What is an Orchestrator?
An orchestrator is software or a system designed to automate and streamline the configuration and management of complex computer systems. The automated and autonomous system operation enabled by an orchestrator is referred to as orchestration. While the concept of orchestration has existed for many years, it has recently gained significant attention as a method for efficiently managing virtualized data centers and cloud environments.
Several orchestrators are already available for managing virtualized and cloud environments. Prominent examples include AWS CloudFormation, OpenStack Heat, and IBM Cloud Orchestrator. Although the specific features vary between orchestrators, their primary role is to automate tasks such as deploying and configuring virtual machines, setting up virtual networks connected to the machines, and configuring firewalls, load balancers, and other components needed for security and load balancing. These tasks are often performed using templates and other automated tools.
F5 offers F5 BIG-IQ, a platform enabling orchestration and centralized management of traffic control, security, acceleration, and more.