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For many companies, their first attempt at automation is to develop in-house scripts in whatever language (Python, Perl, Tcl, etc.)

In fact, scripting is almost always a stepping stone to automation.  Which brings up several questions about scripting and about Nolio Automation Center that I’d like to address here.

 

Is scripting bad?

Of course not.  Most customers get their toes into the waters of automation with some level of scripting.  Our best customers are the ones that have gotten some benefits from scripts but have really reached the limits of what they can do with scripting and need something that is more effective and less prone to human errors.

 

Is the Nolio tool a GUI for creating my scripts?

No, it’s really not. Scripting has certain limitations – particularly around maintainability, mutltiple envinorments/ labs/ datacenter synchronization, documentation, and troubleshooting.

Most importantly, scripting does not provide you with management of the execution – reports of what was done, by whom and where in the Datacenter, so that later on you can use that information in a user friendly and timely manner.

Nolio automation completely avoids these limitations. In fact, no script is generated in Nolio. Instead, there’s a distributed workflow engine that “knows” how to run the Noio automated processes, and adjusts to any environment. This gives you the benefits of automation without the downside of scripts.

 

Do I need to recreate all my existing scripts?

No. In fact, I can’t think of one customer that hasn’t integrated in-house scripts into their Nolio implementation.

One of the major benefits of using Nolio is adding the following layers, which do not exist in scripts, on top of existing scripts:

1.  A communication and synchronization layer. Scripts usually run on a single server, so you need to write additional code to manage scripts on multiple servers, and you need to write additional code to execute different scripts on different server types in multiple data center environments. You need to have the ability to synchronize and run scripts in stages. Using scripts, you need to write an additional layer of code to achieve this. Nolio platforms allow you to get all of the above for your current scripts without writing additional code.

2. Permissions – The Nolio permissions mechanism allows you to get now-active directory integration and provide roles and authorities to your scripts’ activations and design.

3. Notification and scheduler abilities – extend your scripts’ power, by using Nolio to provide a scheduler and advanced notification mechanism. Be alerted when your scripts are activated, stopped, failed, and completed.

4. Reports – This is the most important part. Automation is only one part, but the real management of data center activity is to KNOW what was running, when and status.  Empower your scripts to have a full reporting system for your script activation, including management reports, which enable you to show your managers your achievements!

As you can see, the Nolio automation solution does not come instead of scripts, but in addition to them. It adds layers that significantly enhance your scripts’ power. Learn more at www.nolio.com

Tags: automation, scripts

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 7:03 am and is filed under Application service automation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.