Virtual lab automation: Difference between revisions

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'''Virtual Lab Automation''' refers to a category of software solutions to automate IT labs{{clarifymeClarify|What is an "IT lab"?|date=November 2010}} using [[X86 virtualization|virtualization technology]]. [[Virtual Lab]] Automation (VLA) solutions are available as on-premise packaged software or as a cloud service.

==History==

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Akimbi pioneered the Virtual Lab Management market with its Slingshot product <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/05/04/77881_19TCakimbi_1.html

| title = Akimbi makes virtual labs real }}</ref>. [[VMware]] acquired Akimbi in 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/software_lifecycle.html

| title = VMware Advances Software Lifecycle Management }}</ref> [[VMLogix]] LabManager <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vmlogix.com/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=13&year=2006&month=11&day=06&Itemid=50

| title = VMLogix Launches LabManager in North America to Simplify the Software Development Lifecycle }}</ref> was launched in 2006 as well; followed by a virtual lab solution on the Amazon public cloud <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vmlogix.com/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=39&Itemid=50 | title = VMLogix Delivers Virtual Lab Automation to the Cloud }}</ref> in 2009. [[CloudShare]] (originally named IT Structures) and Skytap introduced the first cloud-based virtual lab automation services in 2008.

==Solutions==

Virtual labs are used for sales, testing, demos, training, development and certification of software and hardware solutions. The main potential business benefits are reduced labor and hardware costs,faster response times to customers and channels, improved [[testing reliability]] and simple access to complex configurations.

Virtual lab management software is used in educational institutes and universities as well in orchestrating virtual training labs and in education IT. VMLogix is offering their management solutions at no cost to Universities worldwide<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.vmlogix.com/education | title = VMLogix Virtual Lab Automation Solution for Education Institutes and Universities }}</ref>.

==Capabilities==

A virtual lab automation solution typically includes the following capabilities:

===Resource Pooling and Provisioning===

Resource pooling enables [[Clock rate|processing power]], storage and networking infrastructure to be shared between different teams and individuals, increasing utilization and availability of resources, and reducing costs. In conjunction with resource pooling, an orchestration and provisioning process allocates and releases resources as needed.

===Complex Multi-Machine Configurations===

Virtual labs are usually targeted to complex enterprise scenarios and support complex networking topologies such as multiple networks, bridging, routing and multi-tier apps.

Some solutions enable integration of [[virtual machine]]s, physical machines, network appliances and hypervisors to reflect current enterprise setups.

Virtual machine images are the containers that enable [[operating system]]s and applications to be isolated from physical resources. A group of virtual or physical images or that define a complete system, including network and storage characteristics, is defined as a configuration. For instance, a configuration could consist of multiple [[Windows Vista]] client machines, an [[Oracle database]] server and a [[WebSphere Application Server|WebSphere application server]]. Configurations can be easily created by combining machines through a [[user interface]]. A configuration is a very useful concept for QA teams because it allows a whole system to be defined and isolated in a test environment. Virtual networking enables copies of the same environment to be run in parallel and the emulation of production environments during the test process.

===Configuration Library===

A configuration library allows a team to manage and organize virtual images and configurations. Standard builds and images can be created and made available to development and QA teams to save hours of set-up time and environment configuration. Additionally, the library is used to store new configurations that are cloned or created as part of a test.

===Life cycle Management===

The ability to suspend a complete state of a multi-machine configuration and make a snapshot (a copy at a point in time) is a major benefit of virtualization. This is especially useful for application development teams because when a bug is found a configuration snapshot to be taken at the point of failure and a link to the configuration added to a defect report. Instead of a developer spending hours to reproduce the defect, he or she can restore the configuration and start debugging the issue within minutes.

The ability to control the [[life cycle]] automatically is beneficial for web based service. For example, an environment can run for two hours and than automatically be archived to disk.this reduces the costs of running the environments and allows for multiple business scenarios.

===Scheduling and Reservations===

Many in-house virtual lab implementations have a fixed pool of resources for teams to share. Scheduling and reservation functionality allows the resolution of resource conflicts and test environments to be reserved ahead of time.

===Reporting and Monitoring===

Reporting modules allow users and administrators to manage usage and quotas and determine whether the system resources are being used optimally. Monitoring enables the system health to be diagnosed, including CPU utilization, storage performance and network usage.

===Automation API===

Automating a test lab almost always involves integrating tools and test processes. An automation API enables teams to automatically create test environments as part of the build process and initiate automated test runs once a new build has been deployed. An automation API is typically made available through a [[web service]]s interface.

Some products like VMLogix LabManager and Citrix LabManager has inbuilt automation capabilities which would provide out of the automation inside the VMs.In such cases, you don't need to write scripts to call these automation APIs as it can be easily done through the GUI.

===Security===

Security features include access and roles management, permissions and authentication. Some services allow dynamic roles assignment ( for example, vendor and channel) or hierarchy ( manager and employee ).Since replicated guests have identical user names and passwords, those need customization for [[public services]].

===Remote Access and Visualization===

[[Remote access]] to the system (for instance for an outsourced vendor) is usually managed through secure connections via encrypted protocols and [[virtual private network]]ing.

Access to identical copies of configurations over the internet requires a method to authenticate traffic at the application level while guarantees it is tunneled only to the relevant environment.

Typically the lab environments are visualized over the web to demonstrated the multi-server topologies and logical relationship.

===Administration ===

Administration features often include project creation,quota management,billing, auditing and customization.

==Vendors==

Virtual lab automation solutions are available as on-premise packaged software or as a cloud service. VMware, Surgient and VMLogix launched in 2006 to provide packaged software solutions.IT Structures <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/it-structures-emerges-to-take-center-stage-at-vmworld-europe,726445.shtml

| title = IT Structures Emerges to Take Center Stage at VMworld Europe }}</ref> and Skytap launched in 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://weblog.infoworld.com/virtualization/archives/2008/04/skytap_reveals.html

| title = Skytap reveals cloud-based services as it enters virtual lab market }}</ref> and offer virtual lab automation as a cloud service. VMBed is another cloud-based service.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virtual Lab Automation}}

==References==

[[Category:Virtualization software]]

{{reflist}}

==External links==

* [http://www.cloudshare.com CloudShare]

* [http://www.itstructures.com IT Structures]

* [http://www.skytap.com Skytap]

* [http://www.surgient.com Surgient]

* [http://vmbed.com VMBed]

* [http://www.vmlogix.com VMLogix]

* [http://www.vmware.com/products/labmanager/ VMWare Lab Manager]

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[[Category:Virtualization software]]