An Introduction to OpenStack

This presentation was given at the New Mexico VMUG on 5/17 and discusses what OpenStack is (and is not), why it matters, and what you can do to get started with OpenStack.

Transcript

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 •Get involved! Audience participation is encouraged and requested. •If you use Twitter, feel free to tweet about this session (use @MyVMUG or hashtag #NMVMUG) •I encourage you to take photos or videos of today’s session and share them online •This presentation will be made available online after the event
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.