Editing Provisioning (technology) (section)

==Server provisioning==
Server provisioning is a set of actions to prepare a server with appropriate systems, data and software, and make it ready for network operation. Typical tasks when provisioning a server are: select a [[server (computing)|server]] from a pool of available servers, load the appropriate [[software]] ([[operating system]], [[device driver]]s, [[middleware]], and [[application software|application]]s), appropriately customize and configure the system and the software to create or change a [[boot image]] for this server, and then change its parameters, such as [[IP address]], [[Gateway (telecommunications)|IP Gateway]] to find associated network and storage resources (sometimes separated as ''resource provisioning'') to audit the system. By auditing the system, you{{Clarify|post-text=who?|date=October 2023}} ensure [[Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language|OVAL]] compliance with limit vulnerability, ensure compliance, or install patches. After these actions, you restart the system and load the new software. This makes the system ready for operation. Typically an [[internet service provider]] (ISP) or [[Network Operations Center|network operations center]] will perform these tasks to a well-defined set of parameters, for example, a boot image that the organization has approved and which uses software it has license to. Many instances of such a boot image create a [[virtual host|virtual]] [[Dedicated hosting service|dedicated host]].

There are many [[software]] products available to automate the provisioning of servers, services and end-user devices. Examples: BMC Bladelogic Server Automation, HP Server Automation, [[IBM Tivoli]] Provisioning Manager, [[Redhat]] Kickstart, xCAT, HP Insight CMU, etc.  Middleware and applications can be installed either when the operating system is installed or afterwards by using an [[Application Service Automation]] tool. Further questions are addressed in academia such as when provisioning should be issued and how many servers are needed in multi-tier,<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1145/1342171.1342172|title = Agile dynamic provisioning of multi-tier Internet applications| journal=ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems| volume=3| pages=1–39|year = 2008|last1 = Urgaonkar|first1 = Bhuvan| last2=Shenoy| first2=Prashant| last3=Chandra| first3=Abhishek| last4=Goyal| first4=Pawan| last5=Wood| first5=Timothy| citeseerx=10.1.1.294.6606|s2cid = 10041862}}</ref> or multi-service applications.<ref>Jiang Dejun, Guillaume Pierre and Chi-Hung Chi. [http://www.globule.org/publi/ARPMSWA_www2010.html Autonomous Resource Provisioning for Multi-Service Web Applications]. In Proceedings of the 19th International World-Wide Web conference, April 2010.</ref>

In [[cloud computing]], servers may be provisioned via a web user interface or an [[application programming interface]] (API). One of the unique things about cloud computing is how rapidly and easily this can be done.  Monitoring software can be used to trigger automatic provisioning when existing resources become too heavily stressed.<ref>Amies A, Sanchez J, Vernier D, and Zheng X D, 2011. [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cloud/library/cl-monitorcloudservices/ "Monitor services in the cloud"], ''IBM developerWorks'', February 15.</ref>

In short, server provisioning configures servers based on resource requirements. The use of a hardware or software component (e.g. single/dual processor, RAM, HDD, [[RAID Controller]], a number of [[LAN card]]s, applications, OS, etc.) depends on the functionality of the server, such as ISP, virtualization, NOS, or voice processing. Server redundancy depends on the availability of servers in the organization. Critical applications have less downtime when using cluster servers, RAID, or a mirroring system.

Service used by most larger-scale centers in part to avoid this. Additional '''resource provisioning''' may be done per service.<ref>{{cite book|last=He|first=Sijin |author2=L. Guo |author3=Y. Guo |author4=M. Ghanem |chapter=Improving Resource Utilisation in the Cloud Environment Using Multivariate Probabilistic Models|publisher=2012 2012 IEEE 5th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD) |doi=10.1109/CLOUD.2012.66 |isbn=978-1-4673-2892-0 |pages=574–581|title=2012 IEEE Fifth International Conference on Cloud Computing |year=2012 |s2cid=15374752 }}</ref>

There are several software on the market for server provisioning such as [[Cobbler (software)|Cobbler]] or HP Intelligent Provisioning.