Orchestration

Orchestration is the automated configuration, coordination, and management of computer systems, applications, and software. Orchestration is used to help streamlining and simplify operation management for information technology (IT) personnel. By automating the configuration, management, and interoperability of disparate computer systems, applications, and services, orchestration can free IT personnel from the burden of managing a variety of mission-critical but often complex tasks and processes. Use cases for orchestration include:

Orchestration vs. automation

Orchestration and automation are related concepts but different terms. Automation refers to automating a single task. It helps make a business more efficient by reducing or replacing a manual task with software that will perform the task and reduce cost, complexity, and errors at the same time. Orchestration is the process of automating a process or workflow that involves many steps across multiple disparate systems. When these processes are automated, they can then be orchestrated to run automatically.

Orchestration can be used to automate processes such as server provisioning, cloud workload management, database management, and indecent management.

Orchestration tools

There are multiple tools that can help orchestrate processes and ensure that all tasks happen in the correct order. These tools can be categorized into two categories.

Cloud orchestration tools

Cloud orchestration manages the interconnections and interactions among workloads on public and private cloud infrastructure. Popular cloud orchestration vendors include:

  • Microsoft Azure Automation
  • IBM Cloud Orchestrator
  • Puppet Bolt
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Container orchestration tools

Container orchestration automates the deployment, management, scaling, and network of containers. This kind of orchestration is used by enterprises needing to deploy and manage many Linux containers and hosts. Populate container orchestration vendors include:

  • Kubernetes
  • IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
  • Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service
  • Amazon EC2 Container Service

 

Forrest Stroud
Forrest Stroud
Forrest is a writer for Webopedia. Experienced, entrepreneurial, and well-rounded, he has 15+ years covering technology, business software, website design, programming, and more.
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