Server Management and Automation - The Opsware System

The Opsware Server Management System is used by enterprises, government agencies, and service providers to automate server and application management. It immediately addresses critical IT issues such as operations quality, cost reduction, system security, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and ITIL compliance. By completely automating the operational lifecycle of servers and applications, the Opsware System helps IT organizations realize massive efficiency and quality gains today.

Opsware System Capabilities

Discover Hardware and Software Assets through Asset Tracking- Discovers each server's hardware, software and network information and automatically constructs a blueprint of the environment for all administrators to use. Automatically updates the blueprint as changes take place in the environment.

Provision Linux, Unix and Windows - Provisions operating systems onto bare metal servers quickly, consistently and with little or no manual intervention.

Provision Software Applications - Installs and configures software applications using native packaging formats.

Ensure Patch Compliance - Quickly identifies vulnerable servers and deploys patches to many servers simultaneously. Leverages OS-specific utilities like Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer to make recommendations on which patches should be applied to which servers.

Track Critical Configurations - Tracks changes in software and system configuration files, directories and other objects. Automatically backs up new versions, notifies administrators of changes and / or restores previous versions based on policy.

Execute Scripts - Securely shares and runs custom scripts and ad hoc commands across multiple servers. Maintains a detailed audit trail to increase accountability and enable easy troubleshooting.

Deploy Application Updates - Coordinates complex, multi-step deployments from one environment (e.g., staging) to another (e.g., production) for n-tier applications to simplify release process and prevent manual errors.

Rollback Changes - Enables rollback of patch, application, and configuration changes on individual or groups of servers. Also, coordinates rollback of n-tier applications.

Report on Assets and Operational Activity - Provides dynamic, real-time reports of asset information (e.g., hardware, software, and patches) and operations activities (e.g., number of patches, who did what) across the entire, global IT environment.

System of Record

The System of Record is the repository of configuration, environmental and service level information associated with managed servers and applications. It serves as the common blueprint for administrators to coordinate and plan their activities. Initially populated through the Opsware Asset Tracking capability, the System of Record automatically updates as changes take place in the environment or are initiated through Opsware. The Opsware System of Record maintains three distinct types of information in a single secure database:

• Asset & configuration information - including hardware, software, system configuration, and network properties for every server as well as business information like service level, use, state, location and customer each server belongs to.
• Best practices & policy information - including OS and application builds, patch policies, templates, and configuration tracking policies.
• Change history - a detailed digitally signed audit trail of who did what when including changes made to servers and policies.

Change Engine

The Opsware Change Engine is designed to safely and securely automate changes in highly complex environments. Taking the input from the user and governed by the policies in the System of Record, the Change Engine throttles and executes commands across servers simultaneously recording every action to detailed audit logs. The Change Engine:

• Parallelizes operations across many servers simultaneously
• Validates and enables users to preview changes before executing them
• Throttles the number of concurrent sessions to prevent network flooding
• Schedules jobs

Enterprise Scalability

The Opsware System is designed for large, distributed IT environments. Whether servers are located in a few large data centers or in remote locations throughout the world, the Opsware System can scale to manage them. Opsware Multimaster gives administrators the ability to manage servers located in any data center from a single console. It helps keep global data centers synchronized by automatically replicating the System of Record and proxying commands. Opsware Satellite extends the benefits of Opsware's IT lifecycle automation to servers located in remote facilities, at the end of low bandwidth links or in restricted network environments like a DMZ. The combination of Opsware Multimaster and Satellite makes enterprise-wide automation possible even in large, highly distributed environments.

Opsware Platform Support

Operating Systems

Supports nearly 30 operating systems versions across:

• AIX
• HP-UX
• Linux (Red Hat and SuSE)
• Solaris
• Windows

Also supports the internationalized and localized versions of the above OSs.

Software Infrastructure and Applications

Any software in standard packaging formats can be installed and managed via the Opsware System. Opsware supports over 20 packaging formats including MSIs, RPMs, Solaris packages, HP-UX depots and AIX LPPs. Because Opsware supports native packaging technologies, administrators don't have to repackage software in a proprietary format or learn new technologies. In addition, by using native formats the server's operating system is able to manage an accurate software inventory, lowering support costs throughout the server lifecycle.

For dynamic configuration and application specific control, Opsware has developed Intelligent Software Module (ISM) technology. ISMs are specialized application packages that use information in Opsware to dynamically configure the application and provide control hooks to make it easier for administrators to manage the application. They are designed to systematically capture best practices and enforce standards while still giving each administrator the flexibility she needs. Opsware Inc. provides many ISMs for common technologies and also provides an ISM Development Kit so customers can customize and build their own.