OpenStack 101: the Basics, the Four Opens, and More

OpenStack is an influential part of the cloud computing landscape now. Being an open source software evolving constantly, it is highly sought after in the tech community. OpenStack allows for cloud environment portability and, through its API, provides an open and common standard for cloud enterprises and users. Hence the popularity of the software.

To understand OpenStack better, let us get to how it all began.

A Brief History of OpenStack

OpenStack had it’s beginning in 2010 with NASA and Rackspace Hosting. Both firms collaborated to create an open source cloud platform that could cater to public and private clouds regardless of their size. Another objective was to design the initiative to ensure flexibility in scaling according to the user.

Now, a decade since its origin, OpenStack has grown into an ever-evolving entity with big and small enterprises and organizations using and contributing to it daily. The OpenStack Foundation was set up in 2012 to govern the project and advance the development of other projects under the umbrella.

Now that we understand the origins of it, here are some fundamentals to know.

The Basics of OpenStack

OpenStack is an open source platform to build, scale, and manage public and private clouds. The platform uses merged virtual resources to perform these functions.

Openstack is comprised of many projects which essentially work as tools that perform various cloud computing tasks such as storage, networking, image services, etc. For example, have a look at OpenStack Train.

As mentioned earlier, the platform is highly flexible. The user could bundle the projects they need, perform their cloud services, and achieve relevant results.

To ensure that users receive the desired benefits, there are a set of basic guidelines that the software has called the Four Opens.

The Four Opens

In the OpenStack community, The Four Opens of OpenStack are also referred to as ‘The OpenStack Way.’ These guidelines make sure that users get all the benefits from the platform and ensure contributions to its future by engaging with the community.

The Four Opens are:

• Open Source — software that is highly usable and scalable. There is no ‘core software,’ and all projects made under the Four Opens must be open for its users to study, use, contribute, and modify as needed.
• Open Community — the function of the Open Community is to foster a vibrant and productive atmosphere for every user/contributor to the OpenStack platform and other related projects.
• Open Development — the development processes within the community, is transparent and accessible for all users. This helps in maintaining high standards and keeps the community accountable to each other.
• Open Design — design and planning of the software made open, transparent, and agreeable for all users. Even though it leads to a longer design process, it contributes to much more efficient output.

There are many resources that discuss the Four Opens in detail. Now let us move on to how the software really functions.

How OpenStack Works

OpenStack performs all the tasks from a base of two types of software — Virtualization and a base OS. The virtualization software creates virtual resources from the hardware, and the base operating system implements commands from the OpenStack scripts.

The platform generally works as a series of scripts, known better as commands. Cloud environments are created from tasks that are relayed from packages built using these commands.

Since we have established OpenStack’s basic working process, let’s now look at its core services.

Know the Core Services

The OpenStack architecture is made up of several open source projects. These services enable dashboarding, bare-metal provisioning, orchestration, containers, messaging, governance, and more.

Here are the six core services that allow an OpenStack cloud to be set up and running.

• Nova — OpenStack virtual machines; management and access tool
• Neutron — software-defined networking
• Swift — enterprise-grade cloud object storage
• Cinder — block storage
• Keystone — authentication Service
• Glance — image storage

Together, these projects ensure that OpenStack runs smoothly. Once you have an OpenStack environment, what are the gains? Let’s examine.

How Is OpenStack Useful to You

OpenStack is at the forefront of open source options available to build your public cloud. Bringing together cloud computing with open source projects will result in an open source cloud, a mutually beneficial entity.

An OpenStack public cloud also comes with the benefit that no matter the size of your organization or the size of the cloud you need, it can be made possible. The platform is highly scalable and flexible. Even if you opt for a private cloud, OpenStack works as a great foundation for virtual machines, containers, etc. OpenStack is also extremely cost-effective and efficient.

Would you Like to Know More?

It’s exciting to learn about OpenStack, yes! VEXXHOST has an abundance of resources for you to learn more about OpenStack-powered cloud computing. You could also have a look at the various public cloud, private cloud offerings, and solutions.