What is OpenStack?
OpenStack is the world's most widely deployed open-source cloud infrastructure platform. Originally launched in 2010 as a joint project between Rackspace and NASA, OpenStack has evolved into a massive collaborative effort supported by thousands of developers and hundreds of companies worldwide.
At its core, OpenStack is a collection of software tools for building and managing cloud computing platforms for public and private clouds. It provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) through a set of interrelated services that control pools of compute, storage, and networking resources throughout a datacenter—all managed and provisioned through APIs with common authentication mechanisms.
Why OpenStack?
- Avoid Vendor Lock-in: Open-source foundation means you're not tied to proprietary cloud providers
- Cost-Effective: No licensing fees—invest in hardware and expertise instead of vendor contracts
- Full Control: Complete ownership and control over your infrastructure, data, and policies
- Massive Scale: Powers clouds serving millions of users and managing exabytes of data
- Flexibility: Choose your own hardware, networking gear, and storage solutions
- Active Community: Thousands of contributors, regular releases, and extensive documentation
- Enterprise Support: Commercial support available from Red Hat, Canonical, SUSE, and others
Core Capabilities
Compute (Nova)
Launch and manage thousands of virtual machine instances on demand. Supports multiple hypervisors including KVM, VMware, Hyper-V, and Xen.
Storage (Swift & Cinder)
Object storage for unstructured data (Swift) and block storage for VMs (Cinder). Highly scalable and fault-tolerant.
Networking (Neutron)
Software-defined networking providing network connectivity as a service. Create networks, subnets, routers, firewalls, and load balancers.
Identity (Keystone)
Centralized authentication and authorization for all OpenStack services. Supports LDAP, OAuth, SAML, and more.
Image Service (Glance)
Discover, register, and retrieve virtual machine images. Supports various formats including QCOW2, VMDK, VHD, and RAW.
Dashboard (Horizon)
Web-based interface for managing OpenStack resources. Provides self-service portal for end users and administrators.
Use Cases & Applications
1. Private Cloud Infrastructure
Deploy your own AWS-equivalent infrastructure within your datacenter. Provide self-service cloud resources to development teams, business units, or customers while maintaining complete control over security, compliance, and data sovereignty.
- Regulatory compliance requiring on-premises data
- Sensitive workloads requiring physical isolation
- Custom hardware requirements
- Predictable, controlled costs at scale
2. Public Cloud Services
Hundreds of service providers worldwide use OpenStack to offer public cloud services. Notable examples include OVHcloud, Rackspace, and numerous regional providers competing with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
3. Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Orchestration
Bridge on-premises infrastructure with public clouds. Use OpenStack as your private cloud foundation while integrating with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud for burst capacity, disaster recovery, or specialized services.
4. Telecommunications & Edge Computing
Telecom operators use OpenStack for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), running virtual network functions at scale. Edge computing deployments leverage OpenStack's distributed architecture.
5. Research & Scientific Computing
Universities and research institutions deploy OpenStack for high-performance computing, big data analytics, and providing cloud resources to researchers. Notable deployments include CERN, NASA, and numerous academic institutions.
6. Development & Testing Environments
Rapidly provision isolated environments for developers, QA teams, and CI/CD pipelines. Create snapshots, clone environments, and tear down resources as needed.
Key Features
Multi-Tenancy & Isolation
Complete isolation between projects (tenants) with dedicated networking, storage, and compute resources. Fine-grained role-based access control (RBAC) and quota management.
API-Driven Architecture
Everything in OpenStack is controlled via RESTful APIs. Automate infrastructure provisioning, integrate with CI/CD pipelines, and build custom management tools.
Scalability
Proven to scale from small deployments (handful of servers) to massive installations managing hundreds of thousands of compute cores and petabytes of storage.
High Availability
Built-in redundancy for control plane services. Support for live migration, evacuation, and automatic recovery. Deploy across multiple availability zones for fault tolerance.
Who Uses OpenStack?
OpenStack powers infrastructure for diverse organizations across industries:
- Technology: CERN (particle physics), Bloomberg (financial data), Walmart (e-commerce)
- Telecommunications: AT&T, Verizon, China Mobile (NFV and core infrastructure)
- Cloud Providers: OVHcloud, Rackspace, DreamHost, and 100+ regional providers
- Government: NASA, NSA, UK Government Digital Service, China Railway
- Finance: PayPal, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Börse (regulated workloads)
- Entertainment: DreamWorks, Disney, Sony (rendering farms)
- Academia: MIT, Stanford, University of Cambridge (research computing)
OpenStack vs. Alternatives
| Aspect | OpenStack | VMware vSphere | Public Cloud (AWS/Azure) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing | Open-source, no fees | Expensive per-socket/CPU | Pay-per-use |
| Control | Full ownership | Limited by vendor | Provider-controlled |
| Data Sovereignty | Complete control | On-premises option | Provider regions |
| Customization | Highly flexible | Vendor ecosystem | Limited |
| Scale Economics | CapEx, fixed costs | High CapEx + OpEx | OpEx, variable costs |
| Complexity | High learning curve | Moderate | Low (managed service) |
Getting Started
OpenStack is modular—you can start small and expand. A minimal deployment requires only Nova (compute), Neutron (networking), and Keystone (authentication). Add storage, dashboard, and other services as needed.
Important Considerations
- Expertise Required: OpenStack is complex. Budget for training or experienced staff.
- Hardware Investment: Minimum 3-5 servers recommended for production high availability.
- Operational Overhead: You're responsible for upgrades, patching, and maintenance.
- Network Design: Proper network architecture is critical for performance and security.
- Planning: Invest time in architecture design before deployment—migrations are difficult.
Explore the other sections of this guide to learn about OpenStack's architecture, individual services, command-line operations, and deployment strategies.