In today’s interconnected world, having a stand-alone product that only works within an ecosystem is not a reliable business proposition. The ability to change how data is stored, managed, and recovered is no longer a nice-to-have, but imperative to drive business and processes forward.
The Current situation
Traditionally, managing data was possible through GUI interfaces and, in some cases, by using not-very-well documented command line tools. Because these tools are platform dependent and require specific documentation, they can slow down adoption and limit the usability of these products.
Furthermore, introducing additional tools often produces a perpetual cycle of deployment and patch management to keep the tools up-to-date. There is also the, even if ever so slight, risk of introducing an unintended security vulnerability by having additional tooling installed on your systems. There have been recent examples in which third-party management tools were explicitly targeted and used for privilege escalation or data exfiltration.
The Solution
Because of API-driven development, we allow all our customers to interact with Rubrik directly. The advantage of this is that we can communicate with the API from any platform and use any scripting or programming language. As a result, our API-first solution delivers a more dynamic and integrated method of managing your data.
With APIs, we are able to communicate with and share data, as well as create new innovative ways of interacting and presenting our data. This gives us new methods of interoperability between products and technologies, both in and outside the cloud. This provides a seamless Cloud Data Management solution that can be integrated with existing and future technologies.
An example of the implementation we have at Rubrik is the PowerShell Module, which has been developed both by Rubrik engineers and the technical community. It contains not only a full-fledged module, but also extensive documentation and community support.
One way this can be used in practice is for reporting. While the graphical user interface (GUI) packs a number of different views and reporting capabilities, there are always limitations to what is possible within the confines of a GUI. The Rubrik platform is API-driven, which allows you to report on very specific components within the data stored, actions taken, or infrastructure components.
By having access to all this information through APIs, this can also be used as a trigger for an action. An interesting example of this is using weather data for pro-active data management during the hurricane season.
Why Rubrik
There are a multitude of reasons why this approach is beneficial; listing all would be nearly impossible. So, here are three of the top advantages our customers experience with Rubrik’s API-driven platform:
No reliance on external tools
With Rubrik, interaction with APIs is not limited to a single set of tools or even the operating system that is used to manage our solution. Because our RESTful APIs are platform agnostic, it is easier to implement and integrate alongside existing solutions.
Simplified deployment of new features
Rubrik’s APIs are hosted on the platform, and as a result, no client-side software is required to be updated in order to access new functionality. When Rubrik is upgraded, new functionality in the form of new or improved APIs will be immediately available for consumption.
Better potential for automation
By using RESTful APIs, we’re able to provide tighter integration with existing tools, which broadens the potential scope for automation. Instead of relying on the basic functionality of a product, it is possible to write custom, laser-focused scripts or workflows that significantly reduce administrative overhead.
Did this get you thinking about how to use Rubrik’s APIs in your own environment? Then take a look at our Automation + APIs 101 guide.