Multi-machine blueprints provide the ability to provision a stack of infrastructure with one click of a button. Multi-machine blueprints are also being used more as customers want to automate the deployment of NSX networks and security configurations to enable a data center micro segmentation security strategy. Although they do provide a useful way for deploying secure, high performing multi-tiered applications, they do have some challenges. Some of the more common challenges are:
- Blueprint Sprawl – to accommodate the needs of different types of applications
- Server Naming – not flexible enough to meet the needs of different applications without resulting in more Blueprint Sprawl
- Relationship of Component Machines – Outside of vRealize Automation its difficult to understand the relationship of the component machines that make up a multi-machine service.
The good news is that Sid Smith author of the Daily Hypervisor blog and his VMware SET team partner Tom Bonanno put together some creative custom workflows to address these challenges. To learn more about these solutions I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to Read Sid’s blog post (Getting the most from vRealize Automation’s Multi-Machine Blueprints) on VMware’s Cloud Management blog. This post provides a great overview of the challenges and custom workflows available as well as links to more technical how to posts for each topic.
