Book Image

Learning OpenStack Networking (Neutron)

By : James Denton
Book Image

Learning OpenStack Networking (Neutron)

By: James Denton

Overview of this book

OpenStack Neutron is an OpenStack component that provides networking as a service for other OpenStack services to architect networks and create virtual machines through its API. This API lets you define network connectivity in order to leverage network capabilities to cloud deployments. Through this practical book, you will build a strong foundational knowledge of Neutron, and will architect and build an OpenStack cloud using advanced networking features. We start with an introduction to OpenStack Neutron and its various components, including virtual switching, routing, FWaaS, VPNaaS, and LBaaS. You’ll also get hands-on by installing OpenStack and Neutron and its components, and use agents and plugins to orchestrate network connectivity and build a virtual switching infrastructure. Moving on, you’ll get to grips with the HA routing capabilities utilizing VRRP and distributed virtual routers in Neutron. You’ll also discover load balancing fundamentals, including the difference between nodes, pools, pool members, and virtual IPs. You’ll discover the purpose of security groups and learn how to apply the security concept to your cloud/tenant/instance. Finally, you' ll configure virtual private networks that will allow you to avoid the use of SNAT and floating IPs when connecting to remote networks.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Learning OpenStack Networking (Neutron) Second Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Summary


Load Balancing as a Service provides users with the ability to scale their application programmatically through the Neutron API. Users can balance traffic to pools consisting of multiple application servers and provide high availability of their application through the use of intelligent health monitors.

The reference plugin based on HAProxy offers a functionality that can address basic load balancing needs and may be enough for most environments. Major limitations found in version 1 of the LBaaS API, such as the inability to create multiple virtual servers using the same IP address and different layer 4 ports, the lack of SSL offloading support, and the lack of advanced layer 7 load balancing methods, are addressed by version 2 and integration with other OpenStack projects, such as Barbican.

In the next chapter, we will take a look at another advanced service provided by Neutron known as Firewall as a Service, which can be used to implement virtual firewalls at the edge of tenant...