Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 1
automation
There is a joke that I heard at the Microsoft Management Summit a few years back on the
subject of datacenter automation. When asked how many people would work at a new
datacenter, the designer replied, “Only two, a security guard and his dog. And the job of the
dog is to bite the security guard if he tries to touch anything.” The point that the presenter
was trying to make is that the modern datacenter is so highly automated that it requires few
actual physical staff to keep things running. Another benefit of automation is that complex
repetitive tasks are handled by pre-configured workflows. Automating a complex process
provides you with repeatable results. When you perform complex processes manually, there
is always the chance that things will go off the rails
should you get distracted. In this chapter you'll learn
about data center process automation using System
Center 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
IMPORTANT
Have you read
page xv?
It contains valuable
information regarding
the skills you need to
pass the exam.
Objectives in this chapter:
■
Objective 1.1: Implement workflows
■
Objective 1.2: Implement service offerings
Part of an effective private cloud deployment means automating any task that is repeatable
using the tools at your disposal. In terms of the 70-246 exam, this means using products in
the System Center 2012 R2 suite. In this section, you'll learn how you can leverage the Sys-
tem Center suite to create complex automation for your organization's private cloud.
This section covers the following topics:
■
Implementing runbook automation
■
Automating remediation of incidents
■
Change and activity management workflows
