The following sections contain information to help introduce you to PlateSpin Orchestrate:
PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0 uses its functional components to:
Perform high-performance task breakdown across multiple machines (resources) in a data center
Provide distributed, CRON-style job scheduling
Provide a messaging system between the PlateSpin Orchestrate Server and the managed machines
The PlateSpin Orchestrate system consists of a central server (the Orchestrate Server), agents capable of executing work on each managed resource, and an optional client application (the PlateSpin Orchestrate Development Client) that can be used to drive and monitor the PlateSpin Orchestrate system. Work is described to the system in the form of a “job.” A job is written in an embedded Python* script and deployed to and managed by the server. When a job is run, constraint-based placement (a kind of rules engine) directs the work to suitable and available resources. The job might partially execute on the managed systems and can further execute any process as the desired user on the managed system.
The Orchestrate VM Client adds increased functionality to PlateSpin Orchestrate.This client helps administrators, IT operators, and job developers improve and expand the performance of the data center by automating provisioning and by using Virtual Machines (VMs) as resources in the data center computing environment. Better managed VMs can help control associated data center costs by addressing several data center issues, including cooling, space, power usage, and efficient hardware usage. For more information about the VM Client, see the PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0 VM Client Guide and Reference.
PlateSpin Orchestrate includes these core features:
Creation and management of virtual environments
Powerful automation and scheduling engine
Support for most commonly used hypervisors
Open API promotes extensibility
Some of the new features in PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0.x include:
Provisioning Adapters
VMware* Virtual Center
Usability improvements for connecting to Virtual Center
Xen
Improved automatic configuration of SLES VM hosts
VM management UI (PlateSpin Orchestrate VM Client)
New UI themes
Improved list navigation through a “locator pop-up” and a filter field
Improved tooltips related to VM life cycle operations
Visibility into history of VM life cycle operations
Improved event logging (content and format)
Improved VM remote connection setup
Optional manual VM placement in addition to default automated placement
Improved VM remote connection setup
Support for PXE-based installation of virtual machines
PlateSpin Orchestrate Server
Audit database now includes support for historical tracking of VM life cycle operations
New events based on RRD-based averaging of monitored metrics
New platform support
PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0.2 agents are supported on SLES 11 (32-bit and 64-bit)
PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0.2 VM Client and Development Client are supported on SLED 11 (32-bit and 64-bit)
PlateSpin Orchestrate can manage the life cycle of SLES 11 virtual machines (32-bit and 64-bit)
Metrics gathering form 32-bit and 64-bit Windows virtual machines (disk I/O, network I/O, CPU, and RAM)
Some of the new features in PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0.x include:
New Provisioning Adapters
VMware* ESX
No requirement for customers to run VMware Virtual Center (VMware ESXi requires Virtual Center)
VMware ESX management is more powerful
Microsoft* Windows* Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role enabled
Easy to use new VM management GUI (VM Client)
Exposes only VM-related operations (that is, VM creation and management)
Incorporates many of the VM functions that were previously done in the ZENworks Orchestrator Console 1.3
Authentication using LDAP
Active Directory* support (in addition to “generic” LDAP)
Administrator privilege based on LDAP group membership
Enhanced monitoring for disk and net I/O, CPU, and RAM
Monitoring of physical and virtual resources
Event triggering facility
Events can start jobs or alert existing jobs
Integration of N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) for the XEN 30 hypervisor on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 SP2
VMs use virtual worldwide port numbers on the SAN
SAN zoning/LUN masking can be done through this port number
VMs can migrate freely without losing access to zoned storage
Support for Orchestrate Agent installed on SLES 10 SP2 and Windows Server* 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Support for installation inside virtual machines
Initially one (Xen* virtual machine)
To download the product for evaluation or purchase, contact an authorized Novell Sales representative or a Certified Novell Partner.
You can evaluate the product before purchase by downloading a trial key, which controls the number of users and managed nodes you can configure. The trial key also sets an expiration date. The trial key is available on the product download site.
For fully supported functionality, PlateSpin Orchestrate requires a purchased license key. Contact your Novell Sales Representative or a Certified Novell Partner for purchase information.
If you are operating PlateSpin Orchestrate with a trial license key, use the following steps to upgrade to a license key you purchased from Novell:
Stop the PlateSpin Orchestrate Server.
Copy the purchased license file (key.txt) to the /opt/novell/zenworks/zos/server/license directory, overwriting the old license key.
Restart the Orchestrate Server.