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Rapid Server Provisioning
VERITAS OPFORCE > Rapid Server Provisioning Peter McKellar VERITAS Software
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agenda OpForce Overview Typical Use Cases The Future of OpForce
Start by giving you an overview of what this product does Then identify how you might actually use it At the end of each of these use cases, give you an idea for how customers today are implementing this If we have time Roadmap More technical details OpForce Overview Typical Use Cases The Future of OpForce
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OpForce basics CONFIGURES FOR NETWORK INSTALLS APPLICATIONS
INSTALLS PATCHES, AGENTS INSTALLS OPERATING SYSTEMS In the most basic terms, OpForce performs the following functions: Discovers hardware in the environment Images and installs the operating system Installs patches and agents, such as Service Packs or NetBackup agents. Installs applications such as SQL or WebLogic. Finally, and this is unique, OpForce can configure the server for the network. (IP addresses, DNS settings, host names, etc) Basically, this means OpForce can take a bare metal server, install all necessary software and configure all the settings to have it up and running on the network. We’ll talk more about each of these throughout the presentation DISCOVERS HARDWARE
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So, what can I do with it? TEST & DEVELOPMENT
Rebuild a 20-server lab in 30 minutes NEW SERVER DEPLOYMENT Deploy hundreds of servers a month (with one sys admin) SERVER MIGRATION Migrate between dissimilar hardware configurations More importantly than what functions OpForce does is what you can actually use it for. Listed here are the most common uses of OpForce. Test and Development: We have customers using OpForce to quickly rebuild a test or development lab to an original configuration New Server Deployment Quickly building dozens of servers simultaneously is OpForce’s specialty. We do a better job of building new servers than any other product. Server Migration Several of our customers use OpForce to take images of systems and then migrate those images to new servers, sometimes at new locations Application and Patch Distribution Similarly to how we provision operating systems, OpForce can quickly deploy applications and patches on live or bare metal servers. I’ll walk through each of these in more detail and use these use cases to describe the various features in OpForce. APPLICATION AND PATCH DISTRIBUTION Deploy 30 BEA Weblogic apps in 1 hour
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Taming test and dev Simultaneously (re-)configure multiple servers from a remote location FAST All servers can be configured from a single image or server template CONSISTENT PROBLEM: Take an image of the ideal system configuration Take an image of the final configuration (if you need to reference it later) Quickly rebuild all the servers to another test. SOLUTION: OPFORCE FAST: Simultaneous snapshot creation and deployment CONSISTENT: Configures all systems using the same operating system, application, patches and settings Makes for consistent, reliable tests SELF SERVICABLE: Doesn’t require a system administrator Can be accessed from any web browser Roles and workspaces protect systems from unauthorized or accidental access TRANSITION TO NEXT SLIDE Don’t take my word for it We have several customers doing this Most popular use for OpForce RESOURCES: CASE STUDIES: Siebel (name drop, spoke at vision, using in Test and Development) Credit Suisse (see next slide for details) Simple operation combined with defined workspaces and roles SELF SERVICABLE
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Sure, but does it really work?
Provisioning development servers Standardized on OpForce Previously took hours to for 1 server Now takes 30 minutes for 50 servers “Server deployment time has been reduced to just 30 minutes using OpForce. “It has had significantly reduced the number of servers which are occupied during the testing phase.” Using OpForce in a development environment Before OpForce took many hours for a single server Now provisioning 50 servers in 30 minutes Case Study Link: Werner Fah, Credit Suisse
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New Server Deployment Manually With OpForce DAYS MINUTES hours days
Install OS Personalize OS Install Patches hours Install OS Personalize OS Install Patches Install Apps Get Coffee Configure Apps Configure Network handoff days Install Apps Configure Apps hours 20 min. PROBLEM: Building a single server is a time consuming process. Not only does each step take a long time (these estimates are conservative) But the handoffs between groups can take days SOLUTION: OpForce groups all these processes into a single browser They can still be done by different groups Or, ideally, but a single administrator with just a few clicks TRANSITION: But most of our customers aren’t installing a single server They need to build MANY servers That’s where OpForce shines handoff days Configure Network hours DAYS MINUTES
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New Server Deployment Manually X 30 With OpForce X 30 WEEKS MINUTES
Install OS Personalize OS Install Patches Install Apps Configure Apps Configure Network hours days handoff Install OS Personalize OS Install Patches Install Apps Get Coffee Configure Apps Configure Network 0:45 PROBLEM: If building a single server takes days, building 30 servers can take weeks or months SOLUTION: OpForce, however, takes the same amount of time to provision 30 servers as it does 1 server This can be done simultaneously from a single browser And they don’t all need to be identical TRANSITION: Again, let me highlight another customer doing this WEEKS MINUTES
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Sure, but does it really work?
Remotely upgrade customer systems Reduced upgrade time by 60% Can manage double the installations “Overall, we can manage twice as many implementations simultaneously with VERITAS OpForce™, without an increase in resources. Peter Broekroelofs; VP Logica CMG LOGICA CMG Large Telco in Sweeden Often deployed hardware at customer sites Had to drive to locations and manually perform updates Now they log in from OpForce and remotely manage the systems LINK TO CASE STUDY: TRANSITION TO NEXT SLIDE: The third common use for OpForce is for migrating servers Either simply upgrading a server Or migrating to a new location
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Server Migration Allows server images to be deployed on different hardware configurations DISSIMILAR HARDWARE Migrate applications, patches, even file system and volume data NOT JUST THE OS PROBLEM: Traditionally, both the original and new server had to be identical for a migration to occur Otherwise, the administrator had to manually re-install everything SOLUTION: DISIMILAR HARDWARE OpForce supports deploying images on systems that do not have identical hardware configurations We can add the appropriate drivers after the snapshot has been taken We can even support systems with different size hard drives NOT JUST THE OS When migrating a system, you want everything Apps, Patches, Custom Settings, etc OpForce snapshots everything and lets you decide which parts you want to deploy on the new server PERSONALIZATION Even after all the packages are installed still need to set for the network OpForce takes care of personalizing IP addresses, host names, DNS settings Even configures vLANS on cisco switches TRANSITION: Finally, let me just briefly talk about deploying patches and applications Personalize host names, IP settings, and vLANs PERSONALIZATION
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Rapidly deploy patches and applications
Simultaneously distribute patches to selected servers PATCH DISTRIBUTION Pre-defined actions to install and personalize applications APPLICATION MODELS PROBLEM: Once a system is built, you may not need to change the OS much, but deploying and configuration applications (and patches) happens regularly Deploying a patch manually on dozens or hundreds of servers can take hours or days. SOLUTION: OpForce can take snapshots of applications and patches It can deploy these patches on multiple servers simultaneously In fact, we have special “application models” that capture specific application configurations And configure it with those settings when we deploy it on the target server Finally, OpForce is completely customizable. The user can create custom scripts to deploy combinations of applications, patches, and operating systems. TRANSITION: Finally, let me highlight one final customer that is using all of these features in a DR situation CUSTOMIZABLE SCRIPTS Automated “opscripts”
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“Then we created a script with OpForce that matches that process.”
Sure, but does it really work? 200+ SAP applications DR site with 200+ test/dev servers Repurpose all test/dev servers in a few hours Includes OS, SAP application and all patches “We interviewed our SAP administrators and learned exactly what they do to configure new installations. “Then we created a script with OpForce that matches that process.” GRAINGER Very large supplier of industrial parts and supplies Had a need for DR, but didn’t want an idle DR site Built a DR facility 400 miles away from primary datacenter Used OpForce to take images of the 200 production SAP servers Replicated those images to the DR location At the DR location, 200 servers running non-critical apps In the event of a disaster, those 200 server can be quickly re-provisioned with the SAP image from OpForce Re-provisioning all 200 servers should take just a few hours CASE STUDY IN PROGRESS Tim Eisler; W.W. Grainger, Inc.
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A look into the lab… Snapshot and Load from SAN devices
Software Multicast Notification Additional Patch and Configuration Management Finally, let me just highlight a few things we are working on: We want to be able to more fully utilize the SAN for snapshots and boot devices. We will become fully SAN-aware We will improve the way we distribute multiple packages with multi-cast provisioning to make it even faster While we support SMTP traps today for notification, we will further build alerts and reporting through Finally, we plan to add significant patch and configuration management features in upcoming releases.
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Optional Slides To be shared with an NDA
Use these slides to add more detail if necessary.
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How OpForce works Basic Process Take Snapshot Store in Repository
AOS Take Snapshot Store in Repository Discover New Hardware PXE Boot Load ActiveOS Write OS Snapshot Configure Network Configure Application Animated process of capturing a Windows Snapshot OS CIFS OR NFS APP
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OpForce Roadmap 2004 1H 2005 2H 2005 2006 Additional OS Support
Additional H/W Support Minor Tweaks Bug Fixes Application Discovery Application Models Change Management Full HP-UX support SAN features Multicast provisioning Date-specific roadmap 2004 1H 2005 2H 2005 2006
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What makes OpForce different
Support for multiple operating systems Application-aware Network personalization Scalability Roles and workspaces Flexibility and adaptability “OpForce fits as a best-of-breed provisioning tool, with considerable automation capabilities, and as a component in the architecture of the larger VERITAS utility computing strategy.” See the “Sales Cheat Sheet” for more information Tim Grieser, IDC
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