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Automating the Virtual Datacenter: Revolutionizing IT Service Delivery Eddie Dinel Product Manager November 6, 2008
Automating the Virtual Datacenter:
Revolutionizing IT Service Delivery
Eddie Dinel
Product Manager
November 6, 2008
Agenda
Vision – VMware Enables Datacenter Automation
VMware Solutions for IT Service Delivery
Conclusions
IT Service Delivery
Create
Deploy
Update
Track
Decommission
Policy &Governance
Request
Automation is Key to Improving IT Service Delivery
� Speed of change� Scalability� Efficiency
� Control� Predictability� Consistency
Automation
WorkloadsDataResourcesIdentities
Pro
visi
onin
g
Optimization
Availability
2010-2016
Policies
Services
�Service levels and service agility up
Automated
Virtualizing the Data Center: From Sprawl to Real-Time Infrastructure
2007
Sprawled
2008-2012
�Hardware costs down
�Flexibility up
Virtualized
From “Virtualization Changes Virtually Everything,” Thomas Bittman, Gartner, November 2007.
VMware Improves the Efficiency of IT Management
Does virtualization help you improve how you manage and deliver services in your IT environment?
N = 102
Source: 2007 IDC VM Infrastructure MCS, 2007
Lifecycle ManagerLab ManagerStage Manager
VMware Products for IT Service Delivery
Automation = Business Agility
• Automate IT processes• Create resource pools• Capacity on-demand
Virtual Infrastructure
Management & Automation
Hypervisor
IT Service Delivery
Pain Points for the Infrastructure Administrator
Lack of Visibility and Tracking Who owns what?What virtual machines have been created? What virtual machines have changed; who changed them?
How long will virtual machines be in use?
Hard to Maintain Control Who can deploy what into the environment?Are random virtual machines being deployed without approval?Are virtual machines being placed in the appropriate places?Are we removing virtual machines that are no longer needed?
Wasting Time on Manual and Repetitive TasksIs time spent adding business value?Are lots of manual steps leading to errors?What is your defined process if you have one-off deployments?
9
Request for VM
Provisioning
DeleteArchive
Intelligent Placement
Route for Approval
VMware Lifecycle Manager
Automated Deployment
VM Tracking
Policy & Control
Decommission
Establish a Standardized Catalog
Reduce infrastructure complexity
Ensure compliance with configuration standards
Consistent Process for Requesting and Approving VMs
Fast and efficient processing of all requestsEnsure compliance with approval processPrevent VM sprawl
User
Approver
BEFORE Lifecycle Manager AFTER Lifecycle Manager
“System of Record” for Virtual Infrastructure
Lifecycle Manager Summary
Feature Benefit
Establishes a catalog and associated deployment policies
Ensures compliance with corporate IT policies and standards
Provides a consistent process for requesting and approving VMs
Prevents VM sprawl
Serves as the “system of record” for all VM requests and deployments
Enables systematic tracking and auditing
Typical Lab Infrastructure is an IT Headache
Server sprawl – under desks, in closets
Aging, cast-off hardware
Dirty systems – inability to maintain “clean state”
Users and IT bogged down in provisioning requests
*Actual customer photos
VMware Lab Manager System Overview
Ops
VMware Infrastructure 3Standard or Enterprise(with Lab Manager Agent on each ESX
Lab Manager Storage LibraryVMFS Volumes
VMware Lab Manager Server Software
Lab Manager UsersLocal or distributed software development and test teams
Lab Manager AdministratorsIT Operations or Lab Manager
Ops
Checking out a Configuration from the VLM library
Ops
Developer in Hong Kong needs Debt Analytics production configuration
Developer Logs in to Lab Manager via browser, browses library and selects Debt Analytics configuration
Lab Manager (1) enforces access control and quota policies (2) selects “best” hosts for each VM (3) provides console access for each VM
Capturing a Configuration to the VLM library
Ops
QA Professional in Singapore has discovered a bug.
QA user selects “Capture to Library”on current configuration
Lab Manager (1) enforces access control and quota policies (2) suspends all VMs (3) Captures “net new” library entry and generates LiveLink URL.
QA professional pastes LiveLink URL in bug report and resumes testing.Developer can then reproduce environment (and bug) on demand by clicking URL in bug report.
VMware Lab Manager:Automating Lab Infrastructure and Operations
Self Service Provisioning
Image Library of Virtual Machine Configurations
IT in Control of Policy and Quotas
Setup, capture, storage and sharing of multi-VM configurations using a shared pool of resources
Lab Users and IT Bogged Down In Provisioning Requests
Dev
Dev
IT3
days
1 min
BEFORE Lab Manager
AFTER Lab Manager
Lab Manager Features and Benefits
Feature User Benefit VI Admin Benefit
Self-service portal for on-demand provisioning
Eliminates delays, accelerates project completion; easy to use
Eliminates time-consuming manual tasks; frees up time for value-add work
Image library for managing multi-VM configurations
Pristine copies of target environments every time
Reduces server sprawl and VM sprawl in labs
LiveLink for capturing and sharing environments
Improves software quality; facilitates troubleshooting; accelerates time to market
Lowers storage consumption; minimizes fire-drills
Stage Manager Targets Release Management
Risk of production downtime is reduced by splitting pre-production processes into discrete stages.
Release Management Stages
Homegrown or packaged application
software
Integration
Assembleapplication
components in the target environment
Testing
Verify successful
integration ofcomponents
Staging
Perf. tuningand
testing
UAT
Useracceptance
testing
Production
Testing Staging UATIntegration Production
Traditional Process
Many shadow instances of the application for each stage.Leads to server sprawl, configuration drift, lack of coordination, and inability to implement changes accurately into production.
IT Service Transition Challenges
Infrastructure Management
Process and Compliance
Service Visualization
Infrastructure Management Challenges
� Pre-production server sprawl
Provisioning is tedious and time consuming, done one system at a time
Shadow systems are often left on – even when they’re not being used
Underutilized resources are wasting space, power, cooling
� Shadow instances “drift” from production configurations
Changes made to production aren’t synched with shadow instances
Shadow instances aren’t “true” copies of production systems (or each other); introduces risk
Ensuring the same changes are applied to each shadow instance is error prone and a primary source of production downtime
Idle & Drifting Infrastructure leads to unneeded costs and unacceptable risks
Two approaches to CCR management
Process and Compliance Challenges
Ad hoc/no defined
CCR process
Lack of controls introduces high risk to
production systems
Process bureaucracy impedes ability to
change quickly
Rigorous adherence to well-defined CCR
stages and processes
Minimize risk to production
������
High degree of flexibility
How do you strike the balance?
Service Visualization Challenges
� Inability to achieve a unified view of:
Services
Stages on a per-service basis
Resources allocated to support each stage
Ensuring computing power for services is a manual process, even with resource pools & DRS
No simple view on resources consumed by a service
Current status of each service as it transitions into production
You can’t manage what you can’t see!
VMware Stage Manager Key Capabilities
Infrastructure Management
Process and Compliance
Service Visualization
� Manage pre-production infrastructure Rapidly create or clone complex production environmentsDefine service transition stages and user access rolesMap resource pools to services and stages
� Accelerate change requests to production systems
Systematically promote system changes through service transitionstages before committing systems into production
Track and annotate service transitions for auditing purposes
Archive and restore copies of complete service configurations
� Visualize entire service transition lifecycle
Unified view of all services, stages, and related resources
Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool
VMware Virtual Infrastructure
Testing Staging UATIntegration Production
With Stage Manager
VMwareStage Manager
Run IT service configurations as virtual machines.Streamline pre-production operations.
Stage Manager Is Organized Around IT Services
Visualize service operations and release management.
Each stage associated with a resource pool
Virtualized Staging and Production Servers
VMware Infrastructure 3VMwareVirtualCenter+ DRS, HA, Vmotion…
VMwareStage Manager
Shared Storage
ProductionIntegration StagingTesting
Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool
VMware Virtual Infrastructure
Testing Staging UATIntegration Production
Pushbutton Promotion Toward and Into Production
VMwareStage Manager
promote promote promote promote
Effortless transition of IT service configurations between stages
Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool
VMware Virtual Infrastructure
Testing Staging UATIntegration Production
Patching Production Systems
VMwareStage Manager
clone
Create exact copies of production systems
Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool
VMware Virtual Infrastructure
Testing Staging UATIntegration Production
Archiving and Restoring Production Systems
VMwareStage Manager
archive
restore
Ensure IT process and regulatory compliance
Stage Manager Features and Benefits
Ensure all environments are exact replicas, mitigating risk of errors and potential downtime
Maintains configuration consistency throughout IT service lifecycle – even cloning directly from production
Feature Benefit
Pushbutton promotion, cloning, archiving through intuitive user interface
Accelerate the completion of requests for changes to production systems
Automatically undeploy unused pre-production instances
Reclaim unused capacity, reducing overall usage and minimizing infrastructure growth
Automation Across the Virtual Datacenter
Dev and QA Staging Production
Infrastructure Admins
• No visibility into app status• Inability to coordinate changes• Drifting systems
App Admins
Transition an IT service through integration and staging into production
Stage Manager• Long lead times• Dirty systems
Developers QA engineers
Lab Manager
Rapid provisioning of multi-tier transient lab
environments
Tracking and control VM lifecycle with consistent approval mechanisms
Lifecycle Manager
Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool Resource Pool
VMware Virtual Infrastructure
Automation = Business Agility
Virtual Infrastructure
Management & Automation
Hypervisor
What It Means for You
Increase ROIAutomate previously manual tasks
Increase responsiveness to the business
Accelerate the rate of IT change while maintaining predictability and control
Minimize risk and improve compliance with IT/business policy
Manage IT Service delivery across IT and business functions
Questions?
