Adventures in Data Center Automation:

Scalent

Jan 25 2008   9:00AM GMT

Couple recent notes on CMDB, aka Resource Reconciliation



Posted by: Ryan Shopp
Symantec, BMC, NetIQ, DataCenter, CA, CMDB, Opalis, Scalent

Another great post by Glenn O’Donnell; CMDB is the new integration mechanism. I’m looking forward to seeing his forthcoming book on the same topic!

2007 TechTarget Products of the Year - Data Center include (categories by DCAB functional categories):

Resource Reconciliation (category combined with Configuration & Change) solutions from CA, BMC and Scalent

A couple other categories that map to the DCAB are;

Process Orchestration solutions from Symantec, Opalis and CA

Performance & Capacity solutions from NetIQ, BalancePoint and CiRBA

I find the CiRBA solution very intriguing after my read and post on Innovations in Performance Management yesterday.

Jan 2 2008   11:10PM GMT

Digging into the DCAB 6’s functional areas: Configuration and Change



Posted by: Ryan Shopp
BMC, EMC, Configuresoft, Ecora, DataCenter, CA, IBM Tivoli, HP Software, BladeLogic, Cassatt, Scalent, Solidcore, mValent

There seem to be two key components or approaches to this functional area. Some vendors are focused on auditing & monitoring the configuration/state of a device while others are focused on that and the provisioning/deployment of configuration/software to a device. Typically, the vendors going across data center technology categories are audit-centric.

Vendors doing both Deployment & Auditing (listed alphabetical)

  • AlterPoint (for network devices)
  • BladeLogic (for appilcations, servers)
  • BMC (for applications, servers with Marimba acquisition and networks with Emprisa acquisition)
  • CA (for systems)
  • Cassatt (for systems, applications, networks
  • Cisco (for network devices)
  • ConfigureSoft (for applications, servers)
  • Ecora (for servers, applications)
  • EMC (for network with Voyence acquisition, for storage with ControlCenter)
  • HP (former Opsware for applications, servers, networks, storage)
  • IBM Tivoli (for applications, servers)
  • mValent (for applications)
  • Phurnace (for applications)
  • Scalent Systems (for servers, applications)
  • Symantec (for servers, applications with Jareva, Altiris and storage with CommandCenter)

Vendors focused on Auditing

Vendors that do both primarily for desktop’s which extends to provide some server configuration and change capabilities for the data center

Just as with my previous post on Performance & Capacity I’m not done with this one. I started going through the laundry list of vendors in the “virtualization” space but simply ran out of my allocated time for today. So I’ll pick back up on it at a later time


Dec 4 2007   10:04PM GMT

What are the Six Functional Areas of Data Center Automation



Posted by: Ryan Shopp
Microsoft Windows, BMC, NetIQ, DataCenter, InfoVista, IBM Tivoli, HP Software, Alterpoint, BladeLogic, Opalis, Optinuity, RealOps, Stratavia, IT Process Automation, Cassatt, Scalent, PlateSpin, Veeam, Vizioncore, Netuitive, Integrien

Alright, here is my first pass at a graphic I’m attempting to build that will capture the spirit of my previous posts (this is a work still in progress as previously mentioned);

I’m attempting to come up with a 30,000 foot reference model (functionality focused) for when you’re building out a data center’s software automation architecture.

The yellow areas are the 6 current areas I’ve functionally identified. The tricky part is based on the complexities of each category in the Data Center Infrastructure (e.g., Network vs. System), many of the functional areas require technical depth and audience-specific focus (e.g., network engineers vs. SAP administrators). The arrows are trying to capture that.

I know this still needs work but this is an evolution, and I only have a little time each week to currently work on it during these blog posts.

Below the graphic are some current vendors by function that have product(s) in each function that I’ve mentioned during previous blog posting so far.

data-center-automation-reference-model-v1.jpg

  • Configuration & Change: BMC (Marimba), CA, EMC (Voyence), HP (Opsware), IBM, BladeLogic, Cassatt, AlterPoint, Platespin, Scalent, Veeam, Vizioncore
  • Security & Protection: Symantec, IBM, EMC, McAfee, nCircle, Lumension, ArcSight
  • Performance & Capacity: BMC, CA, EMC, HP, IBM, Quest, InfoVista
  • Availability & Notification: BMC, CA, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Quest, Integrien, Netuitive, NetIQ
  • Process Orchestration: BMC (RealOps), HP (iConclude), Opalis, Optinuity, NetIQ, Stratavia
  • Resource Reconciliation: Symantec, IBM, HP, BMC, EMC

I know I’ve missed many and also it would probably be helpful to not simply mention the company but also the product name but that will have to wait until another time.


Nov 29 2007   5:16AM GMT

Recent news in managing server virtualization



Posted by: Ryan Shopp
Virtualization, DataCenter, Cassatt, Scalent, PlateSpin, Veeam, Vizioncore

I still haven’t forgot my previous promise to talk further about system virtualization automation. I’m still researching and formulating my perspectives on the space. Meanwhile, here is some recent news and traction from the vendors.

Cassatt - launched a new version and updating positioning around their product offerings. Taking more a “green” slant to their positioning, they still automate in the data center key tasks on systems.

Scalent Systems - have stuck OEM relationships with EMC, HP and Unisys which shows very encourage momenteum for the space!

others have been quiet since their announcement at VMWorld back in September.

PlateSpin - September product launch.

Veeam - September product launch.

Vizioncore - September product launch.