Orchestration (computing)

In system administration, orchestration is the automated configuration, coordination,^[1] deployment, development, and management of computer systems and software.^[2] Many tools exist to automate server configuration and management.

Usage

Orchestration is often discussed in the context of service-oriented architecture, virtualization, provisioning, converged infrastructure and dynamic data center topics. Orchestration in this sense is about aligning the business request with the applications, data, and infrastructure.^[3]

In the context of cloud computing, the main difference between workflow automation and orchestration is that workflows are processed and completed as processes within a single domain for automation purposes, whereas orchestration includes a workflow and provides a directed action towards larger goals and objectives.^[2]

In this context, and with the overall aim to achieve specific goals and objectives (described through the quality of service parameters), for example, meet application performance goals using minimized cost^[4] and maximize application performance within budget constraints,^[5] cloud management solutions also encompass frameworks for workflow mapping and management. In the context of application programming interfaces (APIs), API orchestration refers to the process of integrating multiple APIs into a unified system in order to streamline workflows and enhance user experience. The approach coordinates the flow of data, the execution sequence, and the dependencies among different APIs to achieve a defined business objective. API orchestration is commonly applied in environments that utilize microservices architectures or legacy systems, where the interaction of several APIs is required to complete a task. ^[6]

See also

• Job Control Language
• System management
• Web service choreography
• Configuration management
• Infrastructure as code
• Server provisioning
• Service-oriented architecture
• Kubernetes
• Job scheduler
• List of orchestration software