fuel-library/docs/pages/reference-architecture/0060-quantum-vs-nova-network.rst

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Quantum vs. nova-network

Quantum is a service which provides networking-as-a-service functionality in OpenStack. It has a rich tenant-facing API for defining network connectivity and addressing in the cloud, and gives operators the ability to leverage different networking technologies to power their cloud networking.

There are various deployment use cases for Quantum. Fuel supports the most common of them, called Provider Router with Private Networks. It provides each tenant with one or more private networks, which can communicate with the outside world via a Quantum router.

Quantum is not, however, required in order to run an OpenStack cluster; if you don't need (or want) this added functionality, it's perfectly acceptable to continue using nova-network.

In order to deploy Quantum, you need to enable it in the Fuel configuration. Fuel will then set up an additional node in the OpenStack installation to act as an L3 router, or, depending on the configuration options you've chosen, install Quantum on the controllers.