Software

OnCommand Workflow Automation

Provide fast and reliable service to storage consumers by
automating key storage management processes. Customize these
processes to meet the needs of your organization while following
NetApp best practices.
 

Key benefits
  GUI and without writing and
Fast turn-key deployments
Provision NetApp storage for
key apps, including Vmware,
Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, Citrix
etc..
Follow best practices
Ensure adherence to best
practices with workflows
tailored to follow your
organization’s standards
Endless customization to meet
your organization’s needs
Automate processes while
following your specific
requirements and integrating
with your key internal IT
systems
Low cost of management
Process design is done using
week to provide storage for an
maintaining expensive custom
code.
THE CHALLENGE
Manual processes are expensive
and error-prone
Most storage management tasks
such as provisioning, migration,
decommissioning are performed
manually.
Examples for such tasks, include
setting up storage for:
a) virtualization environments
b) databases
c) mail servers
d) home directories
e) custom applications
Long provisioning cycles keep
consumers waiting
In many cases it takes days to
application. This includes
selecting the resources,
provisioning and updating the
internal systems.
Errors in configuration
Even well-trained personnel may
make mistakes in performing
manual steps that could result in
outages, delays and waste of
time and money
Not fully utilizing the power of
smart storage
To fully leverage the power of
the storage it has to be
optimized for the specific
application at hand. Frequently,
the best practices are not
followed and advanced features
are not used.
The Cloud promise is delayed
Cloud requires high-level of
automation and cannot rely on
manual processes. Many IT
groups are being challenged by
management to meet the self-
service and IT automation goals
which drive the business
WHY CURRENT
APPROACHES FAIL
Custom software development
Many organizations turn to in-
house software engineers or
partners to write custom code for
automation.
These approaches often prove
expensive to operate and slow to
adapt to the changing needs of
storage consumers. Lastly, the
total cost of ownership of custom
software make it an ineffective
solution in most cases
Rely on data-center
orchestration solution
Although orchestration solutions
prove to be beneficial for end-to-
end automation, they lack a
comprehensive storage
component to meet customer
process needs. As seen in other
domains such as monitoring, an
expert storage solution is
required in order to address
storage automation requirements
“Do nothing” approach is
expensive
Costs include people time,
inability to deploy cloud and
self-service environments and
mistakes that stem from manual
operation.
THE SOLUTION
Workflow Automation platform
Workflow Automation is a
software solution that enables a
storage operator with “1-click”
automation for key storage
workflows.
Examples for such workflows
include:
1) Provision, migrate or
decommission a storage for
databases or file systems
2) Set-up a new virtualization
environment, including
storage switches and
datastores
3) Set up storage for an
application as part of an
end-to-end orchestration
process
Workflows are defined to meet
your requirements
These workflows can be defined
by the storage architect to
precisely follow the
organization’s requirements and
NetApp’s best practices
Typical requirements include:
1) Naming conventions
2) Setting unique options for
storage objects
3) Selecting resources
4) Integration with internal
CMDB, Ticketing apps
Workflows are defined by your
storage teams
Defining workflows in
Workflow Automation is a task
that can be performed by your
storage teams if they participate
in Workflow Automation
training. That enables you to
keep control on developing and
maintaining automation and
avoiding custom software or
scripting development that have
huge cost of ownership.
Audit and control the operation
Workflow Automation provides
full history of all executed
workflows and their results
enabling control of who executed
what and when for audit and
troubleshooting purposes.
Set flexible execution options
Workflow Automation enables
multiple execution options:
1) By the storage operator
using the built-in portal
2) By the storage operator
scheduled for a later date,
either weekend or next
change window
3) Triggered by an
Orchestration tool using
Web Services
Unify automation across
OnCommand deployments
Workflow Automation can
leverage information in multiple
OnCommand deployments to
assure the automation process
can be executed across
environments and datacenters.
Extend the platform when
needed
In case Workflow Automation
does not include a pre-canned
building block that exactly match
your needs, you can always add
another building block to the
system on your own or by
collaborating with the NetApp
field.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION virtualization related actions like
Integrated software solution create datastore and various
Workflow Automation is a others that are used to set up
software solution that is part of VLANs on Nexus switches and
the OnCommand family. It updating records in ticketing
integrates with Operations systems. The Workflow
Manager to collect data about the Automation building blocks also
environment and with the arrays aid a corporation in prioritizing
to send execution commands. the resources it would like to
leverage.
Built in portal
The built-in portal enables the
storage operator to select any of
the workflows that are available
for execution, enter the user
input parameters and let
Workflow Automation do the
rest.

The Audit screen

Enables the operator to track
execution and identify and
troubleshoot any issues.

The Designer
The Designer screen is available
only to storage architects. It
enables the construction and
modification of workflows using
the Designer GUI.

The architect selects the list of

Workflow Automation
Commands which will perform
as the workflow steps, identifies
the different execution options
and defines the resource
selection options to complete the
workflow.

Once defined, the architect can  

test the workflow and make it
available to the storage operator.

Building blocks
Workflow Automation building Figure  1:  Portal  used  to  launch  pre-­‐defined  workflows  
blocks include various NetApp
related actions such as Create
volume, Create vFiler, Create
Qtree, in addition to
EXAMPLE: Step 3 – Review execution status
DATASTORE CREATION Enter the audit screen to
OVERVIEW investigate past execution
In an organization that uses statuses and troubleshoot issues.
virtualization technologies it is
sometimes required to add new /
datastores to the ESX cluster.
The storage architect defines the
criteria, naming convention and
various options for optimal
resource selection and operation
of the storage. The example
below show how the operator is
responding to a requirement for
datastore creation.

Step 1 – Click to “Submit”

Step 2 – Fill-in required
parameters
Enter the input parameters to the
workflow as defined by the
storage architect who defined the
process. Then, choose whether to
execute immediately or schedule
for the next change window.
EXAMPLE:
Workflow modification
Overview
From time to time the storage
architect may want to alter the
workflow’s options or logic. To
do so, they will open the
designer, in which they will
define the workflow steps and
options.

 
Workflow Automation (WFA)
FAQ
Q1: What kind of workflows
can I create?
All storage-centric workflows,
including provisioning,
migration, decommissioning
Q2: Is it possible to define
naming conventions and other
specific options?
Yes, you can customize the
workflow to meet your
organization’s needs
Q7: Who can create a
workflow?
Any certified person, including a
storage architect or NetApp PS
Q8: What kind of RBAC does
WFA have?
WFA supports LDAP and
internal users and allows roles
for guest, operator, architect and
admin

Q3: Is it possible to define

specific criteria for selecting
where to provision?
Yes, you can customize the
resource selection algorithm to
your organization’s needs

Q4: Can WFA integrate with

internal IT systems?
Yes, Workflow Automation
provides various ways to connect
to internal systems for collecting
information needed to determine
resource selection as well as for
opening tickets etc.

Q5: Does WFA have multi-

vendor support?
No, it supports only NetApp and
other non-storage vendors such
as virtualization platforms

Q6: Can WFA be configured to

support multi-datacenter
processes?
Yes, WFA can consult multiple
DFM installation and access
arrays across multiple
datacenters