Virtual lab automation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:32, 11 August 2009

Revision as of 22:08, 4 September 2009

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{{Advert|article|date=November 2008}}

{{deadend|date=May 2009}}

'''Virtual Lab Automation''' refers to a category of software solutions to automate IT labs using [[X86 virtualization|virtualization technology]]. [[Virtual Lab]] Automation (VLA) solutions are available as on-premise packaged software or as a cloud service.

==History==

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. 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>.

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===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 machinesmachine]]s, physical machines, network appliances and hypervisors to reflect current enterprise setups.

Virtual machine images are the containers that enable [[operating systemssystem]]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===

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===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===

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===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 servicesservice]]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 networkingnetwork]]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.