You can use Commander to automatically deploy new service requests once they're approved. When automated deployment is configured, new service requests can move from approval to completion with no intervention. Automated deployment means that administrators are freed from decisions related to capacity, storage, and networking. You will receive an email when automated deployment failures occur and when changes in your infrastructure cause deployment destinations to become invalid.
Design considerations
Commander enables you to configure placement rules that are as simple or as sophisticated as you require. Here are just a few considerations in this area:
- What will determine where VMs are deployed? For example, do all SQL servers need to go to one destination? Perhaps the web team has its own cluster?
- Do you need to take advantage of Commander IP pools or our integration with BlueCat™ IPAM? Commander IP pools work well when you need you to reserve resources for particular users or groups or to make sure that certain ranges are used for particular purposes. When you integrate with BlueCat™ IPAM, you can create host records or DHCP reservations from BlueCat™ IPAM during provisioning with Commander.
- How are naming conventions defined? As shown in the image above, you can configure a global naming convention, or naming can be determined by the service catalog. You can use variables for unique numbering; you can also include information such as the requester or service type. Requesters can also define service names.
- Will your service catalog contain multi-homed services, or will organizations have the option to deploy to multiple networks? If so, you need to assign zones to networks, rather than assigning individual networks to the deployment destination.
- Consider assigning placement attributes to deployment destinations, as well as to the service request form.
Best practices
Configure automated placement and networking for deployed services based on the types of services you will offer (for example, fenced or multi-homed services), as well as how knowledgeable your users are and how much control you want to allow them. If you don't want to allow any end-user control, don't add the Destination form element to the new request form.
Examples
If you're running a Dev/Test shop, you'd likely want to allow your users to choose the network zone and add adapters as required when requesting a service. You might also want to allow Dev/Test users to reconfigure networking settings for existing VMs.
If you're a service provider, on the other hand, you may want to allow requesters to indicate their service requirements by selecting from a drop-down list (such as Backup, Monitoring or None), and then set up completion workflows to handle these requirements.
