GSLB & Automated Application Deployment

Deployment or migration of applications in multi-cloud infrastructures can be made simpler and faster by using GSLB configuration to connect users to the newly-released app. When automation is used in the context of application continuous deployment, making use of an automated DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM) solution which is capable of also handling applications is really valuable. This is what EfficientIP brings to automation teams with its application repository and its edge DNS GSLB solution.

The multi-cloud mix of internal and external infrastructure is becoming the standard for most companies, not just the big ones. This approach complexifies updates to the organization’s application resource inventory, even if each cloud solution keeps track of its own assets. For IT services, as well as for compliance, security or governance, keeping track of the location of each IT resources is mandatory. A smart IPAM solution can be leveraged to provide this functionality, so should be designated the owner of the “IP Golden Records”.

Plug DDI to orchestration layer to track assets and app components

While continuous integration (CI) may build ephemeral infrastructure on any kind of cloud solution, once the application artifacts are validated and promoted to production, the underlying infrastructure should rely on an already used and reliable solution. Within the process of continuous deployment (CD), the EfficientIP SOLIDserver solution can be plugged through its API in order to:

• Keep track of assets (blocks and subnets in VPC, IP addresses, devices, tags)
• Keep track of application components with their business and technical meta-data
• Add user facing FQDN in the DNS
• Enable GSLB for the user to take advantage of complex infrastructure hosting (e.g. multi-cloud)

The IPAM can be bound either to the continuous deployment tool or directly to the various cloud providers when web hooks or triggers are available. The use of open APIs in specific scripts or functions in a FaaS system brings flexibility to the deployment process without adding complexity since this step could be designed as non-blocking and asynchronous. It also opens up the capability to use an ESB to orchestrate information exchanges and multiple system updates.

Each cloud provider and system (e.g. k8s, OpenStack, VMware, DC/OS) proposes scalability, elasticity, workload hosting and service load-balancing features which allow automation. The associated continuous deployment strategy may require more components (firewall, supervision, telemetry, key vault, OSS etc.) than an external orchestrator would require (e.g. Jenkins, Spinnaker, Nomad). The orchestration layer is therefore the right level to plug the IPAM through a dedicated module or open API system.

DNS GSLB: offering smoother migrations and other app deployment benefits

EfficientIP DNS GSLB brings many benefits to any application deployment process. It allows:

1. App, IP and DNS registries to be kept coherent at all times
2. Blue/green or red/black workload migration when the orchestration platform does not contain this possibility, or when multiple orchestration platforms are being used
3. Load balancing of applications installed in physical datacenters on bare metal servers
4. Application traffic routing to a new datacenter pod outside of the standard load-balancing process
5. Quick rollback from one load balancer VIP to another in case of emergency
6. Smooth migration from each remote location rather than a big bang for the entire user base

Using central GSLB solution requires using a DNS subdomain with delegation to the GSLB device or solution. Even if that’s a pretty simple action from a technical standpoint, using a long FQDN with intermediate subdomain (e.g. crm.prod.cloud.mydomain.internal) is inconvenient for users, and can impact user experience and service transition in the digital workplace. EfficientIP’s DNS GSLB solution can be applied on any FQDN, on managed domains as well as on unmanaged domains (e.g. on the internet or from a partner). This is really convenient and allows quick migration of the service from a standard DNS record to a GSLB balanced one, back and forth without impact on the application, users and application build team.

Simplifying data management for multi-cloud

On continuous deployment initiatives, particularly when using a multi-cloud infrastructure solution, incorporating EfficientIP DNS GSLB will simplify many scenarios and provide long-term benefits. Adding the IPAM as a central repository brings tremendous value for automating application deployments, offering visibility, control and simplification of data management related to IP, networking and workload hosting.