I am in classes this week, learning the basics of HP Server Automation (SA) 7.5. Last year I took the SA 6.5 classes as part of the process to determine if the products can be implemented by my employer. This time I get to learn the product that is being implemented.

One big change, and I know I cannot detail this in any meaningful way, is the ability in SA 7.5 to handle a server in multiple groups. This was a limitation in earlier versions. For a large company with many smaller companies absorbed into the fold and multiple governmental regulators this allows a server to have overlapping management. It sounds hideous, and it is, but it is a necessary evil in some cases.

One downside of SA 7.5, and earlier versions, is during SA Core upgrades, the core and all instances of a multi-master mesh core (think distributed management servers) all cores are unavailable. In a large company, this can be a five day process. The managed servers themselves continue to work, but all central management is offline. I can think up horror scenarios with this where a customer is unable to restore/rebuild a failed production device when the SA cores are offline. Apparently this will be addressed in future releases.

Anyway, this is a bit of a ramble. I am in class, locked in a room and in learning mode. Learning is the perpetual state of a software developer.