Learn about NetApp Workload Factory
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NetApp Workload Factory is a powerful life-cycle management platform designed to help you optimize your workloads using Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure NetApp Storage Service.
A workload encompasses a combination of resources, code, and services or applications, designed to serve a business goal. This could be anything from a customer-facing application to a backend process. Workloads may involve a subset of resources within a single AWS account or span across multiple accounts.
Features
The Workload Factory platform provides the following major capabilities.
- Flexible and low cost storage
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Discover, deploy, and manage storage systems in the cloud. Your cloud storage provider brings the full capabilities of ONTAP to a native managed service delivering a consistent hybrid cloud experience.
- Migrate on-premises vSphere environments to VMware Cloud on AWS
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The VMware Cloud on AWS migration advisor enables you to analyze your current virtual machine configurations in on-premises vSphere environments, generate a plan to deploy recommended VM layouts to VMware Cloud on AWS, and use customized Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file systems as external datastores.
- Database lifecycle management
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Discover database workloads and analyze costs savings with Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP; leverage storage and application benefits when migrating SQL server databases to FSx for ONTAP storage; deploy SQL servers, databases, and database clones that implement vendor best practices; use an Infrastructure as Code co-pilot to automate operations; and continuously monitor and optimize SQL server estates to improve performance, availability, protection, and cost-efficiency.
- Ask Me AI assistant
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Ask the AI assistant questions about managing and operating your storage systems. Using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), Ask Me securely interfaces with external environments and queries API tools to deliver responses tailored to your specific storage environment.
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Account administrators can turn AI features on or off. If an administrator turns them off, the Ask Me AI assistant will not be available. Learn about managing AI features. |
Supported cloud providers
Workload Factory enables you to manage cloud storage and use workload capabilities in Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure NetApp Storage Service (OCI NSS).
Security
Security for NetApp Workload Factory is a top priority for NetApp. NetApp Workload Factory has received SOC2 Type 1 compliance, SOC2 Type 2 compliance, and HIPAA compliance.
Cost
Workload Factory is free to use. The cost that you pay to your cloud provider depends on the storage and workload services that you plan to deploy. This includes the cost of storage systems, infrastructure, services, and more.
How Workload Factory works
Workload Factory includes a web-based console that's provided through the SaaS layer, an account, permission policies that control access to your cloud estate, connectivity between Workload Factory and your cloud accounts, and more.
Software-as-a-service
Workload Factory is accessible through the NetApp Console. This SaaS experience enables you to automatically access the latest features as they're released and to easily switch between your Workload Factory accounts and links.
Sign up and access management
To use NetApp Console, you'll need to sign up with your NetApp Support Site credentials, or create a NetApp Console login. The first user becomes the organization administrator and manages user accounts and permissions. You can update roles and add more administrators later.
Permissions
Workload Factory provides flexible permission policies that enables you to carefully control access to your cloud estate, and assign incremental trust to Workload Factory based on your IT policies.
Codebox automation
Codebox is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) co-pilot that helps developers and DevOps engineers generate the code needed to execute any operation supported by Workload Factory. Code formats include Workload Factory REST API, cloud provider CLIs, Terraform, and more.
Codebox sets a clear path for execution readiness as well as an automation catalog for quick future reuse.
The Codebox pane shows the IaC that is generated by a specific job flow operation, and is matched by a graphical wizard or conversational chat interface. While Codebox supports color coding and search for easy navigation and analysis, it does not allow editing. You can only copy or save to the Automation Catalog.
Well-architected workloads
Workload Factory helps you maintain and operate reliable, secure, efficient, and cost-effective storage and database configurations that align with the AWS Well-Architected Framework. Workload Factory scans FSx for ONTAP file systems, SQL Server, and Oracle database deployments daily to provide insights into potential misconfigurations and recommends either manual or automated actions for fixing issues.
Tools to use NetApp Workload Factory
You can use NetApp Workload Factory with the following tools:
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NetApp Console: NetApp Console provides a hybrid interface experience so that you can use Workload Factory along with other NetApp data services.
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Ask Me: Use the Ask Me AI assistant to ask questions and learn more about Workload Factory without leaving NetApp Console.
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CloudShell CLI: Workload Factory includes a CloudShell CLI to manage and operate AWS and NetApp environments across accounts from a single, browser-based CLI.
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REST API: Use the Workload Factory REST APIs to deploy and manage your storage systems and other resources.
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NetApp Terraform provider: Use Terraform to build and manage infrastructure workflows generated in NetApp Console for Workload Factory.
REST APIs
Workload Factory enables you to optimize, automate, and operate your cloud storage systems for specific workloads. Each workload exposes an associated REST API. Collectively, these workloads and APIs form a flexible and extensible development platform you can use to administer your storage systems.
There are several benefits when using the Workload Factory REST APIs:
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The APIs have been designed based on REST technology and current best practices. The core technologies include HTTP and JSON.
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Workload Factory authentication is based on the OAuth2 standard. NetApp relies on the Auth0 service implementation.
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The Workload Factory web-based console uses the same core REST APIs so there is consistency between the two access paths.