FastScale releases new version of its Composer Suite

Before a DAB can be created, the FastScale repository must be populated with the customer's applications and operating systems. Any network booted servers on the network are automatically discovered by the FastScale software to determine their hardware profiles.

At the time a new server is to be provisioned, the FastScale Composer Suite software performs a process known as Application Blueprinting on the designated application. The Application Blueprint is created by a series of proprietary FastScale algorithms that determine all of the O/S file dependencies of the application. This is a static analysis and does not require application execution. Based on prior indication by the system administrator, all proper patches and site specific configuration settings are also identified. Finally, based on the target machine, the appropriate hardware drivers are determined. All of these components and the application files are combined in the DAB and provisioned into the memory of the target machine. With only the required components in the DAB, it averages 95% smaller than a traditional golden image.

Note that FastScale Composer Suite virtualizes the full software stack without modification to either applications or operating systems. FastScale Application Blueprinting identifies what files to initially provision, but the FastScale Automatic Runtime Extension feature retrieves any subsequent files that are required by the running application (such as a dynamically loaded library) from the FastScale Repository. The combination of FastScale Application Blueprinting and FastScale Automatic Runtime Extension enables lightweight provisioning without modifying either applications or operating systems.

Unlike an appliance model where O/S components or other files are "stripped away", FastScale Composer Suite virtualizes the full software stack rather than modifying it. FastScale Application Blueprinting provides the intelligence of what files to initially provision, but FastScale Automatic Runtime Extension feature retrieves any subsequent files that are required by the running application from the FastScale Repository. Application file requests are agnostic to the physical location of these components. In this way, FastScale Composer Suite enables lightweight provisioning without altering applications or operating systems.

For troubleshooting or ISV support escalation, the application "sees" the entire operating system. The test suite used to test the full stack will also be used to test the FastScale lightweight DAB (Dynamic Application Bundle). The difference is that when DABs are deployed, only the required components are provisioned to the target server, and the rest of the components are in the repository – accessible to the running application, if needed. In the most conservative case, customers have the option to provision the entire O/S, either in test-mode or production. This allows customers to conduct troubleshooting in an incremental fashion, eliminating any need to individually qualify or certify ISV applications.

A key benefit of FastScale Composer Suite is the ability to dynamically provision bare-metal or virtual servers in seconds, enabling customers to reduce physical servers by increasing utilization. However, in no way does FastScale attempt an end run around licensing. FastScale also helps ISVs by enabling customers to deploy lightweight software stacks with reduced memory requirements, improving scalability and performance for virtual server deployment.