IBM Workload Deployer

My ... what an IMPACT you've had!

jabohn Tags: ibm_pureapplication_syste... iwd ibm_workload_deployer paas patterns 1,305 Comments 15,021 Visits

IBM Impact 2012 was just last week with a theme of "Change the Game" ... and I'm still reveling in all of the excitement and energy that goes into conferences such as this. I was fortunate to get a last minute spot to attend the conference and help out at the Solution Center where I had the chance to speak to a lot of customers and other IBMers interested in cloud computing. Among the many things that stood out - there is certainly a lot of interest in cloud computing and patterns of expertise - it also seems that folks are ready to get some first hand experience with these patterns. There's plenty of opportunity for that!

IBM Workload Deployer was specifically featured in the Solutions Center and referenced in many sessions. However, this paled in comparison to the visibility that IWD received as being one of the key components in IBM PureApplication System which was clearly the star of the show (it also helped that we had several real systems on hand to draw the crowds and drool over the raw power present in these systems). Of course IBM PureApplication System wasn't the only shinny new object. There was also a large emphasis on Mobile and BigData .... but it seemed to me that the biggest buzz was around IBM PureApplication System and in particular the "patterns of expertise" capabilities which come directly from our very own IBM Workload Deployer.

I hope you had a chance to attend the conference (perhaps I may have even spoken with you at the solutions center). However, even if you couldn't make it to the conference - there is still a wealth of information available to you. Many of the sessions were recorded so you can still watch the general sessions, detailed interviews from the social playground, highlights of the unconference, and main tent sessions. I'm sure that you will also hear a lot of news in the coming weeks as the impact of what was announced and demonstrated makes it's way through the social channels. If you had a conference pass you can also download many of the presentation materials. Also, don't forget to consider attending one of the IBM Impact2012 comes to you events to be held in various locations in the coming months.

Several announcements that came out during the conference are of particular interest to our community.. First, the IBM Virtual Pattern Kit for Developers was announced. This includes an image that you can download and then leverage to gain experience building patterns. I will warn you that the download is not for a slow bandwidth connection - one of the three images is 16GB (mine is still downloading). However, once you finally get the image you can launch a VM running a version of the IWD technology and leverage your own ESX install to work with a private cloud for development purposes.

Another announcement and opportunity to gain experience working with patterns (that doesn't involve any downloads) is a 90-day free trial of these same pattern capabilities in our public cloud offering - IBM SmartCloud Application Services. This is a great offer and a really quick way to get some hands on experience with both the value of pattern based deployments and our public cloud offering.

I would encourage you to take advantage of these offers. Both are great ways to get some first-hand experience with patterns if you don't happen to have your very own IBM Workload Deployer. As they say "seeing is believing" and it really drills it home the first time you deploy a system and have it up and running within minutes. Another way to get some experience on an actual IBM Workload Deployer appliance is to contact your IBM client representative for a Proof of Technology (POT) or Proof of Concept (POC) ... and don't forget to get a free business value assessment so you can convince your boss how much money you can save the company!

IBM Workload Deployer technology is now available in three places and you can expect to see it in even more places very soon. This is just too powerful of a technology to limit it to just one product! Whether you are considering IBM PureApplication System, IBM Workload Deployer, or IBM SmartCloud Application Services the value that pattern based deployments bring is consistent and portable.

If you need a little more convincing before investing the time to get some first hand experience then take a look at our youtube videos for IBM Workload Deployer and IBM PureApplication System.

Your feedback is always welcome!

-- Joe Bohn @jabber63

Impact, IBM PureApplication System, and IBM Workload Deployer

jabohn Tags: iwd ibm_pureapplication_syste... impact ibm_workload_deployer 2,364 Visits

In my last post I gave you my impressions of Impact 2012 .... including my assessment that IBM PureApplication System was the star of the show. I also pointed out how PureAS leverages the capabilities of IBM Workload Deployer and provided references to several areas where you can get more information on IBM PureApplication System and some hands-on experience with patterns.

The purpose of this post is to point you to another post - an insightful comparison of IBM PureApplication System and IBM Workload Deployer offered by Dustin Amrhein in the A view from the clouds: Cloud computing for developers blog. This is a quick read from Dustin - giving his report from Impact as well as a nice overview of the similarities and differences between IBM PureApplication System and IBM Workload Deployer to assist you if you are considering either offering. ... read Dustin's post ...

-- Joe Bohn @jabber63

Virtual Pattern Kit for Developers

jabohn Tags: ibm_workload_deployer patterns ibm_pureapplication_syste... iwd 3,676 Visits

In a recent post I spoke about my experience at Impact 2012 and several announcements that were made during the conference. Among the announcements were opportunities to get free experience building patterns and custom pattern types for use in IBM Workload Deployer, IBM PureApplication System and IBM SmartCloud Application Workload Services. This included two offers: a 90-day free trial of IBM SmartCloud Application Workload Services and a new Virtual Pattern Kit for Developers - both available here. These are both terrific offers. The IBM SmartCloud offer gives you experience with patterns in the real public cloud environment for a limited period of time. The Virtual Pattern Kit for Developers provides a virtual image of IBM Workload Deployer that can be used in your own environment for development purposes to build and validate patterns.

In this post I'd like to focus on the Pattern Development Kit for Developers. This is an excellent way to get some first hand experience working with patterns. It provides a way for you to have your own virtual image of IBM Workload Deployer and associated tooling so that you can begin to work with patterns, create custom images, and create entirely new pattern types. It includes the web application and database pattern types as part of the image. It also includes the IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool, the Plugin Development Kit, and the Command Line tool - all of the tools that you need to create your own images, patterns, and custom pattern types. You can then validate these patterns and images in your private cloud environment before exporting them for deployment in IBM Workload Deployer, IBM PureApplication System, or IBM SmartCloud Application Workload Services.

I've created a video that demonstrates how easy it is to install and configure the Virtual Pattern Kit for Developers to get help get you started with this new offering. I hope you find this helpful.

-- Joe Bohn @jabber63

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