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How Private Clouds are Deployed

Introduction​

This section details how your Private Cloud was deployed and provides supplemental information regarding your environment. OpenStack can be deployed in several different ways and this section highlights the characteristics of your Private Cloud. We also explain some of the advantages for this type of deployment and areas that are unique to OpenMetal.

Initial Deployment​

In OpenMetal, OpenStack is containerized through Docker using Kolla Ansible. This is done through an initial deployment container called FM-Deploy. FM-Deploy provides the initial setup changes during the provisioning process of your Private Cloud. The FM-Deploy Container is a necessary part of the current architecture of your Private Cloud. The FM-Deploy Container should remain running in your Private Cloud as it is used by our systems in the event you want to add or remove nodes from your cloud.

Containerization of OpenStack​

OpenMetal uses Kolla Ansible to set up Docker containers for all running services. Should you need to make any configuration changes to your nodes, Kolla Ansible should be used to push these changes. If Kolla Ansible is not used then there is a risk of these changes being reverted during any system updates.

Advantages of Containerization Through Docker​

  • Containers create an isolated environment reducing software dependencies
  • Containers can be scaled and allow for services to balance across your cluster
  • Containers provide increased flexibility for test releases, patches, and automation
  • Containers have a consistent and repeatable deployment and a shorter initialization time

Disk Storage and Ceph​

In OpenMetal, disk storage is provided through Ceph. Ceph is an object storage interface that can provide interfaces for multiple different storage types on a single cluster. In OpenMetal Ceph is comprised of two elements object storage and block storage:

Object Storage​

Ceph Object storage utilizes Ceph Object Storage Gateway daemon (RADOSGW). With OpenMetal clouds, Ceph's RGW replaces Swift so there is no Docker container for Swift. Instead, Swift endpoints are connected directly to the RGW. Authentication for RGW is handled through Keystone in /etc/ceph/ceph.conf.

Block Storage​

Ceph Block storage connects to the Cinder service utilizing Ceph's RADOS Block Device. Within your cloud, those objects are stored in Ceph pools. Ceph provides a layer of abstraction that allows objects to be recognized as blocks.

Advantages of using Ceph​

  • Data is self-healing and will redistribute data across your cluster in the event of power, hardware, or connectivity issues
  • Data is replicated and highly available
  • Ceph has the ability to run on commodity hardware and to mix hardware from different vendors