Automating Datacenter Operations at Dropbox

This post introduces Pirlo, a system designed to automate the provisioning and validation of network switches and servers. Pirlo consists of a ClusterOps queue, a TOR Starter component for switch provisioning, and a Server Validation component for server provisioning and repair. The TOR Starter automates switch validation and configuration through a plugin system, capturing detailed logs and providing a UI for monitoring. Server Validation uses a PXE-booted OS image called Hotdog for minimal Ubuntu with vendor tooling and Dropbox-specific scripts. Both components leverage the in-house ClusterOps queue for job management and integrate with the asset database for inventory tracking.