From 30 Days to 30 Minutes -- speeding up the server rollout process at CARFAX

© Copyright 2/3/2015 BMC Software, Inc1

How to get a server up and running in 30 minutes

CARFAX’s journey of #people,

#process and #automation

CARFAX helps millions of people buy, sell and service their used cars better.


Robert Stinnett (@robertstinnett)

CARFAX Automation AnalystOctober 14, 2014

From 30 Days to 30 Minutes


Agenda

1. Starting with a Goal#LetsMakeItBetter

2. People Make It Happen#DevOps

3. Don’t Get Lost in the Tools#AFoolAndHisTool

4. One Step at a Time#RomeWasntBuiltInADay


Support the growth and

redesign of CARFAX IT

infrastructure as we

continue to expand our

product lines.

Make it automatic,

reusable and free up our

awesome people to work

on the fun, innovative

stuff that makes CARFAX

what we are.

Reduce manual

interventions. Reduce the

number of tools all doing

the same thing.

Starting with a Goal

1

Growth Make It Awesome Do More With Less


When we started looking at server automation tools we were taking 30 days plus in some cases to get a new server online with all the appropriate packages, security and configurations.

#LetsMakeItBetter


Get people from all across

the organization together.

We created a special team

called DC 2.0.

What are our pain points

today? What does

tomorrow look like? What

are our needs vs wants?

Try it out. Learn. Fail.

Discover. Try again.

What Do We Want?

What Do We Need?

01 02 03


Development, Infrastructure,

Operations, Business Units.

Listen to all ideas. No wrong

ideas or suggestions. Evaluateand research as a group instead

of traditional silos.

Everyone is involved, but

dedicated team to take

ownership for day-to-day

operations and help keep moving

forward.

People Make It Happen

2

#DevOps #AllInItTogether #Ownership


We started with a blank slate. Evaluated commercial, open source and even in-house developed tools. Nothing was off the table as we evaluated our options.

#AllInItTogether


Working together, we all learned more about the business as a whole than most of us ever knew individually. We got a chance to step into each others shoes, learn about what a particular groups pain points were, and come up with a common list of needs and a wish list of wants.

Where would we focus our efforts? Would we be self-supporting, or would we rely on a third party? In the end the group decided it was best to go with a commercial product with support as this was a new path for us, and one where time was of essence.

Everyone had different needs; we all had different wants; the business had certain requirements we had fulfill. We all knew it wouldn’t happen on day one.

Would it be another tool in our tool belt, or would it grow and evolve as CARFAX grew and evolved? Could we potentially replace other tools with a common one? The group decided we wanted to work towards a vision – total lifecycle management.

Needs vs. Wants Commercial or Open SourceSingle Purpose or Multi-Faceted

Things We Learned Together


Agile Development +

Agile Operations

Increased usage of data center automation and configuration management tools

#DevOps


Day to Day, Growth by Growth

Metrics and Analysis

Infrastructure Management

Support and Training

An operational team was established for day-to-day operations, support and developing a roadmap.


Bladelogic is a tool, not a

process. A tool will never

solve a process problem.

Just like agile

development, agile

operations built around

Bladelogic means small,

measureable, manageable

releases.

Bladelogic is an engine.

Your developers and

operations staff are the

fuel that makes it run.

Don’t Get Lost in the Tool

3

#ProcessBeforeTools #SmallReleases #Development


We developed processes and visions that were supported by the tool (Bladelogic). We did not try to make Bladelogic be our process or think all our problems would be solved automatically.

#ProcessBeforeTools


#SmallReleases

Patching

Node Configuration

Package / Application Installation

PXE Boot and OS Install

Patching of servers is one of our current

focuses

Then, we branched out into configuration

management

Next, we started adding in applications

This was our main focus for the

first few months of the initial

project


By letting developers have access to Bladelogic, they not only helped drive adoption but also helped CARFAX constantly improve.

#DevelopersRock


We’ve managed to free up our

personnel to do awesome

things, and let the automation

handle the routine stuff.

Integration, more agile

operations, compliance and

remediation. These are what

we see on the horizon.

This wasn’t a one person, or

one team project. It was a

whole company initiative. It

has been an amazing journey,

yet we’ve only just begun.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

4

#Today #Tomorrow #AmazingJourney


We’ve Only Just Begun

CARFAX Began DC 2.0

(30 Days)

Bladelogic OS Installs, Package Installs and Server Configuration

(30 Minutes)

Patching, Rolling Maintenance, Reporting

and Self-Service

Puppet & Chef Integration,

ServiceNow Integration

Compliance, Remediation

2012 30 Days for New ServerSUMMARY 2013 30 Minutes for New Server

2014 Integrations & Beyond

Today1 year

agoTomorrow

2 yearsago

NextSteps

Beyond

Agile Operations


#KeyTakeaways

1. Start with a Goal#LetsMakeItBetter

2. People Make It Happen#DevOps

3. Don’t Get Lost in the Tool#AFoolAndHisTool

4. One Step at a Time#RomeWasntBuiltInADay


@robertstinnett

[email protected]

Technology

From 30 Days to 30 Minutes -- speeding up the server rollout process at CARFAX