Get started with OpenStack The OpenStack project is an open source cloud computing platform for all types of clouds, which aims to be simple to implement, massively scalable, and feature rich. Developers and cloud computing technologists from around the world create the OpenStack project. OpenStack provides an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution through a set of interrelated services. Each service offers an application programming interface (API) that facilitates this integration. Depending on your needs, you can install some or all services. The following table describes the OpenStack services that make up the OpenStack architecture:
OpenStack services
Service Project name Description
Dashboard Horizon Enables users to interact with OpenStack services to launch an instance, assign IP addresses, set access controls, and so on.
Compute Nova Provisions and manages large networks of virtual machines on demand.
Networking Neutron Enables network connectivity as a service among interface devices managed by other OpenStack services, usually Compute. Enables users to create and attach interfaces to networks. Has a pluggable architecture that supports many popular networking vendors and technologies.
Storage
Object Storage Swift Stores and gets files. Does not mount directories like a file server.
Block Storage Cinder Provides persistent block storage to guest virtual machines.
Shared services
Identity Service Keystone Provides authentication and authorization for the OpenStack services. Also provides a service catalog within a particular OpenStack cloud.
Image Service Glance Provides a registry of virtual machine images. Compute uses it to provision instances.
Metering/Monitoring Service Ceilometer Monitors and meters the OpenStack cloud for billing, benchmarking, scalability, and statistics purposes.
Higher-level services
Orchestration Service Heat Orchestrates multiple composite cloud applications by using either the native HOT template format or the AWS CloudFormation template format, through both an OpenStack-native REST API and a CloudFormation-compatible Query API.
OpenStack services This section describes OpenStack services in detail.
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