Technologies Contributing to Data Center Automation

By CIOReview | Thursday, April 25, 2019

Data center automation primarily deals with managing and automating the workflow and processes at the data center with the help of automation software. Automation does not mean eliminating manual workforce instead the humans drive the automation by managing and monitoring complex and strategic jobs. Concepts of network virtualization and software-defined networking (SDN) with the help of machine learning have made it possible to efficiently achieve data center automation.

Data center automation focuses on automation on some routine tasks such as-

• Creating and automating all data center scheduling and monitoring tasks.

• Providing insights of server, nodes and their configuration.

• Automation of routine jobs such as patching, updating, and reporting.

• Enabling process and controls to be in compliance of standards and policies.

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Use of Machine Learning in Datacenter Automation

Machine learning technology enables devices to learn from their surroundings and experiences which proves extremely useful for automation purposes. In data centers, collecting and storing data in a statistically-significant time frame, visualizing results in simple and actionable formats, and comparing current data with baseline data are tedious and onerous jobs. Machine learning gathers data over time and automatically models a system and then predicts future trends. High-quality data decides the results obtained from any machine learning engine which means network always needs a reliable visibility tool to obtain data and eliminate network blind spots.

Role of SDN in Automation

This emerging technology is making a significant impact on data center automation by obsolescing the traditional CLI interface, which was tedious to implement and also restricted automation to absolutely essential processes. SDN shows capabilities to provide a much simpler, single, and modern interface for all equipment in the infrastructure layer and has accelerated automation more than expected.

Impact of Cloud Migration

The excessive use and shift towards cloud are driving the change of automation in data centers. In present, all public and private organizations are using cloud and to take advantage of these usage network visibility in extremely important. Both direct cloud access by users and intercloud operation of the application put a strain on network visibility solutions. Remote offices accessing the cloud directly has led to the need for SD-WAN solutions, which will optimize the end user experience and reduce the overall cost of network connectivity provided through service providers.