Veritas Provisioning Manager Automated server provisioning, part of the Veritas Server Foundation suite, automates server provisioning and management from physical bare metal discovery and OS installation to application and patch deployment. Provisioning Manager enables an end-to-end automated server build process through an integrated workflow and delivers comprehensive patch management control for heterogeneous enterprise environments. As an enterpriseclass solution, Provisioning Manager offers broad-scale rapid deployment capability for high-performance data centers. Using Provisioning Manager, administrators can quickly save images of server configurations from any major operating system to a central location and redeploy those images to available server resources as needed. The Provisioning Manager workflow capability automates the notification, hand-off, and approval process for various stages of a deployment. In addition, the solution personalizes resources by configuring application and network settings eliminating errors and shortening server configuration time. And because Provisioning Manager includes patch management functionality, organizations can automatically assess and remediate patch vulnerabilities to further simplify server management. Highlights Rapid OS imaging and application deployment Automates and standardizes server builds to support rapid and error-free server provisioning for standard or custom applications. Broad-scale end-to-end provisioning capability fully automates server deployment simultaneously across multiple targets. Integrated workflow management Builds workflows with Microsoft Visio to coordinate server build and deployment tasks across groups and individuals in the enterprise. Automates the notification, hand-off, and approval of each stage of deployment across separate IT groups and business units. Cross-platform patch management Provides comprehensive patch management for heterogeneous environments by monitoring major OS platform vendors for vulnerability announcements and automatically downloading patches for remediation. Delivers enterprise-wide vulnerability status reports on demand and automates patch deployment. Policy-based automation Deploys OSes, applications, and patches automatically using policy-based controls to help speed implementation and maintain compliance and standards; conducts policy-based vulnerability assessments on demand. Creates policies to establish compliance baselines and minimum requirements, and enhance system stability and security. Creates enterprise-wide vulnerability status reports on demand. Page 1 of 5
Configuration and personalization Automatically configures the appropriate network settings such as IP address, host name, and DNS as well as applicationspecific configuration tasks. Comprehensive server and application management As part of the Veritas Server Foundation suite, Provisioning Manager offers complementary functionality to deliver optimized server and application control. Rapid OS imaging and application deployment Provisioning Manager delivers end-to-end automation on a broad-scale. Multiple servers can be built simultaneously using image-based snapshots for rapid deployment, and applications can be deployed and configured for personalization, further reducing the need for system administrator inputs or involvement. From bare metal detection to complete production builds, streamlines the server provisioning process, compressing the amount of time it takes to deploy servers and eliminating errors from manual installations and custom scripts. Provisioning Manager utilizes snapshots of standard server configurations, including the application, OS, and various patch levels. These snapshots are stored in a central repository so they can be deployed on new or existing servers. Provisioning Manager allows users to deploy the same image on dissimilar hardware by personalizing the image not only with a host name and IP address, but also with NIC settings and other hardware configurations. If an administrator adds a patch to one of these server configurations, Provisioning Manager can create an incremental snapshot, capturing only the changes and making it possible to keep multiple versions of a build without the need to store full copies of every image. Figure 1. The main menu summarizes managed resources and recent activity. Figure 2. Managed assets at-a-glance Integrated workflow management enables organizations to build a unified workflow across their IT operations. Using the workflow engine, organizations can create operational process flows in Microsoft Visio and use the engine to automate multiple tasks across IT groups. The workflow manager automates notification, hand-off, and approvals of the various stages of a task or project request. This provides enterprises with a tool that connects multiple jobs in separate departments to enhance service delivery, status visibility, and IT responsiveness. The workflow management capability reduces the overhead in the hand-off process, so storage, server, and networking groups can complete implementations faster. Page 2 of 5
Cross-platform patch management includes automated patch management functionality by enabling enterprise-wide assessment, compliance, and patch deployment across heterogeneous environments. The product enforces policies to dictate required patch levels and ensure compliance to optimal system configurations. In addition, the solution leverages Symantec s PatchBase repository to automatically track vendor vulnerability alerts, download updates, and provide customers with prerelease QA testing to accelerate IT s ability to close the release-to-install gap. Users can automate the deployment of patches and updates throughout the enterprise. Patches can be deployed using a continuous update policy or can be scheduled during off-peak hours to minimize the impact on production. To simplify deployment, users can create packages combining multiple patches. They can also deploy custom-developed applications with the solution, enabling optimization of custom application environments In addition, the intelligence built into the patch management assessment tool analyzes system and release information to determine which update supercedes another. This reduces the amount of time and effort involved in determining which updates are needed and in what order they need to be applied. Policy-based automation Through established policies, organizations can further automate capabilities around server provisioning and patch management. At the server level, Provisioning Manager provides the ability to define policies based on server attribute or blade chassis information to automatically deploy server OS and/or application builds upon bare metal detection. This carries IT a step closer to true lights out administration of the data center by diminishing the expertise required to manage server and application deployment. From a compliance perspective, the Provisioning Manager patch function allows users to ensure minimum baseline compliance standards across their organization. As servers are built and brought online, patches can be deployed automatically to help ensure that corporate standards are met as soon as possible. Furthermore, mandatory baselines enable automated remediation of severe network security vulnerabilities to enhance IT s security posture. This feature also provides vulnerability assessment and status reports on systems and applications to give IT better visibility into the environment. Configuration and personalization Since a server is not completely ready for production until personalized network settings are applied, Provisioning Manager assigns IP addresses, configures NICs, and updates host names for each individual server. Provisioning Manager also integrates with switches and load balancers to add provisioned resources to the appropriate network segments when jobs are completed. Additionally, application configuration and answer files can be utilized to drive end-to-end automated deployment of applications and custom scripts. Comprehensive server and application management fully complements other members of the Veritas Server Foundation family. With Veritas Configuration Manager and Veritas Application Director, the Server Foundation suite offers a complete Page 3 of 5
server and application management package that provides visibility, control, and availability, while simplifying data center administration. Additional product highlights Reduce the cost of test and development Test/Dev administrators need to quickly restore servers to an original state after testing is complete. Provisioning Manager speeds and simplifies this process by saving a snapshot of an original server configuration. When testing is complete, this snapshot is used to restore the entire environment in a few minutes. Most importantly, the snapshot can be deployed on dozens of servers simultaneously. Capture new value through dual-use of disaster recovery servers Typically DR servers at secondary locations sit idle, waiting for applications to be started in the event of failure at the primary location. But because Provisioning Manager can quickly provision servers with operating systems and applications, it is possible for IT to utilize DR resources during the 98 percent of the time when a failure isn t taking place. 1 Reduce the time and cost of deploying and migrating systems Installing the appropriate OS, application, and patches to dozens of new servers is a very timeconsuming and error-prone process. Where companies spent days or weeks in the past, Provisioning Manager uses images and automation to deploy these same systems in minutes. And after the software is installed, Provisioning Manager personalizes the specific network settings so the server is online and ready for use. Reduce server administration cost by automating application and patch deployment Provisioning Manager makes it possible to quickly and consistently push patches out to multiple servers simultaneously from a remote location. With features such as an easy-to-use Web console, configurable snapshot directory, server comparison module, and scripting, it can now take fewer administrators to install more applications, update more patches, and manage more systems. Manage the software library A directory of snapshot images for servers, switches, and load balancers can be filtered, imported, and exported. Administer the system over the Web or via CLI Web browser based administration centralizes all system functions, and can be securely accessed from anywhere in the world. A Java API and CLI capabilities allow scripting operations to make calls to Provisioning Manager to invoke automated jobs. Supported operating systems Management server Sun Solaris Red Hat Linux Microsoft Windows Server Managed servers Sun Solaris IBM AIX Red Hat Linux Novell SUSE Microsoft Windows Server 1Gartner, User Survey: High-Availability and Mission-Critical Services, North America, 2005, April 7, 2005. Page 4 of 5
More information Visit our Web site http://enterprise.symantec.com To speak with a Product Specialist in the U.S. Call toll-free 1 (800) 745 6054 To speak with a Product Specialist outside the U.S. For specific country offices and contact numbers, please visit our Web site. About Symantec Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software, enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a connected world. The company helps customers protect their infrastructure, information, and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance, and performance. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com. Symantec World Headquarters 20330 Stevens Creek Boulevard Cupertino, CA 95014 USA +1 (408) 517 8000 1 (800) 721 3934 www.symantec.com Copyright 2007 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec Logo, and Veritas are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. IBM and AIX are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft, Visio, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Sun, Java, and Solaris are are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the U.S. or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 06/07 12419871 Page 5 of 5