Deployment methods

IBM® Cloud Pak System Software for Power® provides the following deployment methods.

Virtual application patterns

A virtual application pattern is an application-centric model of a virtual application. You create the virtual application from the required components, define dependencies between them, and apply policies that are used to automatically manage behavior of the application when it is deployed.
Benefits include:
  • Cloud Pak System Software for Power encapsulates the installation, configuration, and integration of all components. Minimal knowledge of the underlying middleware infrastructure is required.
  • Predefined patterns are provided with optimized configurations for the solutions they support, and the implementation is based on industry-recommended practices.
  • The virtual infrastructure can automatically adjust to manage workloads based on your defined policies, so that less manual administration is required.
  • You can create and use templates to simplify and standardize creation of virtual applications with a common configuration.
  • Patterns can be used to deploy multiple instances of the same application.

Because Cloud Pak System Software for Power automatically handles installation and most of the configuration of the virtual application, fewer configuration options are available to application builders and deployers. If more control over the configuration is required, you can use one of the other deployment methods. For more information, see Working with virtual application patterns.

Virtual system patterns

Virtual system patterns enable efficient and repeatable deployments of systems that include one or more virtual machine instances, and the applications that run on them. You can completely automate the deployment and eliminate the need to perform multiple time-consuming manual tasks. Such a deployment eliminates problems that are introduced by error-prone, manual configuration processes and accelerates solution deployment.

Virtual system patterns are a logical representation of a recurring topology for a set of deployment requirements. For more information, see Working with virtual system patterns.

Classic virtual system patterns

Note: The Virtual System Patterns (Classic) is not supported in IBM Cloud Pak System Software Version 2.3.5 and later.
A classic virtual system pattern is a model that defines one or more virtual images that you want to install, configure, and integrate together to implement a particular topology. The model can be as simple as a single product on a single machine, or it can include multiple products integrated across a multi-node topology.
Benefits include:
  • Classic virtual system patterns provide more control over configuration and deployment than virtual application patterns. You can use script packages to perform customized configuration of applications after deployment or use add-on scripts to perform virtual machine configuration such as adding a virtual disk.
  • Classic virtual system patterns can be used to deploy multiple instances of the same topology.

Because classic virtual system patterns are infrastructure-based rather than application-based models, they require more knowledge of the middleware to configure deployments and perform ongoing administration of the middleware infrastructure. However, they are an option when you need the additional control over the deployment. For more information, see Working with classic virtual system patterns.

Choosing the type of virtual pattern to use

For each deployment, decide whether you prefer the middleware-infrastructure-centric approach of classic virtual system patterns or the application-centric approach of virtual application patterns.

With virtual application patterns, you fundamentally change everything about those environments. You work with a highly optimized and automated solution with built-in features to dynamically react to changing conditions based on your specified business level requirements.

You might need to support specific configurations that do not fit easily into an already available virtual application pattern type. You then can choose to create your own virtual application pattern type to create the exact topology that your application requires, perhaps replicating a previously implemented physical environment. In other cases, your application might fit well into one of the virtual application pattern types that are already provided.

Try to leverage the optimization and convenience of a virtual application pattern, as they can provide the lowest total cost of ownership and shortest time to value.

Virtual appliances

In addition to virtual application patterns and classic virtual system patterns, you can add a virtual appliance that is packaged as an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) to the IBM Cloud Pak System Software catalog so that it can be deployed into the cloud.

You can deploy multiple virtual appliance instances from a single virtual appliance. This option is useful for deployment of customized environments if you account for additional expertise and time required for design and maintenance.

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