When we talk about Cloud Computing, we also talk about Automation in Datacenters. Cloud Computing transforms Datacenters to a way where we see much more Automation than we saw before. There is significant transformation going on and more and more Projects that enable that are launched nowadays. Famous Automation Platforms are Eucalyptus and OpenStack in the Open Source area. Microsoft and vmWare also offer some Automation Tools for the Cloud. But what are the concepts for Cloud Automation?
Let us first look at the illustration below to find out how automation in Datacenters work.

As shown in the illustration above, there are several steps involved. First, we add a new physical Server. This usually happens when a new Rack or Container is deployed to a Datacenter. The new physical Server is started and a Maintenance OS is started. This is usually a lightweight Version of Windows Server or Linux. The Maintenance OS is the basis for virtualisation. The Maintenance OS now connects to the Controller. The Controller is a Server that is somewhat of a Master in the Datacenter. The Controller tells the Maintenance OS what it should do. Normally, this is what virtual Host VM to start. The Host VM is now the container for different virtual Instances. They are called “Guest VMs”. Guest virtual Machines now run the applications the user wants. This can either be the Operating System (Infrastructure as a Service) or a Platform.