For a functional environment, OpenStack doesn't require a significant amount of resources. We recommend that your environment meets or exceeds the following minimum requirements which can support several minimal CirrOS instances: Controller Node: 1 processor, 2 GB memory, and 5 GB storage Network Node: 1 processor, 512 MB memory, and 5 GB storage Compute Node: 1 processor, 2 GB memory, and 10 GB storage To minimize clutter and provide more resources for OpenStack, we recommend a minimal installation of your Linux distribution. Also, we strongly recommend that you install a 64-bit version of your distribution on at least the compute node. If you install a 32-bit version of your distribution on the compute node, attempting to start an instance using a 64-bit image will fail. A single disk partition on each node works for most basic installations. However, you should consider Logical Volume Manager (LVM) for installations with optional services such as Block Storage. Many users build their test environments on virtual machines (VMs). The primary benefits of VMs include the following: One physical server can support multiple nodes, each with almost any number of network interfaces. Ability to take periodic "snap shots" throughout the installation process and "roll back" to a working configuration in the event of a problem. However, VMs will reduce performance of your instances, particularly if your hypervisor and/or processor lacks support for hardware acceleration of nested VMs. If you choose to install on VMs, make sure your hypervisor permits promiscuous mode on the external network. For more information about system requirements, see the OpenStack Operations Guide.