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 Analyst
October 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. Evaluate
and 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 Source
Single 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
Today
1 year
ago
Tomorrow
2 years
ago
Next
Steps
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
robertstinnett@
Carfax.com

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

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