Martin Smith, a DevOps Engineer at Rackspace, provides a detailed guide on deploying Elasticsearch 2.0.0 with Chef, a configuration tool used to manage server settings and automate system configuration. The guide discusses the integration of the new refactored Elasticsearch cookbook for Chef, which simplifies moving from a demo environment to a production-ready cluster. It covers installing and configuring an Elasticsearch node using Chef resources, including setting up a system user, managing package installations, configuring instances, and running Elasticsearch as a system service. Additionally, the article explains how to install Elasticsearch plugins and use Chef's resources to ensure seamless updates and management of server configurations, enabling automation of the setup process. It concludes by verifying the successful deployment of Elasticsearch and mentions future plans to expand on clustering and additional configurations.