Software-Defined Intelligence and a Unified API would make Iron Man proud

J. A. R. V. I. S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) is Tony Stark’s computer system in the movie Iron Man

J. A. R. V. I. S. automatically takes care of everything for the fictional superhero—from heating and cooling his house to alerting him when security protocols have been overridden.

Although today’s IT management systems aren’t nearly as sophisticated as J.A.R.V.I.S., they can automate many processes to help businesses move faster and compete more effectively. As I described in a previous article, Life in the fast lane…automation with software-defined intelligence, physical infrastructure can be automated using software-defined intelligence and a unified API. Hundreds to thousands of lines of code can be reduced to a single line of code, saving countless hours and making IT infrastructure management easier.

Can software-defined intelligence and a unified API also help businesses deliver new applications and services faster — innovations that are often the lifeblood of many businesses? Yes, and here’s how.

Continuous delivery of applications and services requires fast, policy-based automation of applications and infrastructure across development, testing and production environments. A unified API for infrastructure can do just that by letting developers and ISVs integrate with automation tool chains. For instance, a unified infrastructure API can simplify control of compute, storage and networking resources, so developers can code without needing a detailed understanding of the underlying physical elements.

HPE simplifies bare metal infrastructure automation by using software-defined templates to fully define the infrastructure and then provides a unified API, native in HPE OneView, to eliminate time-consuming coordination across servers, storage, and networking. Customers can use this toolset directly, or they can use pre-built integrations created by an HPE partner.

For example, customers using an automation tool like Chef can easily automate the provisioning of an entire stack from HPE bare metal through their application in minutes. This partner integration can also help keep the customer’s environment up to date. By combining an HPE partner’s automation with HPE OneView’s ability to stage, schedule, and install firmware updates, entire stacks can be updated with no downtime – from infrastructure to application.

A growing list of ISV partners are taking advantage of the unified API in HPE OneView to automate solutions for customers. These partners range from large software suites like VMware® vCenter, Microsoft® System Center, and Red Hat, to focused solution providers such as Chef, Docker,  Mesophere, CANCOM, and others. By integrating with the unified API in HPE OneView, ISVs can provide solutions that reduce the time their customers spend managing their environments.

Just like J. A. R. V. I. S., these integrations built by HPE partners take care of the housekeeping issues involved with moving apps and services from the cloud to your datacenter. And because it is so simple, you can concentrate on the superhero tasks of developing apps that create value for your business.


 

About Frances Guida

Frances Guida leads HPE OneView Automation and Ecosystem. Building on her years of experience with virtualization and cloud computing, she is passionate about helping enterprises use emerging technologies to create business value.  To learn how to migrate with ease to HPE OneView, watch this webinar replay. To learn more about HPE OneView, download the free ebook, HPE OneView for Dummies.

To read more articles from Frances, check out the HPE Converged Data Center Infrastructure blog.