New Product Advisory: rBuilder now Supports Windows Server Applications

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: Monday, 15 November 2010 21:07

rPath Extends Linux Release Automation Strength to Windows and .NET Apps, Enabling Agile IT Operations across Physical, Virtual and Cloud Environments

RALEIGH, N.C. — November 15, 2010 — rPath, the service factory for on-demand IT, today announced general availability of rBuilder 5.8, which brings automated deployment to the world of Windows server applications. Drawing on rPath’s leadership in release automation for Linux-based software systems, the new version of rBuilder represents the first commercial solution for automated deployment of Windows applications.

What is rBuilder? rBuilder is the flagship product from rPath that automates the construction and lifecycle management of deeply modeled, self-contained software stacks that are ready to deploy to any physical, virtual or cloud environment. The entire system model and all of the components it comprises are managed under strong version control to ensure consistency, controlled lifecycle transitions, and fully reversible changes.

Who will benefit? Release and deployment managers, IT operations managers, dev and test personnel and others seeking to take time and cost out of application deployment and maintenance.

Why is rBuilder 5.8 important? Industry analysts say that 70-80 percent of IT spending is operating expense, nearly half of which is attributable to deployment-related tasks. This is particularly true for Microsoft Windows environments which constitute 74 percent of the data center server market. For most IT organizations, releasing Windows applications into production is complex, cumbersome and time-consuming. An absence of automation tools for deploying and configuring Windows applications results in long delays that negatively impact service levels and business agility. rPath turns weeks into minutes with pushbutton deployment and update for Windows- and Linux-based applications, enabling agile IT operations.

What are key rBuilder features? rBuilder 5.8 provides a solution for true “pushbutton deployment” of Windows applications. Key rBuilder capabilities include:

Automated dependency resolution – automatically resolves dependencies to virtually eliminate deployment-time failures
Deep modeling and automated software packaging – from a blueprint and bill of materials, automatically generates standard MSI packages that are ready to deploy
Version and release lifecycle controls – applies version control to all packaged elements and eliminates drift between dev, test and production release stages
Automated image generation – generates image output on demand for rapid deployment or retargeting between physical, virtual and cloud environments
Automated updates – enables surgically-targeted changes for low-overhead, conflict-free maintenance
Cross-platform automation – provides a single enterprise solution for automated deployment of any application, running any platform, deployed to any execution environment—physical, virtual or cloud

rBuilder 5.8 is designed to complement Microsoft development and operating environments, including:

Team Foundation Server (TFS) – rPath extends TFS and other .NET automation capabilities into the operational context, providing seamless and automated packaging, deployment and update across physical, virtual and cloud environments.
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) – rPath extends the operational control provided by SCCM with an integrated toolset for automating the application release lifecycle; rPath-generated packages are easily deployable via SCCM.

rPath is a member of the Microsoft System Center Alliance, a partner community for innovators that leverage and extend the Microsoft System Center platform.

What is rBuilder 5.8 pricing? Pricing for rBuilder 5.8 starts at $25,000.

For more information on rPath, please visit http://www.rpath.com. For additional perspectives, please visit and subscribe to rPath RSS blog feeds at http://blogs.rpath.com/wpmu/. Follow rPath on Twitter at @rpath and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/rPathInc.