OpenStack Networking offers the ability to leverage the different technologies found in a data center in a virtualized and programmable manner. If the built-in features are not enough, the plugin architecture of OpenStack Networking allows for additional functionality to be provided by third parties, whether it be a commercial entity or the open source community. The security requirements of the enterprise building the cloud, as well as the use cases of the cloud, will ultimately dictate the physical layout and separation of services across the infrastructure nodes.

Throughout this book, you will learn how to build a functional OpenStack cloud utilizing advanced networking features available in the Havana release. In the next chapter, you will be guided through a package-based installation of OpenStack on the CentOS operating system. Topics covered include the installation, configuration, and verification of database, messaging, and OpenStack Identity, Image, Compute, and Dashboard services. The installation and configuration of OpenStack Networking services can be found in Chapter 3, Installing Neutron.