Creating Smart Virtual Appliances With Ibm Image Construction And Composition Tool

In a traditional deployment model, software is installed on a physical server, and it is configured for the particular data center environment. The cloud deployment model requires that the dependency on a specific hardware configuration is severed. This IBM® Redbooks® publication guides you through the transition from the traditional application deployment model to the cloud-friendly deployment model. It explains how to achieve these goals by packaging the software stacks into industry standard virtual appliances. A key part of this transition involves using the IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool. This tool is the IBM tool for creating virtualized workloads that target several private cloud deployment platforms, including platforms from IBM and not from IBM. In fact, this tool is unique in its ability to support such a wide range of cloud offerings. It is also the only tool in the marketplace that can create virtual appliances for both x86 and IBM Power hardware architectures. This book provides an in-depth look at the capabilities and internal workings of Image Construction and Composition Tool. It focuses on the capabilities of this tool, which target the virtualization and cloud offerings of IBM Systems and Technology Group. These offerings include IBM Systems Director VMControlTM, IBM SmartCloud® Entry, and IBM PureFlexTM System with IBM Flex System ManagerTM appliance. The Image Construction and Composition Tool also has a much richer set of capabilities. Specifically, it supports IBM Workload Deployer, IBM PureApplicationTM Systems, and IBM SmartCloud Provisioning. This publication targets software architects, cloud solutions architects, and cloud administrators. Its goal is to provide you with the expert-level skills required to package the existing and newly created applications into self-configurable, smart virtual appliances. Related publication: Smart Virtual Appliances Made Easy with IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool, TIPS1037

In a traditional deployment model, software is installed on a physical server, and it is configured for the particular data center environment. The cloud deployment model requires that the dependency on a specific hardware configuration is severed. This IBM® Redbooks® publication guides you through the transition from the traditional application deployment model to the cloud-friendly deployment model. It explains how to achieve these goals by packaging the software stacks into industry standard virtual appliances. A key part of this transition involves using the IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool. This tool is the IBM tool for creating virtualized workloads that target several private cloud deployment platforms, including platforms from IBM and not from IBM. In fact, this tool is unique in its ability to support such a wide range of cloud offerings. It is also the only tool in the marketplace that can create virtual appliances for both x86 and IBM Power hardware architectures. This book provides an in-depth look at the capabilities and internal workings of Image Construction and Composition Tool. It focuses on the capabilities of this tool, which target the virtualization and cloud offerings of IBM Systems and Technology Group. These offerings include IBM Systems Director VMControl, IBM SmartCloud® Entry, and IBM PureFlex System with IBM Flex System Manager appliance. The Image Construction and Composition Tool also has a much richer set of capabilities. Specifically, it supports IBM Workload Deployer, IBM PureApplication Systems, and IBM SmartCloud Provisioning. This publication targets software architects, cloud solutions architects, and cloud administrators. Its goal is to provide you with the expert-level skills required to package the existing and newly created applications into self-configurable, smart virtual appliances.

This IBM® RedpaperTM publication explains the business and technical value of emerging patterns of expertise in cloud computing, with specific applicability to IBM PureApplicationTM System, IBM Workload Deployer, IBM SmartCloud® Orchestrator, and IBM SmartCloud Application Services. It explains how patterns help companies use the different cloud environments that IBM offers. Also included are some preferred practices for helping to ensure pattern portability. The pattern-based approach is a response to the need to reduce complexity in IT environments, where various skills are required to design, test, configure, and maintain integrated solutions, including clouds. IT managers spend most of their time maintaining applications and application environments, leaving little time to focus on new business needs or to adopt new technologies. As a result, businesses can lack the agility that is needed to be successful in fast-paced, competitive markets. Pattern of expertise are designed to deliver the following benefits: Faster time-to-value Reduced costs and resource demands Fewer errors and, therefore, lower risk Patterns make full use of the unique nature of clouds, both private or public. When they are used in the cloud, patterns allow for the dynamic and efficient use of IT resources to achieve consistent results, even when complex solutions are built. In this way, patterns help save time, money, and resources. This Redpaper aims to show the value that patterns bring to IT managers and the business as a whole.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication introduces users to the concepts of the IBM PureApplicationTM System V1.0. This book covers the most common problems, solutions, best practices, and use cases about adopting the IBM PureApplication System V1.0. The target audience for this book is anyone from the IT industry who wants to acquire a better understanding of IBM PureApplication System, including technical consultants, business partners, and independent software vendors who are considering migrating to a cloud computing solution. This book also is applicable to system administrators, middleware specialists, and software engineers who need a more in-depth approach to PureApplication System features and capabilities.

The IBM® Workload Deployer appliance provides a solid foundation for private cloud strategy, enabling the rapid adoption and deployment of both infrastructure and platform as a Service offering. The IBM Workload Deployer uses the concept of patterns to describe the logical configuration of both the physical and virtual assets that comprise a particular solution. The use of patterns allows an organization to construct an individual element or integrated solution one time, and then dispense the final product on demand. Virtual system patterns are comprised of an operating system and IBM software solutions, such as WebSphere® Application Server and WebSphere Virtual Enterprise. Virtual application patterns are constructed to support a single application workload. This book focuses on the virtual systems capability of the IBM Workload Deployer and specifically addresses the process of building customized virtual systems that go beyond the standard capabilities of the virtual images available with the product. The book starts by describing private clouds and how they can benefit your business. It introduces the IBM Workload Deployer and its capabilities, and then talks about the various tools that you can use to enhance the process of planning, customizing, and automating virtual system deployment. A sample is used to illustrate how the standard virtual images that are available for the IBM Workload Deployer can be customized for a robust solution that includes dynamic workload management, high-performing data caching, and monitoring of system state. The book then discusses how you can use the IBM Workload Deployer to facilitate the progression of an application through its lifecycle. Finally, an overview is provided of the troubleshooting capabilities that come with the IBM Workload Deployer.

Distributed computing has been transformed with the introduction of virtualization technology. This has driven a re-architecture of traditional data center workload placement. In 2012, IBM® announced IBM PureSystemsTM, a new offering based on preconfigured software, servers, and storage that form an expert integrated system. Expert integrated systems now combine traditional IT resources into a single optimized solution, with prepackaged components including servers, storage devices, networking equipment, and software. With this evolution of technology, we move from discrete, siloed, and underutilized IT resources to shared resource pools. This IBM Redbooks® publication can help you install, tailor, and configure IBM SmartCloud® Entry on the IBM PureFlexTM System offering. This book is intended for anyone who wants to learn more about cloud computing with IBM SmartCloud Entry and offerings based on IBM Flex SystemTM elements.

IBM® Workload Deployer provides a solution to creating, deploying, and managing workloads in an on-premise or private cloud. It is rich in features that allow you to quickly build and deploy virtual systems from base images, to extend those images, and to customize them for future use as repeatable deployable units. IBM Workload Deployer also provides an application-centric capability enabling rapid deployment of business applications. By using either of these deployment models, an organization can quickly instantiate a complete application platform for development, test, or production. The IBM Workload Deployer uses the concept of patterns to describe the logical configuration of both the physical and virtual assets that comprise a particular solution. The use of patterns allows an organization to construct a deployable solution one time, and then dispense the final product on demand. patterns are composed of an operating system and IBM software solutions, such as IBM WebSphere® Application Server and IBM WebSphere Virtual Enterprise. patterns are constructed to support a single application workload. The IBM Workload Deployer is shipped with a set of pre-loaded virtual images and virtual patterns. These images and patterns can be used to create comprehensive and flexible middleware solutions. They can also be cloned and customized to suit your specific needs. This IBM Redbooks® publication looks at two different aspects of customizing virtual systems for deployment into the cloud. First, it explores the capabilities of IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool to build and provide highly customized virtual images for use in virtual system patterns on the IBM Workload Deployer. Next, it looks at the virtual application capabilities of the IBM Workload Deployer, including those capabilities that allow you to deploy enterprise applications and database services to the cloud. It also introduces the IBM Workload Deployer Plugin Development Kit, which allows you to further extend the capabilities of the virtual application patterns.

Organizations are looking for ways to get more out of their already strained IT infrastructure as they face new technological and economic pressures. They are also trying to satisfy a broad set of users (internal and external to the enterprise) who demand improvements in their quality of service (QoS), regardless of increases in the number of users and applications. Cloud computing offers attractive opportunities to reduce costs, accelerate development, and increase the flexibility of the IT infrastructure, applications, and services. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is the typical starting point for most organizations when moving to a cloud computing environment. IaaS can be used for the delivery of resources such as compute, storage, and network services through a self-service portal. With IaaS, IT services are delivered as a subscription service, eliminating up-front costs and driving down ongoing support costs. IBM® has defined the Cloud Computing Reference Architecture (CCRA) based on years of experience of working with customers who have implemented cloud-computing solutions. The IBM CCRA is a blueprint or guide for architecting cloud-computing implementations. This IBM RedguideTM publication highlights the Cloud Enabled Data Center adoption pattern and describes how you can use it to define an IaaS solution. This guide is intended for chief technology officers, data center architects, IT architects, and application architects who want to understand the cloud-computing infrastructure necessary to support their applications and services by using an IaaS solution. It explains the technical and business benefits of a Cloud Enabled Data Center solution. It introduces a Cloud Enabled Data Center maturity model where each maturity level corresponds to an increase in the degree of automation and the cloud-computing capabilities that are available. In addition, this guide describes the architectural framework provided by the IBM CCRA and explains details about the Cloud Enabled Data Center adoption pattern.