Why and how we wrote this bookThe velocity at which OpenStack environments are moving from
proof-of-concepts to production deployments is leading to
increasing questions and issues related to architecture design
considerations. By and large these considerations are not
addressed in the existing documentation, which typically
focuses on the specifics of deployment and configuration
options or operational considerations, rather than the bigger
picture.We wrote this book to guide readers in designing an
OpenStack architecture that meets the needs of their
organization. This guide concentrates on identifying important
design considerations for common cloud use cases and provides
examples based on these design guidelines. This guide does not
aim to provide explicit instructions for installing and
configuring the cloud, but rather focuses on design principles
as they relate to user requirements as well as technical and
operational considerations. For specific guidance with
installation and configuration there are a number of resources
already available in the OpenStack documentation that help in
that area.This book was written in a book sprint format, which is a
facilitated, rapid development production method for books.
For more information, see the Book Sprints website
(www.booksprints.net).This book was written in five days during July 2014 while
exhausting the M&M, Mountain Dew and healthy options
supply, complete with juggling entertainment during lunches at
VMware's headquarters in Palo Alto. The event was also
documented on Twitter using the #OpenStackDesign hashtag. The
Book Sprint was facilitated by Faith Bosworth and Adam
Hyde.We would like to thank VMware for their generous
hospitality, as well as our employers, Cisco, Cloudscaling,
Comcast, EMC, Mirantis, Rackspace, Red Hat, Verizon, and
VMware, for enabling us to contribute our time. We would
especially like to thank Anne Gentle and Kenneth Hui for all
of their shepherding and organization in making this
happen.The author team includes:Kenneth Hui (EMC)
@hui_kennethAlexandra Settle (Rackspace)
@dewsdayAnthony Veiga (Comcast)
@daaelarBeth Cohen (Verizon)
@bfcohenKevin Jackson (Rackspace)
@itarchitectkevMaish Saidel-Keesing (Cisco)
@maishskNick Chase (Mirantis)
@NickChaseScott Lowe (VMware)
@scott_loweSean Collins (Comcast)
@sc68calSean Winn (Cloudscaling)
@seanmwinnSebastian Gutierrez (Red Hat)
@gutsebStephen Gordon (Red Hat)
@xsgordonVinny Valdez (Red Hat)
@VinnyValdez