automate and customise application services and deployment

Automate and Customise Application Services and DeploymentF5 Webinar Dec 2014

Robert Healey

Marketing Solutions Director, F5 APJ

© F5 Networks, Inc. 2

• Application delivery challenges

• Where and how to invest

• Solving the issues

• API and programmability tools for application services

• Benefits

Agenda


An Application World is Highly Complex


Responding to Changes

!


BUSINESS

requires applications to

become more agile

SECURITY

must be everywhere, from

the network to the

applications and the

management

OPERATIONS

need visibility of the

resources at different levels

(app, data center, network)

NETWORK

is changing faster to support

new applications and

customers

APPLICATIONS

are dynamic and customer

aware (profiling)

Programmability: A Key Element of the Application World


Traditional Programming and “Automation”

Operations

Manual / Scripted Configuration

“The Network”

Application Security

Identity and Access

Local LoadBalancing

Application Performance

Application Proxies

Web & App Servers

Network State


Automation via Application Programming Interface (API)

Operations

Scripting and APIs

Application Infrastructure

Application Security

Identity and Access

Local LoadBalancing

Application Performance

Application Proxies

Web & App Servers

Automation and Orchestration

Network State


0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Growth in Web APIs Since 2005

Source: ProgrammableWeb.com


“High performing organisations deploy code 30 times more often and 8000 times faster than

their peers, deploying multiple times a day, versus an average of once a month. [...] The net results are lower business risk and more

operational agility.”

— 2013 State of DevOps Report, Puppet Labs


Work with vendors

Leverage your vendor’s APIs

Iterate

You're not going get it right

the first time

Build frameworks

Define reusable components

Programming skills

Invest in skills

Where Do You Start Investing to See These Advantages?


1) Invest in Programming Skills

How to invest in building skills

Make automation part of employee goals

Carve out space and time to write code

Start small and move to larger goals

Investing in programming skills begins with training and perfects through using the skills on a regular basis

Examples of programming skills

Use languages that your vendors use and support

Explore and understand samples that exist within language eco-system

Write programs and have them execute against the APIs


2) Leverage Your Vendor’s APIs

How do you leverage them?

Look for examples of how the APIs are created

Pick the language that works best for you: REST, SOAP, Perl, Python, PS

Interact with the larger community using the same APIs

Vendor APIs are there to help you get the job done, if the APIs are not good enough, call them out on that fact and make them better

What is a vendor API?

Documented, open, and supported interface into software or hardware

System that supports one or more languages

System with plenty of examples, code samples, and a community


3) Build Internal Frameworks

How are they built?

Take common groups of tasks and program a block of work out of them

Promote and share the information

Use tools such as github, wikis, or even shared documents to socialise

Frameworks make unities of work reusable, shareable, and create a common set of tools that the entire organisation can benefit from

What is a framework?

Structures that implement units of work

Frameworks encourage collaboration

Frameworks are common tools, written in-house that an be reused


4) Iterate Towards Perfection

Examples of iteration

Write a small piece of code and then build on it

Write, test, deploy, edit, test, deploy

Functional code solves a business problem

Don’t try to solve all of the problems on the first go-around, your organisation will

realise better ways to solve problems and the solutions will improve with time

The myth of perfection

Myth: You are going to get the program right the first time

Myth: You will understand the problem you’re solving

Myth: You need “programmers” to write code


Network Programmability is the Place to Start

Adapt your environment

to take advantage

Do it easilyEmerging

architectures

Programmability in the network enables organisations to act and react, on demand, to operational and business events

PublicCloud

HybridCloud

PrivateCloud

Investments in network programmability pay dividends immediately

DATA PLANE

MANAGEMENT PLANE

CONTROL PLANE


Fluency

Programmability

Let the ADC Do More of the Heavy Lifting for You

Functionality

Scalability

Scripting languages are a great start, but there’s more to programmability than the data plane


Provision Application ServicesAutomation of device and application deployment

Speed AccuracyConsistencyFree up your team to work

on more important tasks

Deploy the architecture that

you are interested in

Ensure same setup and

parameters every time

PROBLEMS:• New applications are coming on-line, old ones are changing• Dynamic infrastructure requiring frequent setup of new ADC units


Application Services Architecture

Application Proxy

Scalable resource pool delivers application services, policies, and programmable functions

Data Centre

Front-EndApplication

Servers

Application Proxy

Back-EndApplication

Servers

Network

High-Performance Services Fabric

Management

F5Native

InfrastructureManagement

DevOps Tools

VXLANNVGRE

VLAN

Overlay

Underlay SaaS

IT Ops Co-lo/Public/Hybrid-Cloud


Provisioning Application Delivery Controllers

The solutions

SOAP or REST APIs work over the network to provision

Programmable deployments mean every ADC is consistent

Let your experts spell out the details in a program

Testing has shown a reduction from 65 to 6.5 minutesin setup time for ADC with automation in place

The challenges

Cloud: New licensing models mean more ADCs in more places

Inconsistencies: Increasing problems and troubleshooting

Expertise: Not enough time to train all team members


• Completely open architecture

• Common API across all ADC modules

• REST API for device to device communication

• REST API for management to platform communication

• Value added services

Recommended API Architecture

Management PlatformIntelligent Management Framework

ADC devices

Cisco ACI

VMware NSX

OpenStack

etc.

XaaS Application

Services


Provisioning Applications

The solutions

Pre-built app services templates solve the settings for you

Using an app template means you get the same settings every time

Building your own templates allows you to bundle ADC knowledge

Several hundred objects are required for a complete Microsoft Lyncdeployment, app templates reduce these to a number of questions

The challenges

Complexity: What are the best settings for enterprise apps?

Inconsistencies: ADCs are setup with different settings

In-house apps: Taking a long time to deploy


An Easy Button

Rapidly deploy popular

applications with verified and

supported configurations

Standards Enforcement

Enforce standards, reducing

training and operational risk

App Orchestration

Standardise your unique

application deployments

A Single View App

Manage all application

components in one place

An App Lifecycle Tool

Manage the full lifecycle of

the application

Values Provided by Application Services Templates


Dynamic Application Modification − Automate Changes

React ResolveAnalyseAdjust the network settings

when conditions change

Fix issues before they get

out of hand

Find out the health and

performance of your apps

PROBLEM: It’s taking too long to react to application environment changes


Programmability Architecture

Network [Physical • Overlay • SDN]

Data Plane Scripting

Programmability

Virtual Edition Chassis Appliance

High-performance services fabric

VXLAN NVGRE VLAN

App Templates Self Healing Inbound APIs Outbound APIs


Programmability Tools

Rules-based Scripts

• Logical programming

language

• Full control of

incoming or outgoing

packets

External APIs

• Integrated

REST/SOAP/XML API

for ADC

• Make calls from 3rd

party orchestration

engines

Application Templates

• Certified and

supported templates

• Cut application

deployment down

from weeks to

minutes

Internal APIs

• Event driven

automation and

configuration

• Simplify operations

and troubleshooting

for ADC


Leverage Self-Solve Capabilities and Communities

ADC healthdiagnostic tool

Dev communitycollaboration

Knowledge base

Advanced diagnostics to help

you optimise your system

performance

Collaborate and share

innovations including code

samples, new techniques, and

other tips, with other users

worldwide

Product guides, release notes,

solutions to known issues, how-

to and hotfix information,

downloads

ASK FOR YOUR VENDOR'S SELF-SOLVE CAPABILITIES


A survey found that 63% of enterprises that have implemented cloud solutions report an

improvement in agility for supporting the needs of the business.

79% of enterprises implementing process automation experienced time savings, while

69% claimed improved productivity.

— Redwood Software, “Manual Madness of Business Processes”


What Does This Mean for IT?

Better

Alignment

Reduced

Costs

More

Innovation


And What Does It Mean for the Business?

Improved

engagement

Faster to

market

Application

ROI

Solutions for an Application World.

automate and customise application services and deployment

Technology

apis f5 networks

f5 apj f5 networks

community f5 networks

application world f5

complex f5 networks

puppet labs f5 networks

web apis

apisvendor apis