OpenStack is a software solution used to create cloud services or cloud storage in a public and private cloud. The product consists of free software distributed under the Apache license.
The principle of operation
The OpenStack solution consists of components (for example, Nova, Swift, Keystone, and others) that administrators independently select for the current task. The modules are easily integrated with each other, which ensures stable operation of the product.
After creating your own solution, administrators can easily add other components to it in the future.
The list of modules is large and it is constantly updated. If necessary, the end user can contact the developer community for technical support.
Composition
The OpenStack project consists of the following modules:
- Nova computing Power controller. Responsible for starting, restarting and stopping virtual machines deployed using specialized software (VMware, Citrix, KVM, etc.). Manages hardware solutions that belong to the Bare Metal and HPC class.
- Glance. The module is responsible for detecting and extracting virtual host images. Manages virtual images, but does not store them.
- Swift. Distributed storage of virtual hosts with a high level of fault tolerance and reliability. It is a virtual storage system with its own operating system that works only with objects. The module is integrated directly into the programs.
- Cinder. Virtual storage, similar to Swift, but works only with blocks of data, not objects. When working, the end user requests information from the block, regardless of its physical location. The Fibre Channel protocol is not used as network protocols in this module.
- Neutron is responsible for network connections within OpenStack between different component interfaces. The module is expanded using plug-ins that provide compatibility with other network protocols of commercial origin.
- Keystone is a user identification and authentication service. It includes support for token-based authorization. An identification request can be sent by any OpenStack component based on the unique digital signature of each token. This approach simplifies the authorization process, allowing you not to load the Keystone module.
- Watcher acts as a load balancer inside OpenStack. Optimizes computing resources to reduce the load on a single component.
- Horizon is responsible for monitoring the operations that occur inside the built OpenStack solution. Administrators receive a single dashboard in which all information is collected.
OpenStack appeared on the cloud solutions market 10 years ago, but has established itself as a reliable product. It works according to the principle of the constructor. The client selects the modules that he needs to cover his current needs and builds a single solution.