remote lan wakeup capability is a key feature of a centrally managed pc environment. this technology enables networkedpcs to be “woken up” from a sleep or powered-off state so they can be managed from a central location, at any time of the day ornight.

    to employ remote lan wakeup, three elements are required:

    1. desktop management software that can send a "wake-up" packet to a pc.

    2. a wake-on-lan enabled pc motherboard that can supply low-level auxiliary power to a network card when the pc is powered off.

    3. a wake-on-lan network card that can recognize a wake-up packet and signal the pc to power up.

    a wake-on-lan enabled pc is never completely powered off, it maintains a low-level auxiliary power supply to the motherboard. the 3-wire wake-on-lan cable provides one line for the network card auxiliary power and one line for the card wake-up signal, the other line is ground.

    even if the pc is powered off, the network card is always active and monitoring the network. when a wake-up packet is detected, the card signals the motherboard to power up the pc. with the pc powered on, maintenance and other support tasks can be performed.