With the June release of VMware Aria Automation, we will begin supporting plugin based GCP resources.

Briefly about Google Cloud Provider (GCP)
Google Cloud offers a wide range of benefits for businesses. It provides scalable and flexible infrastructure, allowing companies to easily adjust resources based on their needs. With high availability and reliability, Google Cloud ensures minimal downtime and uninterrupted operations. Its extensive global network enables fast data transfer, reducing latency and improving performance. Robust security measures protect data from unauthorized access, and encryption is provided both at rest and in transit. Google Cloud offers a comprehensive suite of services, including storage, compute, networking, machine learning, and big data analytics, catering to diverse business needs. Its advanced machine learning capabilities empower businesses to extract valuable insights from data, driving innovation and informed decision-making. Pre-built APIs and integrations simplify application development and deployment, fostering efficiency. The autoscaling feature optimizes costs by adjusting resources based on demand. The platform also provides robust data analytics tools for meaningful insights. Collaboration features facilitate seamless teamwork, while the global footprint enables remote work and expands business reach. Serverless computing capabilities free developers from infrastructure management, accelerating application development. Backup and disaster recovery solutions ensure business continuity and data protection. Extensive documentation and online resources support developers and IT professionals. Integrated data processing and analytics tools enable real-time insights for faster decision-making. AI-powered services automate tasks, improve customer experiences, and drive innovation. BigQuery, the serverless data warehouse, allows efficient analysis of massive datasets. Google Cloud’s pricing model is transparent and flexible, catering to businesses of all sizes. Seamless integration with other Google services creates a unified ecosystem. Lastly, Google Cloud’s commitment to sustainability allows businesses to reduce their carbon footprint by leveraging energy-efficient infrastructure and renewable energy investments.

VMware Aria Automation supported plugin based GCP Resources

  • Virtual machine Instances
    • VMware Aria Automation supports provisioning virtual machines (VM) hosted on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This is now possible through the plugin-based architecture. The classic GCP VM object in Aria Automation Assembler has limited properties. However, with plugin-based architecture, the new GCP VM object provides all the available properties in the Google Cloud Platform. This allows users greater flexibility when designing VMware Aria Automation Templates.
      https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances
  • Shielded VM instances
    • VMware Aria Automation supports the creation of Shielded VMs. Shielded VMs offer verifiable integrity of the Compute Engine VM instances, so the user can be confident his instances haven’t been compromised by boot- or kernel-level malware or rootkits.
      https://cloud.google.com/compute/shielded-vm/docs/shielded-vm
  • Disk Snapshots
    • VMware Aria Automation supports the following use cases for disk snapshots:
      • Use case 1: Creation of a new snapshot from a disk resource while creating a new deployment using a VMware Aria Automation Template.
        • For example, you can create a disk in the VMware Aria Automation Template YAML block. In the same VMware Aria Automation Template, you can create a snapshot in another YAML block after the disk (above) is made. So, when you deploy this VMware Aria Automation Template, a disk will be created, and a snapshot will be taken.
      • Use case 2: Deletion of an existing snapshot.
        • Deleting a snapshot from the Delete action menu.
      • Use case 3: Update an existing snapshot (eg. set labels)
        • Snapshot can be updated while updating an existing deployment using a VMware Aria Automation Template
      • Use case 4: Restoring a disk from a snapshot (using a VMware Aria Automation Template)
  • GPU support for VMs
    • VMware Aria Automation supports high-performance GPUs on Google Cloud for machine learning, scientific computing, and 3D visualization.
      https://cloud.google.com/gpu
  • Network resources
    • VMware Aria Automation supports provisioning network and subnetwork resources on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) Network supports Peering, which connects two VPC Networks so that resources in different networks can communicate with each other. In order to add, remove or update network peerings, the appropriate methods are invoked when present is called.
    • The GCP patch method is called on both network and subnetwork resources when an update is desired.
      https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/reference/rest/v1/networks
  • Disk resources
    • When creating a new disk using plugin based architecture the user can provide all the available properties defined in the Google Cloud Platform in order to configure the desired disk resource state in the Cloud including encryption, labelling, resource policies etc.
  • Storage buckets
    • VMware Aria Automation supports creating and deleting a bucket resource in GCP. Also, it provides the ability to patch and update the storage bucket. The StorageBucket resource represents a bucket in Cloud Storage. The access of a Storage Bucket resource can be managed using ACLs (Access Control Lists) and Default Objects ACLs, used when ACLs are not provided.  Also, bucket resources can be patched. It provides an option to lock the retention policy of a bucket resource.
      https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/json_api/v1/buckets

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