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CA Data Center Automation Blog
May 2008 - Posts
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Data Center Automation and Green IT - Part 1
Given all the attention and interest behind "Green IT", I'm sure this will be first of many Blogs I will write on this subject. I've held off on writing about Green IT until now, simply because I needed time to consume and digest where Green IT initiatives best fit into a data center automation initiative. The driving forces behind Green IT are pretty easy to understand, data center and the IT industry as a whole are recognizing the impact of energy consumption, or the overall "carbon footprint" on the environment. This realization has led the IT sector to search for "green" solutions. Quite a few evangelists and vendors alike have jumped onto the Green IT bandwagon and therefore have created a lot of attention to the subject. Many data center automation initiatives already go hand-in-hand with developing and/or delivering green solutions. Take for example the rate of server consolidation and virtualization, a recent CA sponsored global survey on virtualization indicates that a large majority of US respondents (68%) have adopted a virtualization strategy in order to consolidate servers. The drive to consolidate promises to reduce physical equipment overhead, power consumption and management complexity.
Server utilization, more specifically "under utilization", also plays a big role in reducing data center power consumption. Having the ability to run servers at more optimal utilization levels, i.e. 40%-60%, as compared to industry averages of <10%. This means taking advantage of available server capacity and "automatically" provisioning additional capacity when needed. Those servers that are not required to be online to meet demand at the time, are either powered down into "cold standby" mode, or in "hot standby" ready to accept demand at a moments notice. The IT industry is HOT on Green IT and it only makes good business sense. Reduced power consumption and being a good "corporate citizen" is both fiscally and environmentally responsible and should be part of our civic duty.
As you can see, policy driven automation and virtualization play a key role in meeting Green IT objectives and should be considered as part of any Green IT initiative within the data center. In future Blogs I plan on exploring other aspects of achieving Green IT goals, such as some of the underlying risks in the goal to become Green.
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Run Book Automation (RBA) - A Crucial Component to any DCA Initiative
When talking about automation in the data center we think about the use of tools and processes to coordinate and execute on activities with hopes to reduce complexity, errors, labor, and costs while increasing productivity. To further automation goals, we have to consider outside influences to the data center as well as existing software tools and processes that are already in place. It is likely that any given data center environment consists of a spattering of technologies across multiple platforms and vendors. This platform/vendor mix results in increased data center complexity and can best be dealt with by the proper tools for integrating and orchestrating IT processes across IT silos, regardless of the vendor or vendor specific platforms. Integration is the key concept and Run Book Automation (RBA), aka IT Process Automation (ITPA), is a critical component in any automation initiative.
Recently CA announced an OEM agreement with Opalis, a leader in RBA tools. This partnership will allow CA to take advantage of an already established, industry leading technology as well as to further enhance its integration points for CA software. But, this does not preclude the existing integration points across other vendor platforms, nor Opalis' continued R&D efforts as a vendor neutral solution.
So what does RBA bring to the table? "IT process automation provides the ability to launch a process in context and pass information from one process to the next with a level of accuracy far superior to that of any entry into an administrator interface. Solutions in this space replace the scripting of application production rules (run book)." The demand for process automation is driven from senior IT leadership looking to: Increase IT operations efficiencies, especially around the adoption of best practices, increase IT agility and proving IT operations' accountability to the business.
You may have noticed a theme of process automation, coupled with best practices? Yes, RBA/ITPA can help achieve higher levels of process maturity, notably those specified in best practices frameworks, such as ITIL. IT process automation can easily assist IT Operations in automating those processes that are established and repeatable, while setting the stage for future process design and improvements. As IT Operations continues to identify, define and improve on IT processes, ITPA serves as a fundamental step in furthering their goals.
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