New Java API for App Delivery Controller -- ADTmag

New Java API for App Delivery Controller

By John K. Waters
September 8, 2015

KEMP Technologies has expanded the automated application deployment capabilities of its LoadMaster product with a new Java API. The new API automates deployment of application delivery services in Java environments, and allows for integration of the company's flagship load balancing/application delivery controller (ADC) solution into existing management frameworks.

"We have a lot of technology baked into the product that allows us to deliver performance availability and security to the application workloads that are hosted behind the LoadMaster," said Chris Baker, KEMP's product marketing manager.

The New York-based company is extending its existing RESTful APIs and Microsoft PowerShell tools, Baker explained. "Over time we've implemented a set of APIs for the LoadMaster itself, and we started with a RESTful API," he said. "Because of our intensive involvement in Microsoft workloads, that took us down the path of delivering a PowerShell API for Microsoft networks. It was a natural evolution for us to offer a Java API, so that developers building their own or extending Java-based system and network management frameworks can readily integrate with the LoadMaster."

The company's product is a Layer 2-7 load balancing/ADC solution that can be deployed on a range of hypervisor and cloud platforms, as well as dedicated KEMP appliances and third-party bare-metal servers.

The KEMP announcement might be seen as part of the emerging DevOps trend "infrastructure as code" or "programmable infrastructure," Baker pointed out, in which code is written to manage configurations and automate provisioning of infrastructure and deployments. The LoadMaster can become an element in a continuous development/deployment/delivery model, he said.

"Traditionally this work has been done by logging into the system itself, configuring services, looking at log files, that sort of thing," he said. "But that is an approach that in today's world doesn't scale. In virtualized and cloud environments where you could be required to spin up and tear down on a rapid basis, doing things manually every time just isn't practical. A developer can use the published API specification to build a customized interface to the LoadMaster, making it an integral component of network based services."

The new Java API can be download from the company's support site.

About the Author

John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS. He can be reached at [email protected].