OpenStack is a cloud computing platform that provides access to computing, networking, and storage resources. It consists of a collection of RESTful web services that work together to manage all aspects of a cloud, including launching virtual machines, attaching storage, and configuring networks. When a user requests a new server, the compute service coordinates with the image, networking, and storage services to start a new virtual machine on a compute node that has the necessary resources available.

2. 2
A Quick Technical Overview
Tom Fifield
tom@openstack.org
@Tom Fifield

3. 3
Special Thanks to:
Lorin Hochstein
Nimbis Services
lorin@nimbisservices.com
@lhochstein

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A Motivating Example

5. What is OpenStack?

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OpenStack provides access to compute, networking and
storage

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Access compute resources
Start 5 servers, each with:
• 2 CPUs
• 4 GB of RAM
• 20 GB of storage
User Suspend
server "X"
Snapshot
server "X"

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Access networking resources
Create private network with
subnet 10.2.12.0/24
User
Attach IP address
203.0.113.19 to server "X"
Allow access to ports
80 and 443 for the
"web" group

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Access block storage resources,
which attach to servers like disks
Create a 100 GB data
volume and attach it to
server "X"
User
Take a snapshot of
volume "Q"

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Access object storage resources, which are accessed
over HTTP
Store file family.png in
container "photos"
User
Make file logo.png in
container "acme" visible
to everyone

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OpenStack includes a web-based Dashboard service

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Make requests with command-line tools or REST API
$ nova boot --image precise --flavor m1.small
myinstance
Client
HTTP POST
/servers
{
"server": {
"imageRef": ...
"flavorRef": ...
"name": "myinstance",
}
}

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Also... Python bindings!
import novaclient.v1_1.client as nvclient
creds = ...
nova = nvclient.Client(**creds)
image = nova.images.find(name="precise")
flavor = nova.flavors.find(name="m1.small")
nova.servers.create(image=image,
flavor=flavor,
name="myinstance")

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ECOSYSTEMSIZE
(Members+Sponsors+Supporters)
CUMULATIVE
CONTRIBUTORS
AVERAGE MONTHLY
CONTRIBUTORS
PATCHES
MERGED
1017
230
7,260
(Grizzly Release Cycle – Six Months)
230 Companies
TOP 10 Countries
1) United States
2) China
3) India
4) Great Britain
5) Australia
12,154
6) France
7) Russia
8) Canada
9) Ireland
10) Germany
INDIVIDUAL
MEMBERS
Project is very active with many contributors
Data from May 2013

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To Name Just a Few…
…and counting.

16. What does the architecture look like?

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System is a collection of RESTful web services

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Compute service manages VMs on compute nodes

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Image provides a catalog of virtual machine images

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Identity handles authentication and service catalog

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Network service manages connectivity for VMs

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Block storage manages block devices that attach to VMs

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Object storage manages binary objects accessed via HTTP

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Dashboard service provides web interface

25. Let’s look at an example.

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Alice is a web developer who needs an Ubuntu server to
deploy her app for testing

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Start a server using the ‘ubuntu12.04’ image and attach
it to network ‘mynet’

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1. Get the compute endpoint and an auth token

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2. Start a new compute server

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3. Download the ubuntu12.04 image

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4. Retrieve the image from the object store

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5. Determine how to connect the VM to ‘mynet’

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6. Start the virtual machine

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Alice sees that her server is now running and connects
to it via ssh.

35. … but how does that work?

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Each OpenStack service is implemented as Linux
daemons
Example:
Compute Service

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Daemons use non-blocking I/O with eventlet to handle
multiple requests
OpenStack
daemon
Eventlet

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Daemons maintain persistent state using an SQL
database via SQLAlchemy
OpenStack
daemon
SQLAlchemy

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Daemons communicate using remote procedure call
over message queue
OpenStack
daemon
kombu
eventlet.
green.
zmq
qpid
message
queue

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Let’s go back to the earlier example

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“Start a new compute server” request comes in to the
nova-api daemon

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Ask nova-scheduler to find a compute node that can
fulfill the request

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Dispatch the request to nova-compute on a node that
has enough resources

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Download the image from the Image service

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Get network connection info from Networking service

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Ask the hypervisor to start the virtual machine

47. So, what is OpenStack?

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Customisation
‣ OpenStack doesn’t quite do what you need?
‣ Add it, but contribute back if possible
‣ Many things are pluggable
‣ Eg Object Storage Middleware Pipeline
‣ Eg Compute Scheduler
‣ Eg Dashboard
‣ Get a DevStack running and play!

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Interacting with the Community
‣ All development is open
‣ Etherpad → Blueprint → Coded → Reviewed → Released
‣ Collaboratively design features
‣ Competitors working together
‣ Every line of code reviewed by at least two people
‣ An extensive continuous integration and testing infrastructure
Documentation, Translation, Infrastructure is all Collaborative

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Interacting with the Community
l Ask OpenStack! (http://ask.openstack.org/)
l https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/MailingLists
l https://wiki.openstack.org/IRC
l Your local user group
l The comments section on that almost-related blog

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See you in Hong Kong
November 5-8, register now!
λ openstack.org/summit
Design Sessions: not a classic track with speakers and presentations -
generally an open brainstorming discussion on a given feature
Conference Sessions: Keynotes, Case Studies, Ecosystem, Operations,
Strategy, Workshops

53. Thank you for
supporting OpenStack
Tom Fifield
tom@openstack.org
@Tom Fifield
Ask Questions at ask.openstack.org