Automatic provisioning puts zip into data centres (page 1 of 3)

Once the latest updates are loaded, one system after the other is configured, tested and switched online. No wonder manual server maintenance represents a major cost factor for IT departments and their budgets.

Costs are also driven by the complexity of IT infrastructures that are built around a variety of servers requiring specific administration know-how. Many an IT manager would be only too happy if he could cut costs at this point - and now rather than later.

Automatic provisioning products that operate like virtual IT administrators can be an alternative to this dreary manual work. This article sketches the current status of the technology, explains how server provisioning works and shows the extent to which these solutions are actually fit for everyday use.

Automatic provisioning replaces server sitting

Provisioning itself is not really new. Originally, the term referred to the service requisitioning process, starting with input of the request and ending with delivery of the service.

In IT it is normally used as a general term to describe the configuration of computer systems so that a service can be offered. In practice, this now mainly involves installing and activating the software that is needed on an existing server. It also covers the installation and configuration of servers, storage, networks and other components.

Server provisioning tools are now being used to automate these processes. The aim is to lower administration costs through remote installations and updates and to increase application availability - automation lessens the risk of human slip-ups in processes that are often complex and prone to error.

The distribution process to the systems can be rationalized down to a matter of minutes rather than days thanks to the time saved on work and shorter distribution times, which translate into direct cost savings. The virtual IT administrator always has full control, and spots unused resources immediately.

Since resources can be distributed quickly and efficiently to places where they are currently needed, automatic server provisioning optimizes utilization levels. This makes it possible to resolve the dilemma of accurate capacity planning: IT infrastructure extravagances that are geared to meeting any eventuality and a minimal infrastructure strategy are both, in their own ways, money pits.

Deploying resources more efficiently

Automation solutions currently on the market such as VERITAS OpForce 4.0, Think Dynamics from IBM, Microsoft ADS and SMS 2003, Novadigm from HP, Consera and Sun with Terraspring and CenterRun naturally vary in the services they provide.

Some operate in heterogeneous, some only in homogeneous environments, some have very user-friendly GUIs, and so on. Nevertheless, they all work in the same way and use the same core components.

Inventory, configuration and network management
Their first job is to discover the location of a server, how it is used, its configuration and current utilization. This information is the basis of every automatic server provisioning solution.

At the physical level, there are many provisioning products that can trace the precise position, i.e. the room and building, of a server on a company's premises. At the logical level, the solutions offer a higher-level concept, such as server inventory pools. Any server can belong logically to several inventories, acting as production, reserve or maintenance pools.

Other information shows which software release they have installed.