Can automation cure all infrastructure and IT woes? We’re finding automation is much harder than we’d like to admit. Perhaps that’s because we don’t consider the four types of automation. Infrastructure automation as a whole is a combination of at least four distinctly different types of automation:
- Provisioning
- Configuration
- Monitoring
- Orchestration
Why is Automation Difficult?
Why does using automation to perform ordinary operations feel like running into a wall? Repeatable tasks such as building clusters, configuring operating systems, and coordinating security keys should be easy problems to solve. So why are they so difficult to continuously automate?
Making automation repeatable is hard because automation is not just one thing.
The different types of automation intermix to build an infrastructure pipeline. Building IT infrastructure means doing different types of automations back to back. However, this is done in small incremental steps, switching between the automation modes.
The Fluidity Found in Four Types of Automation
Let’s consider the automation that is required to build a system.
- Provisioning:Â First, Provision the machine.
- Configuration:Â Next, configure the machine with security tokens and network configurations. Also build out the server to a certain scope.
- Orchestration:Â Coordinate the machine with the cluster. This is to acquire credentials and certifications and security tokens.
- Configuration:Â Next, set up networking, topology, and certificates.
- Provisioning (Again):Â Finally, build DNS infrastructures and names and open firewall ports.
To successfully automate the build of a system these actions are executed as a coordinated set of actions. This requires a degree of orchestration and coordination for pipelining. Next, we’ll uncover the unique role played by each of the four automation types and look at how they come together to create a smooth, integrated workflow.
Context Shifting
Building infrastructure pipelines requires using different automation types from different contexts. The ability to shift contexts is incredibly hard. This context switching requires the system to be aware of actions happening inside a system, on the infrastructure layer, within the cluster boundaries, or even being shuttled out to a database for monitoring.
The context of those actions must shift along with the type of automation:
Provisioning
During provisioning, actions must happen outside of the machine in order to talk to the control plane of your infrastructure.
Configuration
During configuration actions happen inside the machine. Configuration actions must communicate with the operating systems with the correct level of privilege. An important communication is how that machine will be configured. Will it be a web server, virtualization server, database server, etc.? These communications must happen within that very restricted environment, it can’t be done remotely or externally.
Monitoring
The monitoring context involves database activities, sometimes real time series information. Data is collected and stored in a structured way. This ensures that the configurations match the expectations for that server.
Orchestration Automation
Orchestration changes into a totally different type of automation. It becomes critical to have awareness of cross systems and information as secure, sensitive data may be shared between multiple systems. It is vital to understand roles in that environment and give the right information to the right systems without giving too much information to each because that would violate security and cause problems.
The space of building an infrastructure pipeline is more than just any one of those four types of automation. The infrastructure pipeline is the glue that connects those operations in the right sequence, with the right information, across that whole workflow. As we build infrastructure pipelines it is important to be aware that different tools have sweet spots, information requirements, and contexts.
Real Talk
Digital Rebar is unique for its ability to shift contacts during a pipeline execution. We created Infrastructure as Code reusable modules to accomplish that effectively. These modules are reusable, and they contribute to best practices across any customer environment. Curious about how automation can transform your infrastructure? Reach out to RackN today for and schedule a demo to see our solutions in action!
FAQs on The Different Types of Automation
What are the most popular IT automation tools?
Popular IT automation tools include Ansible, Puppet, and Kubernetes. To choose the right one, consider your organization’s needs, the size of your systems, integration requirements, and the community support available. Focus on scalability and ease of use.
How is Artificial Intelligence changing the future of IT automation?
AI is increasingly trusted to predict issues, automate troubleshooting, and optimize resources. It enables smarter, more adaptive automation that can resolve problems autonomously and improve system performance.
How can I measure and prove the ROI of an IT automation initiative?
Track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for automated operations like time saved, error reduction, and cost savings. Also, assess improvements in productivity, reduced downtime, and faster service delivery, which contribute to business value.
How do you monitor and troubleshoot “invisible” automated processes when they break?
Use monitoring tools for real-time tracking. Implement detailed logging and error reporting to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues when automated processes fail.
