OpenStack is a collection of open source projects that provide comprehensive cloud services, consisting of seven core components such as compute (Nova), storage (Cinder), and networking. It is not a single project or a direct competitor to solutions like VMware, and while it presents opportunities for businesses, its complexity may deter small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from in-house deployments. To get started with OpenStack, familiarity with Linux and configuration management tools is advised, along with using DevStack for initial setup.

1. An Introduction to OpenStack
What it is, why it potentially matters, and what you need to know
if you want to get started
Scott Lowe, VCDX 39
vExpert, Author, Blogger, Geek
http://blog.scottlowe.org / Twitter: @scott_lowe

2. Before we start
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3. •What OpenStack is—and what it is not
•OpenStack’s components
•Why does OpenStack matter?
•Does OpenStack matter to SMBs?
•How do I get started with OpenStack?
Agenda

4. •It’s not a single open source project (more on that in a moment)
•It’s not a hypervisor
•It’s not a storage platform
•It’s not (necessarily) competitive to VMware (more on that in a
moment)
What OpenStack is not

5. •A group of open source projects aimed at providing
comprehensive cloud services
•There are currently seven core projects within OpenStack
•More projects are in “incubation” phase
•All these projects communicate via public APIs
•It’s supported by the OpenStack Foundation, an independent
legal entity
So what is OpenStack?

6. •OpenStack Compute (code-named “Nova”)
•OpenStack Object Store (code-named “Swift”)
•OpenStack Image (code-named “Glance”)
•OpenStack Identity (code-named “Keystone”)
•OpenStack Block Storage (code-named “Cinder”)
•OpenStack Networking (formerly code-named “Quantum”)
•OpenStack Dashboard (code-named “Horizon”)
OpenStack’s components

7. •Conceptually similar to Amazon EC2
•Can leverage multiple hypervisors (Xen, KVM, vSphere/ESXi,
Hyper-V)
•Made up of several sub-components (nova-api, nova-compute,
nova-schedule)
•Some sub-components are being broken out
•nova-network is being replaced by OpenStack Networking
•nova-volume is being replaced by OpenStack Block Storage
(“Cinder”)
OpenStack’s components:
Compute

8. •Think of it as similar to Amazon S3
•Provides distributed object storage
•Supports the OpenStack Object API as well as raw HTTP
•Authentication is handled via OpenStack Identity (typically)
OpenStack’s components:
Object Store

9. •This can be compared to Amazon’s AMI catalog
•Provides image storage, image retrieval, and image discovery
services
•These images are leveraged to launch instances (VMs)
•Can leverage the Object Store (“Swift”) or other storage
platforms, including Amazon S3, filesystems, and HTTP
OpenStack’s components:
Image

10. •Provides policy and authentication services for other OpenStack
services
•Leverages a pluggable architecture that can support LDAP, SQL,
and other backend services
OpenStack’s components:
Identity

11. •Can be compared in concept to Amazon EBS
•Provides block storage functionality to instances running on
Compute
•Recall that instances are stateless
•Block Storage provides persistent storage for instances
•Similar to Compute, it has several sub-components (cinder-api,
cinder-volume, cinder-scheduler)
•Leverages storage drivers to interact with underlying storage
platforms
OpenStack’s components:
Block Storage

12. •Provides “network as a service” functionality
•Allows for the programmatic creation of (potentially complex)
per-tenant networks
•Uses a plug-in architecture; plugins exist for a number of
different back-end implementations, including Nicira NVP, Open
vSwitch (OVS), Linux bridge, Cisco, and others
•Has essentially replaced nova-network
OpenStack’s components:
Network

13. •A web application that runs on Apache
•Provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for other OpenStack
services
•Leverages the APIs of the other OpenStack services
OpenStack’s components:
Dashboard

14. •One of only a few significant open source projects attempting to
provide a comprehensive cloud services framework
•Enjoys broad industry support
•Some significant providers are adopting OpenStack as their
cloud services platform
•Like Linux, OpenStack could have a profound impact on your
data center or cloud deployment
Why does OpenStack matter?

15. Does OpenStack matter to
SMBs?

16. •The answer is both “Yes” and “No” (maybe “It depends”?)
•Why no?
•Probably not ready for in-house deployments by SMBs (yet)
•A fair amount of expertise required to get it up and running
Why OpenStack doesn’t matter
to SMBs

17. •The answer is both “Yes” and “No” (maybe “It depends”?)
•Why yes?
•It heralds a potential sea change with how cloud environments
are built and deployed
•Enables “best of breed” clouds built using open (source) APIs
•Signals that we could see cross-cloud interoperability in the
not-too-distant future
Why OpenStack does matter to
SMBs

18. •DevStack is a great tool for getting started
•OpenStack is heavily Linux-based, so get familiar with Linux if
you aren't already (Ubuntu is very common in OpenStack)
•Instances are stateless, so configuration management is critical
(Puppet)
•OpenStack itself is mostly written in Python
•Other commonly-used technologies include KVM, network
namespaces, & OVS
How do I get started with
OpenStack?

19. Questions &
answers

20. Thank you!
Don’t forget to provide feedback to your VMUG leaders on this
session.