum of 1,000 enrolled devices, the equivalent Lenovo service could not be tested on a Lenovo laptop. The standard diagnostic software included with each Lenovo device claimed to detect an issue with the hard drive but suggested an action that was insufficient to resolve the underlying issue. After taking that action, it incorrectly claimed the problem was resolved.

*Note that there are many types of hardware issues that can affect business devices, and only one possible scenario was tested. Experiences may vary with different services and hardware issues.