Architecture
- There are three areas to consider when selecting storage hardware:
+ Consider the following factors when selecting storage hardware:Cost
@@ -21,15 +21,15 @@
Reliability
- Storage-focused OpenStack clouds must reflect that the workloads are storage
- intensive. These workloads are not compute intensive, nor are
- they consistently network intensive. The network may be
+ Storage-focused OpenStack clouds must address I/O
+ intensive workloads. These workloads are not CPU intensive,
+ nor are they consistently network intensive. The network may be
heavily utilized to transfer storage, but they are not
otherwise network intensive.
- For a storage-focused OpenStack design architecture, the
- selection of storage hardware determines the overall
- performance and scalability of the design architecture. Several factors
- impact the design process:
+ The selection of storage hardware determines the overall
+ performance and scalability of a storage-focused OpenStack design
+ architecture.
+ Several factors impact the design process, including:Cost
@@ -57,50 +57,35 @@
that performs well as it expands.
-
- Expandability
-
- Expandability is the overall ability of the solution
- to grow. A storage solution that expands to 50 PB is
- more expandable than a solution that only scales to 10 PB.
-
- This meter is related to scalability.
-
-
-
-
- Latency is a key consideration in a
- storage-focused OpenStack cloud. Using solid-state disks
- (SSDs) to minimize latency for instance storage, and to reduce
- CPU delays caused by waiting for the storage, increases
- performance. We recommend evaluating the
- gains from using RAID controller cards in compute hosts to
- improve the performance of the underlying disk
- subsystem.
- The selection of storage architecture determines if a scale-out
- solution should be used or if a single, highly expandable and
- scalable centralized storage array would be a better choice.
- If a centralized storage array is the right fit for the requirements
- then the array vendor determines the hardware selection. It is possible
- to build a storage array using commodity hardware with Open Source
- software, but requires people with expertise to build such a system.
+ Latency is a key consideration in a storage-focused OpenStack cloud.
+ Using solid-state disks (SSDs) to minimize latency and, to reduce CPU
+ delays caused by waiting for the storage, increases performance. Use RAID
+ controller cards in compute hosts to improve the performance of the
+ underlying disk subsystem.
+ Depending on the storage architecture, you can adopt a scale-out
+ solution, or use a highly expandable and scalable centralized storage
+ array. If a centralized storage array is the right fit for
+ your requirements, then the array vendor determines the hardware
+ selection. It is possible to build a storage array using commodity
+ hardware with Open Source software, but requires people with expertise
+ to build such a system.On the other hand, a scale-out storage solution that
uses direct-attached storage (DAS) in the servers may be an
appropriate choice. This requires configuration of the server
hardware to support the storage solution.Considerations affecting storage architecture (and corresponding
- storage hardware) of a Storage-focused OpenStack cloud:
+ storage hardware) of a Storage-focused OpenStack cloud include:
ConnectivityBased on the selected storage solution, ensure the
connectivity matches the storage solution requirements.
- If selecting centralized storage array, determine how the
- hypervisors connect to the storage array.
- Connectivity can affect latency and thus performance.
- We recommended confirming that the network
+ For example, if you select a centralized storage array,
+ determine how the hypervisors connect to the storage
+ array. Connectivity can affect latency and thus
+ performance. We recommended confirming that the network
characteristics minimize latency to boost the
overall performance of the design.
@@ -116,7 +101,7 @@
ThroughputEnsure that the storage solution
- throughput is optimized based on application
+ throughput is optimized for your application
requirements.
@@ -133,8 +118,8 @@
Compute (server) hardware selection
- Evaluate Compute (server) hardware four
- opposing dimensions:
+ Four opposing factors determine the compute (server)
+ hardware selection:Server density
@@ -161,7 +146,7 @@
Cost
- The relative of the hardware weighted against
+ The relative cost of the hardware weighed against
the level of design effort needed to build the
system.
@@ -213,8 +198,8 @@
(ODMs) or second-tier manufacturers.
This may cause issues for organizations that have
- preferred vendor policies or concerns with support and hardware
- warranties of non-tier 1 vendors.
+ preferred vendor policies or concerns with support and
+ hardware warranties of non-tier 1 vendors.
@@ -235,8 +220,8 @@
Rack-mounted servers
that support multiple independent servers in a single
- 2U or 3U enclosure, "sled servers", deliver increased density as
- compared to a typical 1U-2U rack-mounted servers.
+ 2U or 3U enclosure, "sled servers", deliver increased
+ density as compared to a typical 1U-2U rack-mounted servers.
For example, many sled servers offer four independent
dual-socket nodes in 2U for a total of 8 CPU sockets
in 2U. However, the dual-socket limitation on
@@ -244,9 +229,9 @@
additional cost and configuration complexity.
- Other factors strongly influence server hardware
+ Other factors that influence server hardware
selection for a storage-focused OpenStack design
- architecture. The following is a list of these factors:
+ architecture include:Instance density
@@ -262,7 +247,7 @@
Host densityAnother option to address the higher
- host count is to use a quad socket platform. Taking
+ host count is to use a quad-socket platform. Taking
this approach decreases host density which also
increases rack count. This configuration affects the
number of power connections and also impacts network
@@ -282,10 +267,10 @@
Storage-focused OpenStack design architecture server
- hardware selection should focus on a "scale up" versus "scale
- out" solution. The determination of which is the best
- solution, a smaller number of larger hosts or a larger number of
- smaller hosts, depends on a combination of factors
+ hardware selection should focus on a "scale-up" versus
+ "scale-out" solution. The determination of which is the best
+ solution (a smaller number of larger hosts or a larger number of
+ smaller hosts), depends on a combination of factors
including cost, power, cooling, physical rack and floor space,
support-warranty, and manageability.
@@ -366,8 +351,8 @@
Software selection
- Selecting software for a storage-focused
- OpenStack architecture design includes three areas:
+ Factors that influence the software selection for a storage-focused
+ OpenStack architecture design include:Operating system (OS) and hypervisor
@@ -385,19 +370,20 @@
Operating system and hypervisor
- Selecting the OS and hypervisor has a significant impact
- on the overall design and also affects server hardware
- selection. Ensure that the selected operating system and
+ Operating system (OS) and hypervisor have a significant impact
+ on the overall design and also affect server hardware
+ selection. Ensure the selected operating system and
hypervisor combination support the storage hardware and work
with the networking hardware selection and topology.
For example, Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) requires
- support from both the OS and hypervisor.
- OS and hypervisor selection affect the following areas:
+ support from both the operating system and hypervisor.
+ Operating system and hypervisor selection affect the following
+ areas:Cost
- Selection of a commercially supported
+ Selecting a commercially supported
hypervisor, such as Microsoft Hyper-V, results in
a different cost model than a
community-supported open source hypervisor like
@@ -434,7 +420,7 @@
Scale and performance
- Ensure that the selected OS
+ Ensure the selected OS
and hypervisor combination meet the appropriate scale
and performance requirements needed for this storage
focused OpenStack cloud. The chosen architecture must
@@ -445,7 +431,7 @@
Security
- Ensure that the design can accommodate
+ Ensure the design can accommodate
the regular periodic installation of application
security patches while maintaining the required
workloads. The frequency of security patches for the
@@ -457,19 +443,17 @@
Supported features
- Determine the required features of
- OpenStack. This often determines the
- selection of the OS-hypervisor combination. Certain
- features are only available with specific OSes or
- hypervisors. For example, if certain features are not
- available, you might need to modify the design to
- meet user requirements.
+ Selecting the OS-hypervisor combination often determines
+ the required features of OpenStack. Certain features are only
+ available with specific OSes or hypervisors. For example,
+ if certain features are not available, you might need to modify
+ the design to meet user requirements.Interoperability
- Any chosen OS/hypervisor combination should be chosen
+ The OS-hypervisor combination should be chosen
based on the interoperability with one another, and other
OS-hyervisor combinations. Operational and troubleshooting
tools for one OS-hypervisor combination may differ
@@ -484,19 +468,19 @@
OpenStack components
- Which OpenStack components you choose can have a significant
+ The OpenStack components you choose can have a significant
impact on the overall design. While there are certain
- components that are always present, Compute and Image service, for
- example, there are other services that may not need to be
- present. As an example, a certain design may not require
- the Orchestration module. Omitting Orchestration would not typically have a
- significant impact on the overall design, however, if the
- architecture uses a replacement for OpenStack Object Storage for its
- storage component, this could potentially have significant
- impacts on the rest of the design.
+ components that are always present
+ (Compute and Image service, for example), there are other services
+ that may not be required. As an example, a certain design
+ may not require the Orchestration module. Omitting Orchestration would
+ not typically have a significant impact on the overall design,
+ however, if the architecture uses a replacement for OpenStack Object
+ Storage for its storage component, this could potentially have
+ significant impacts on the rest of the design.A storage-focused design might require the ability to use
- Orchestration to launch instances with Block Storage volumes to perform
- storage-intensive processing.
+ Orchestration to launch instances with Block Storage volumes to
+ perform storage-intensive processing.A storage-focused OpenStack design architecture typically uses the
following components:
@@ -507,11 +491,12 @@
OpenStack dashboard (horizon)
- OpenStack Compute (nova) (including the use of multiple hypervisor
- drivers)
+ OpenStack Compute (nova) (including the use of multiple
+ hypervisor drivers)
- OpenStack Object Storage (swift) (or another object storage solution)
+ OpenStack Object Storage (swift) (or another object
+ storage solution)OpenStack Block Storage (cinder)
@@ -520,7 +505,8 @@
OpenStack Image service (glance)
- OpenStack Networking (neutron) or legacy networking (nova-network)
+ OpenStack Networking (neutron) or legacy networking
+ (nova-network)Excluding certain OpenStack components may limit or
@@ -547,7 +533,7 @@
services for instances. There are many additional networking
software packages that may be useful to manage the OpenStack
components themselves. Some examples include HAProxy,
- keepalived, and various routing daemons (like Quagga). The
+ Keepalived, and various routing daemons (like Quagga). The
OpenStack High Availability Guide describes
some of these software packages, HAProxy in particular. See the Network