Deployment Models in OpenStack

Pre-requisite: OpenStack

OpenStack has a set of software tools for providing various cloud computing platforms for public and private clouds. OpenStack is managed by the OpenStack Foundation, a non-profit that oversees both development and community-building around that project. OpenStack is the future of cloud computing backed by some of the biggest companies.

The deployment models of OpenStack are as follows: 

1. On-Premises Distribution
2. OpenStack-Based Public Cloud
3. Hosted OpenStack Private Cloud
4. OpenStack-As-A-Service
5. Application Based OpenStack

On-Premises Distribution:

An OpenStack distribution is downloaded and installed by a customer in this model on their internal network. It is implemented in a do-it-yourself (DIY) manner using Homebrew or utilizing a particular vendor’s OpenStack distribution. Here the data center lies in the company(on-premise). They are your servers and then you can lay out a layer of OpenStack on top of your data centers.

Advantages:

• Security: Your data cannot go beyond the network perimeter.
• Customizable: OpenStack can be customized to suit an organization’s requirements.
• Hardware independence: We can utilize hardware from various Cloud vendors

Disadvantages:

• High operational costs: There are high costs associated with activities like configuring, monitoring, backing up, and upgrading OpenStack, which is aggravated by the cost associated with the limited skilled OpenStack staff available on the market.
• Time to value: Homebrew projects are prone to stall due to technical challenges and a lack of skilled staff; implementation with a vendor-supported distribution has the same challenges, but a packaged distribution can help somewhat.
• Creates pits: Having different OpenStack deployments across multiple parts of the world can create infrastructure pits. It’s possible but challenging to avoid this model, and there is the likelihood of creating redundancy and complexity that is difficult to manage.

Open Stack-Based Public Cloud:

A vendor offers an OpenStack-based public cloud computing solution. The Cloud provider is responsible for creating the Cloud infrastructure and laying out all the services that are needed. The data and everything are stored on the provider’s server. Example: AWS.

Hosted OpenStack Private Cloud:

A vendor hosts an OpenStack-based private cloud including the underlying hardware and the OpenStack software. If you have some sensitive data that we cannot trust to store in other people’s servers, we can ask your cloud vendor to lay out all the services in your internal network on our hardware. So the data of the Cloud infrastructure will be handled by the user.

Advantages:

• Time to value: Quick and convenient to deploy. 
• Operational risk: This model saves organizations from the operational complexity of OpenStack.

Disadvantages:

• Hardware dependence: The service provider’s choice of hardware dictates the hardware on which your private cloud will run.
• Creates silos: Existing infrastructure might be unused, leading to fragmentation and redundancy.
• Security: Workload data leaves your network perimeter so organizations depend on the service provider to build a secure and operational OpenStack.
• Lock-in: There is 100% vendor lock-in with this model. 

OpenStack-As-A-Service:

A vendor hosts OpenStack management software as a service and customers use the software service. The Cloud provider will install OpenStack in their system. They will have all the services laid out in their own Cloud and if we want to avail of the services, we will have to ask for the service from the Cloud vendor. A typical vendor for this model is Platform 9.

Advantages:

• Set up in minutes: IT team members can build an OpenStack private cloud in minutes.
• Eliminates silos: Platform9 provides a single pane of glass across geographies and different virtualization platforms.
• Secure: No workload data leaves the user’s network perimeter.
• Greenfield and brownfield: Works smoothly with the current and new infrastructure
• Vendor independence: Since customers own the hardware and data, they are not locked into the OpenStack provider.
• Low operational risk: A guaranteed SLA removes the operational risk for the OpenStack control plane.

Disadvantages:

• HTTPS access: This model requires outbound, secure HTTPS access from the organization’s servers to the Platform9 OpenStack controller.

Application-Based OpenStack:

Appliances are software that does not require an operating system to run. Nebula, the vendor sold appliances that could be filled into a network that produced an OpenStack deployment.