One of the challenges in creating hybrid cloud is stitching different infrastructure fabrics into a unified infrastructure platform. The other challenge is achieving automation at infrastructure level as well as at application level. IBM and VMware have joined forces to address these challenges in the industry to enable customers to manage different IBM and VMware infrastructure fabrics through a single solution. This integration is part of vRealize Automation product and is available out of the box in the latest vR Automation 6.2.3 release. vRealize Automation can now manage different IBM Power platforms by interacting with IBM PowerVC, and it can also manage System-Z platform by integrating with IBM Cloud Manager (ICM). vRealize Automation makes calls to OpenStack enabled API of IBM PowerVC and IBM Cloud Manager (ICM) to deliver this functionality.
Currently available functionality in vR Automation 6.2.3 release is –
1) OpenStack endpoint for PowerVC or IBM Cloud Manager (ICM)
2) Data collection on VM (LPARs) resources (CPU, memory) and network states
3) Creation of new LPARs based on image information available inside PowerVC or ICM
4) Deployment design via vR Automation blueprint model
5) Service brokerage via vR Automation self service catalog with flexibility to customize deployments at request time
6) Support for the endpoint in vR Automation fabric groups and reservations
7) Power related lifecycle actions – PowerOn, PowerOff, Restart
If you are interested in this solution, please contact us through your VMware or IBM representative. We can arrange a demo of the solution in action as well as we can setup a proof-of-concept implementation for you in your datacenter.
We recommend watching the following video where VMware and IBM executives have laid out the vision for this joint venture https://youtu.be/gv83IZxLjpM
