What this book covers

Chapter 1, Preparing the Network for OpenStack, will provide an introduction to OpenStack Networking that includes a description of the different supported networking technologies, and it will explain how to architect the physical network to support an OpenStack cloud.

Chapter 2, Installing OpenStack, will cover how to install the base components of the Havana release of OpenStack on the CentOS 6.5 operating system.

Chapter 3, Installing Neutron, will explain how to install the Neutron networking components of OpenStack and will help us to understand the internal architecture of Neutron, including the use of agents and plugins to orchestrate network connectivity.

Chapter 4, Building a Virtual Switching Infrastructure, will help us to install and configure the LinuxBridge plugin for Neutron to provide layer 2 connectivity to instances. We will also cover the architectural differences between the LinuxBridge and Open vSwitch plugins and how they connect instances to the network.

Chapter 5, Creating Networks with Neutron, will create networks and subnets in Neutron, boot and attach instances to networks, and explore the process of obtaining DHCP leases and metadata.

Chapter 6, Creating Routers with Neutron, will create Neutron routers and attach them to networks, follow traffic from an instance through a router, and explore the process of applying floating IPs to instances.

Chapter 7, Load Balancing Traffic in Neutron, will explore the fundamental components of a load balancer in Neutron, including virtual IPs, pools, pool members, and monitors. It will also help us to create and integrate a load balancer into the network.

Chapter 8, Protecting Instances on the Network, will cover the creation and management of security-group rules to secure instance traffic. In addition, it will help us create and integrate a firewall into the network using the firewall-as-a-service API.

Appendix A, Additional Neutron Commands, will briefly cover additional Neutron functionality that is outside the scope of this book. It will also acquaint us with VPN-as-a-service, Cisco 1000V integration, and VMWare/Nicera integration.

Appendix B, ML2 Configuration, will briefly cover the configuration of the ML2 plugin as a replacement for the deprecated LinuxBridge and Open Switch plugins.