Many enterprises either already have a private cloud, plan to build one or at least have considered in-house cloud as an option. If you're on the private cloud bandwagon but remain unfamiliar with how to extract its full benefits, you're not alone.
This tutorial looks at private cloud computing tools that unleash the power of automation and orchestration, monitoring and service catalogs. While these features are important, they're also not yet fully understood in the context of virtualized, or private cloud, environments.
Enabling orchestration and automation
Although automation and orchestration are often used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference between the two terms. Automation is usually associated with a single task, and orchestration is associated with a process that involves workflow around several automated tasks. If you're looking to better understand the value and importance of automation (and orchestration) in a private cloud environment, one of the best ways is to contrast server provisioning in a traditional data center with virtual server provisioning in a virtualized environment.
Server virtualization can reduce the amount of time to provision servers, but it does not decrease the time associated with installation. An IT staff uses labor-intensive management tools and manual scripts to control and manage the infrastructure, and they will not be able to keep up with the continuous stream of configuration changes needed to maintain access and security changes in conjunction with a private cloud's dynamic provisioning and virtual machine (VM) movement. This is why automation of these processes is an important element of private cloud.