Opscode has just announced Enterprise Chef with new capabilities for automating configuration of networking, storage, and Microsoft Windows. Enterprise Chef will be the successor to Private Chef and Hosted Chef as Opscode's new streamlined offering to provide the capabilities for configuring entire infrastructures. This aligns with Opscode's solutions for Continuous Delivery and DevOps by providing capabilities that increase the span of configurable technology in engagements with their customers, thereby speeding the delivery to market of Opscode's customer's products.
According to Kevin Smith, VP of Engineering at Opscode, they will at the same time be maintaining the ubiquitous resource and provider implementation model built into Chef's domain specific language (or DSL) thereby supporting efficient usage in engagements with Opscode clients and by users in the open source community surrounding Chef.
The efficiencies people enjoy to date in being able to automate the configuration of compute resources will be spreading into the following domains with the listed providers as recognized collaborators with Opscode:
- Networking
- Arista Networks - Chef will integrate with Arista Extnsible Operating System (EOS) in order to configure physical and virtual networking ports.
- Cisco Systems - Chef will integrate with Cisco's One Platform Kit in order to configure networking ports. Chef will integrate with Cisco's Software Maintenance Manager to deliver software updates.
- Cumulus Networks - Chef will work with Cumulus Linux, which is a full-featured Linux OS for datacenter networking.
- Juniper Networks - Chef will integrate with Juniper OS in order to configure networking.
- Plexxi - Chef will integrate with Affinity networking to support configuration of network behavior and capacity guarantees to applications.
- Storage
- Scheberg Philis - Opscode will work with Scheberg Phillis on a cookbook for automating NexentaStor ZFS-based storage resources.
Opscode is in process of developing integration with Microsoft's new PowerShell 4.0 Desired State Configuration (or DSC) technology. A demonstration of PowerShell DSC integrating with Opscode Chef was done at TechEd 2013 and more will be available in the near future. In the latest version of Opscode Chef new Windows Capabilities are available for automating PowerShell, batch, registry, and service functionality.
IBM recently increased integrative capabilities between SmartCloud and Chef by releasing the SmartCloud Orchestrator ContentPack.