Free the cloud with Dell Crowbar

Deploying an open-source cloud can be a challenge. The correct components can help you do the job right. Expand your open-source toolkit with a multipurpose tool: Dell™ Crowbar.

Crowbar is an open-source software framework developed by Dell. With Crowbar, you can install cloud software across clusters and scale out systems quickly and automatically. Crowbar also provides capabilities for network monitoring and discovery, and gathering performance data, among other advantages. With Crowbar, you have a configurable, adjustable framework complete with many built-in features that can save time, streamline effort and potentially lower costs.

Benefits

Automated bootstrapping	Free your staff from manual network settings and bootstrapping servers by hand with Crowbar. The no-manual-intervention-required approach allows you to stand up a system from bare metal to operational in as little as two hours.
Hardware-adaptive	Because Crowbar is not tied to a specific platform, it's customizable in your environment, which equals less scripting and faster booting.
Simple setup	Clear, quick setup and configuration is accomplished with the included user interface and remote application programming interfaces (APIs).
Integration with Opscode Chef	With the Opscode® Chef™ server, built specifically for cloud automation on an open-source systems integration framework, repeatable solutions are a snap.
Modular architecture	Add, remove and extend individual components with open-source barclamps. Each barclamp has its own configuration, user interface subcomponent, deployment configuration and documentation.
Check out the barclamp library	Barclamps are available for DNS, network discovery, Nova, Swift, Nagios®, Ganglia and BIOS configuration, among others. Or you can develop your own open-source barclamps for targeted use.
Expert information	Access expert advice, deployment guides, specifications and reference architectures for designs that incorporate the Dell OpenStack™-Powered Cloud Solution and Dell hardware.
Upgrade and maintenance	No need to dread maintenance tasks. You can easily update BIOS and RAID configurations, automate network discovery, and track performance and alerts.

For an even more comprehensive cloud computing solution, Dell recommends combining Crowbar with OpenStack or Apache Hadoop™ for a solution that's proven in real-world deployments.