RAVEL has announced the launch of a new capability within RAVEL Orchestrate. Bare Metal Build Station enables IT teams to prepare and deploy customised images to any physical machine connected to a network. The solution enables the deployment across diverse On-premises infrastructures using a single interface.
Bare Metal Build Station enables engineers to deploy tailored OS, software, drivers, fonts and other required files and configurations. The new capability enables the deployment of similar machines quickly and reduces the chances of errors. It enables teams to create a build image with the latest security patches. And roll out consistent up to date images for multiple machines at the same time. The deployments can occur both within the cloud or on-premise. Thus ensuring that builds are consistent across HA environments.
RAVEL claim that the Bare Metal Build Station is the only software-based, hardware-agnostic solution on the market that provides this functionality within a unified and user-friendly interface.
Denise Muyco, CEO of RAVEL, commented, “We could not be more thrilled about this new functionality. For so long, the deployment of software across bare metal in any enterprise has been a time-consuming, manual process. With Bare Metal Build Station, that ends. Our easy-to-use solution saves a tremendous amount of time, reduces errors, and enables teams to deploy images how they want, when they want, and on any infrastructure. Additionally, Bare Metal Build Station is the perfect complement to RAVEL Orchestrate’s existing AWS and Azure cloud-based Build Station. Providing a comprehensive and versatile deployment solution across different environments.”
How Bare Metal Build Station Works
Users use Bare Metal Build Station on a single interface that has a guided 8-step workflow. This guides them through the process of creating and deploying images. If something goes wrong during the process, the intelligent error trapping identifies the issue. Including incompatibilities during the setup process and also provides resolution options. Finally, the engineer can leverage the RAVEL Orchestrate “Scheduler” to build machines at a scheduled time. In the same way that Scheduler supports the management of VMs, engineers can use it to define when to build new machines.
The eight-step workflow process includes:
- Login to RAVEL Orchestrate admin console
- Control image distribution by setting up office locations & roles
- Select Service and automatically set up Build Generator & Distribution Services
- Set up physical hardware profiles
- Create a Virtual Machine that becomes the Build candidate
- Transform “Build Candidate” into a bootable image
- Deploy transformed image to physical hardware
- Image automatically installs OS, Software, Drivers, Fonts, etc and joins Active Directory
Organisations interested in trying out RAVEL Orchestrate’s Bare Metal Build Station can apply to participate in the private beta.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This latest enhancement from RAVEL is a useful addition to RAVEL Orchestrate for organisations that often need to spin up servers at short notice. However, there is no indication yet when the solution will be generally available.
With Philippa Carroll, the new Chief Product Officer, joining alongside two other executives in June, it will be interesting to see how RAVEL’s approach to product rollouts evolves. Also, how will Carroll influence where RAVEL takes this solution next?
What isn’t clear from this announcement is what operating systems are supported. Nor does there seem to be a list of manufacturers for drivers or software. It seems unlikely that RAVEL can support everything out of the box, and it might be using the beta to determine what it needs to support.
