Sun Microsystems implemented Puppet to enhance system efficiency and maintain consistent configurations across over 650 servers. The deployment facilitated faster updates, compliance with security standards, and improved visibility into system details. Key benefits included streamlined patch management and ease of troubleshooting, as Puppet's open-source nature allowed for better control and customization.

1. PUPPET C A SE S TUDY
SUN MICROSYSTEMS
Sun MicroSySteMS uSeS PuPPet to
iMProve efficiency, accelerate
“Puppet has greatly simplified many SySteM uPdateS and enSure
of my standard tasks. Security patching
conSiStent configurationS
no longer involves the headache of
running routines to see which systems
acroSS their web Server
were vulnerable and then implementing architecture
batch jobs to update effected systems.
As a premier online brand, Sun Microsystems has strict
Now I just run a Puppet profile and it is
requirements for high performance and guaranteed
taken care of.” uptime for their top online properties like sun.com, java.
—Martin Englund, Lead Engineer, com, mysql.com, openoffice.org and others. Sun needed
Sun Microsystems a system administration tool that went beyond internally
maintained scripts and batch jobs to ensure that their servers
were configured consistently and updated in a timely manner.
Starting EnvironmEnt
• Managed over 650 Sun servers across three U.S. data centers in
Menlo Park, CA, San Francisco, CA and Las Vegas, NV.
• Responsible for software and operating system configurations on all
servers supporting Internet domains including sun.com, java.com,
mysql.com, openoffice.org and others.
• Used internally developed SSH scripts to push changes and
Reductive Labs packages out to systems.
www.reductivelabs.com • Key challenges included time to deployment of critical system
tel: 503.805.9065 changes and guaranteed ongoing configuration of Internet
twitter: @reductivelabs resources.

2. PUPPET C A SE S TUDY
KEy objEctivES for PuPPEt DEPloymEnt
• Uptime & Reliability - Ensure uptime and reliability of servers
supporting the web and database applications for key online
properties
• Configuration Control - Maintain common configuration of all servers
to ensure a consistent environment for the application engineers
• Change Monitoring and Alerts - Identify changes to servers
that would take the system out of compliance with the standard
configuration
bEnEfitS obtainED
• System Consistency - Provided a consistent environment for their
“With Puppet I
application engineers. Eliminated worries about inconsistent
don’t have to worry configuration of key Internet servers.
anymore. Once I • Improved Efficiency - Accelerated identification of vulnerable or out
have written and of date systems to be prioritized for patching and upgrade. They use
deployed the Puppet to deploy vulnerability mitigations until they can schedule
profiles I can count time to patch. Prior to Puppet identifying vulnerable systems was a
on Puppet ensuring time intensive process.
timely updates • Met Compliance Standards – Puppet allowed Sun to meet company
and consistent and industry compliance requirements. Provided alerts for any system
configurations that went out of configuration to established security configurations.
across all my • Increased Visibility - Provided comprehensive information on system
systems. More than hardware, type, software and versions. This wasn’t an original
objective, but has provided significant benefits and replaced their
anything Puppet
homegrown system for tracking this information.
saves me time
that I simply can’t Why PuPPEt?
afford to lose in
• Cross Platform Support - Despite their servers almost uniformly
supporting my data
running Sun Solaris, Puppet’s cross platform support for other
centers.” versions of Unix was important in their decision to provide a
—Martin Englund, consistent platform for management of even the occasional non-
Lead Engineer, Sun Solaris system.
Microsystems • Open Source Solution - Sun is an open source company and this
was an important factor in their choice of Puppet. They had recently
had a bad experience with a commercial software package that was
acquired by a larger company where their investment was lost and
they had to start over when the product line was discontinued.
• Easier Trouble Shooting - Open source software was easier to trouble
shoot because they had access to the source code. When they
experienced a problem it was much easier to track down the source
of the problem and solve it.
Reductive Labs • Easy to Deploy and Maintain - Puppet was easy to deploy and
support. The scripting language was easy for his team to learn and
www.reductivelabs.com
write routines for system updates.
tel: 503.805.9065
twitter: @reductivelabs
SUN MICROSYSTEMS • SANTA CLARA, CA • WWW.SUN.COM