Management vendor Emulex has launched its OpenWorks Connector, which will give data centers the option to adapt to bare metal adapter configurations in order to get maximum performance out of their hardware.

The Emulex OpenWorks Connector uses a restful API (application programming interface) which means third party tools can be used to manage it with Emulex’s OCec14000 cloud adapters.

The first partner to use this API is Egenera, a provider of cloud and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software.

Emulex said when Egenera’s PAN Manager 8.0 is combined with OpenWorks Connector it configures and provisions machine images more quickly and easily to bare metal rack servers for physical and virtual environments.

The new tools will appeal to cloud service providers and telcos when building cloud-based infrastructures, as they need to install large numbers of rack servers quickly and cheaply, according to Emulex.

The vendor claimed the lack of a single tool for managing mixed servers has forced cloud providers to limit themselves to one vendor or pay extra for using multiple tools.

The process will now be simpler and faster, according to Emulex.

Emulex’s SVP of marketing Shaun Walsh said in the era of web-scale computing, systems that manage physical and virtual resources are critical to service level commitments and getting a return on investment.

“Our OpenWorks Connector and Egenera’s PAN Manager give administrators a single-pane-of-glass to deploy new workloads, manage resource pools and provide physical and virtual infrastructures with high efficiency and faster installation,” Walsh said.

Egenera’s VP of marketing John Humphreys said the combined Emulex/Egenera management system will allow data centers to create Metal-as-a-Service applications.

“The result is the first cloud automation and management suite in a production environment, so mixed rack server environments can be managed cost effectively,” Humphreys said.