The virtualization world has long been singing the praises of the “abstract, pool, and automate” goal. Put simply, it meant separating the application from hardware, forming a fabric of resources, and automating the consumption of those resources for applications. The key focus is the application and how it can be made a first class citizen in the data center.
However, the automation of tasks has traditionally been slower to enter the world of enterprise infrastructure. I attribute this to vendors using proprietary or closed protocols while also lacking a solid, simple to use, and consumable API that enables a rich ecosystem of task automation. On top of this, administrators and engineers are burdened with keeping the data center operational and don’t have the luxury of codifying a plethora of workflows using handfuls of different programming languages. What’s needed is a easy way to control infrastructure, such as data protection, that actually reduces overhead and grants IT professionals more time to focus on value-add efforts (that are usually more fun, too).
Enter PowerShell! It’s a framework that is incredibly simple to learn and consume that can also send and receive data from an API endpoint. Plus, when paired with the Rubrik Converged Data Management solution, becomes a very elegant starting point for crafting powerful automation for granular data protection. I’m a fan, and I want you to be, too!
In my upcoming webinar, I’m going to cover why I’m such a huge fan of PowerShell as a tool for working with RESTful APIs, dig into the code required to craft scripts and functions against an API, and also demonstrate how PowerShell can be used to start really automating your data center. For example, in this teaser video I’m using a single command to couple a declarative protection policy with a workload running in the data center, thus letting Rubrik’s smart fabric abstract away the nuances of the remaining workflow.
Still using a data protection solution that requires filling out pages of information just to start backing up your servers? Want to sweep that complexity away and leverage true automation for your environment? Don’t miss this webinar!