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andy_12_5042's avatar
andy_12_5042
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Jul 15, 2011

Provisioning Tool

Not sure if this is the best forum group for this but I am looking for opinion of the masses. Does anyone feel there would be value in a provisioning/monitoring tool for the F5 LTM/GTM products. This would be something packaged and would not require in depth back end knowledge but would have good functionality and provide a safe use interface for different groups of admins or people managing these devices.

 

 

Maybe a product that would function in high volume hosting environments where provisioning automation is a big issue. Anyway as I said just looking to see what others think and if anyone knows of something out there like that now?

 

  • I definitely see the value of an automated provisioning tool for LTM. I've worked with several customers who have built iControl based solutions for their environments to automatically create new virtual servers, iRules, monitors and pools.

     

     

    Are you thinking of a tool to provision these LTM objects or LTM VEs in a hyper visor?

     

     

    Aaron
  • Well I am thinking of a modular tool that can be used in any environment that is specific to LTM and maybe GTM that can be standalone or plug into some of these bigger cloud management systems out there. ( like eucalyptus for example) Also maybe add in functionality for monitoring and statistics of these devices... I have built custom solutions as you speak of above myself but this would be not only platform independent but could be easily used by any language... I guess the best way to put it would be you could throw this thing anywhere and everyone from noc people to more advanced engineers could use it.

     

     

    Anyway thanks for the response...
  • Hi Andy,

     

     

    Are you thinking about a configuration management tool?

     

     

    I think it makes a lot of sense to run a Monitoring and Analytics software for BigIP devices on your network. Network and Application owners very often find it difficult to centrally manage large networks. Very often they find that they need to

     

     

     

    Centrally view and control of the entire network topology

     

    Remotely route traffic

     

    Run housekeeping: User authentication,User access controls, Auditing of user action

     

    Compare statistics across applications, devices and data centers.

     

     

    AppViewX is a Network & Application Analytics/Monitoring tool that lets you do all of these, and beyond.

     

    Whats more, its a "vendor agnostic software" - It is perfectly customizable with ADC devices from any vendor, including Big IP devices from F5.

     

     

    Based on the requirements from our customers, not many had asked for configuration management but would certainly help for specific users.

     

     

    For more information on this tool, visit us at www.AppViewX.com or contact us at info@payoda.com

     

  • Most customers with any kind og change volume will have something either home grown, or purchased. It would be ideal if Enterprise Manager would be extended to go much farther than it does in helping with such things!