GitHub's Metal Cloud

GitHub has developed an application called gPanel to manage its transition from a managed environment to its own data center, emphasizing stability, availability, and performance through the use of bare-metal hardware. gPanel, a Ruby on Rails application, facilitates the tracking, management, and provisioning of physical hardware, retaining the benefits of cloud computing like on-demand resources. The system automates the installation and configuration of operating systems, reducing the dependency on specific knowledge and allowing the operations team to handle the migration efficiently. The process involves several stages, including data collection, hardware configuration, firmware upgrades, burn-in processes, and finally, making machines ready for production. Hubot, GitHub's programmable chatbot, is used to drive these processes, including installing operating systems and decommissioning hosts, ensuring that new hardware is seamlessly integrated and made available for company use. GitHub continues to refine gPanel to further automate and improve the procurement and provisioning process.