Deep dive into the main OpenStack components part 2

Deep dive into the main OpenStack components part 2

Welcome to part two of our series on the main components of OpenStack. Last week we posted a blog about the deep dive main OpenStack components, part 1. This week we bring you the deepdive into the main OpenStack components part 2. Haven’t read deep dive into the main OpenStack components part 1 yet? You can read it through the following link: https://fairbanks.nl/openstack-nova-neutron-and-cinder/

As you probably already know, OpenStack is a collection of open-source software tools that enable users to build and manage private and public clouds. In part one, we provided an overview of the main OpenStack components, including OpenStack Nova, OpenStack Neutron, and OpenStack Cinder.

In this second part, we will dive deeper into some remaining main components of OpenStack, including OpenStack Swift, OpenStack Keystone, and OpenStack Horizon. We will explore each component in detail, discussing its features, use cases, and how it fits into the broader OpenStack architecture.

Whether you are new to OpenStack or an experienced user, this blog will provide valuable insights into the key components of the platform. By the end of this blog, you will have a better understanding of how each component works, and how they can be used to build and manage robust, scalable, and highly available cloud infrastructure. So, let’s dive in!

OpenStack component Swift

OpenStack Swift is a distributed, highly available, and fault-tolerant object storage system designed to store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data. 

Swift uses a distributed architecture, which means that data is stored across multiple servers or nodes. This provides several benefits, including improved scalability, fault tolerance, and performance. Data is replicated across nodes, which means that if one node fails, data can be retrieved from another node in the cluster.

It uses an object-based storage model, where data is stored as objects rather than files or blocks. Each object is assigned a unique identifier, known as a globally unique identifier (GUID), which is used to access and retrieve the object. Objects can be of any size, from small files to large media files.

The solution provides a RESTful API, which enables developers to easily access and manipulate data stored in the system. The API supports several HTTP methods, including GET, PUT, POST, DELETE, and HEAD, which can be used to perform operations such as creating containers, uploading and downloading objects, and listing objects in a container.

One of the key features of Swift is its support for data locality. This means that data can be stored in the same data center as the applications that use it, which can improve performance and reduce network latency. Swift also supports multiple data centers, which enables users to replicate data across different geographic locations for disaster recovery and business continuity.

Swift provides several tools for managing data, including a web-based graphical user interface (GUI), a command-line interface (CLI), and a set of APIs for programmatically managing data. The system also provides several features for managing data, including versioning, encryption, compression, and metadata.

OpenStack component Keystone

OpenStack Keystone is an open source, identity service that provides authentication and authorization services for the OpenStack cloud computing platform. It is a central component of the OpenStack architecture, and it provides a central directory of users, services, and endpoints that can be used to manage access to OpenStack resources.

Keystone is designed to support a wide range of authentication methods, including username/password, token-based authentication, and third-party identity providers such as LDAP or Active Directory. It uses a pluggable authentication model, which means that it can be extended to support additional authentication methods as needed.

It also supports a role-based access control (RBAC) model, where access to resources is based on the user’s role within the system. Roles can be assigned to individual users or groups of users, and can be scoped to specific projects or domains. Keystone also provides support for multi-tenancy, which enables users to manage resources across multiple projects or domains.

The solution provides a RESTful API that enables developers to programmatically manage users, roles, services, and endpoints within the system. The API supports several HTTP methods, including GET, PUT, POST, DELETE, and HEAD. Developers can use the API to integrate Keystone with other OpenStack services, such as Nova (compute), Glance (image), and Swift (object storage).

Keystone also provides a web-based graphical user interface (GUI), which enables cloud administrators to manage users, roles, services, and endpoints through a web browser. The GUI provides a centralized management interface for cloud administrators, making it easy to manage access to OpenStack resources.

Keystone is integrated with other OpenStack services through a service catalog, which provides a directory of services and endpoints that can be used to access OpenStack resources. The service catalog is managed by Keystone, and it provides a central point of access for all OpenStack services.

OpenStack component Horizon

OpenStack Horizon is an open source web-based dashboard that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing OpenStack services.

Horizon provides a unified interface for managing OpenStack services, including compute, storage, networking, and identity. It allows users to manage virtual machines, storage volumes, networks, security groups, and users, among other resources, through a web browser. This makes it easier for administrators and end-users to manage OpenStack resources, without requiring knowledge of the command-line interface (CLI).

Horizon is designed to be highly customizable, with a modular architecture that enables developers to easily add or remove functionality. It is also designed to be extensible, with a plugin architecture that enables developers to create new dashboard panels or extend existing ones.

It is integrated with other OpenStack services through a set of APIs, which enables it to provide a unified view of OpenStack resources. It provides support for multiple OpenStack projects, which enables users to manage resources across different OpenStack projects or domains.

The solution provides several features for managing OpenStack resources, including role-based access control (RBAC), which enables administrators to control access to OpenStack resources based on the user’s role within the system. It also provides a project-based access control (PBAC) model, which enables administrators to control access to OpenStack resources based on the user’s project or domain.

Remaining OpenStack components

Next week we will post part 3 of this blog series, which is also the final part: Deep dive into the main OpenStack components part 3. Stay tuned to read that one as well and if you have any questions or comments regarding this blog, feel free to leave a comment or contact Michiel via m.manten@fairbanks.nl .

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