2.9. Technology Previews

OpenStack Compute includes the concept of Cells, provided by the nova-cells package, for dividing computing resources. For more information about Cells, see the Schedule Hosts and Cells.

Alternatively, Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform also provides fully supported methods for dividing compute resources in Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform; namely, Regions, Availability Zones, and Host Aggregates. For more information, see Manage Host Aggregates.

OpenStack Database-as-a-Service allows users to easily provision single-tenant databases within OpenStack Compute instances. The Database-as-a-Service framework allows users to bypass much of the traditional administrative overhead involved in deploying, using, managing, monitoring, and scaling databases.

Distributed Virtual Routing (DVR) allows you to place L3 Routers directly on Compute nodes. As a result, instance traffic is directed between the Compute nodes (East-West) without first requiring routing through a Network node. Instances without floating IP addresses still route SNAT traffic through the Network node.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 7 includes a Technology Preview of DNS-as-a-Service (DNSaaS), also known as Designate. DNSaaS includes a REST API for domain and record management, is multi-tenanted, and integrates with OpenStack Identity Service (keystone) for authentication. DNSaaS includes a framework for integration with Compute (nova) and OpenStack Networking (neutron) notifications, allowing auto-generated DNS records. In addition, DNSaaS includes integration support for PowerDNS and Bind9.

As a technology preview, the Object Storage service now includes an EC storage policy type for devices with massive amounts of data that are infrequently accessed. The EC storage policy uses its own ring and configurable set of parameters designed to maintain data availability while reducing cost and storage requirements (by requiring about half of the capacity of triple-replication). Because EC requires more CPU and network resources, implementing EC as a policy allows you to isolate all the storage devices associated with your cluster's EC capability.

The OpenStack File Share Service provides a seamless and easy way to provision and manage shared file systems in OpenStack. These shared file systems can then be used (mounted) securely to instances. The File Share Service also allows for robust administration of provisioned shares, providing the means to set quotas, configure access, create snapshots, and perform other useful admin tasks.

The OpenStack File Share Service is based on the upstream Manila project. Red Hat provides articles on deploying and testing the OpenStack File Share Service, based on the following scenarios:

Each article also contains a list of known issues relevant to the driver used for each scenario.

The Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) plug-in adds perimeter firewall management to OpenStack Networking (neutron). FWaaS uses iptables to apply firewall policy to all virtual routers within a project, and supports one firewall policy and logical firewall instance per project. FWaaS operates at the perimeter by filtering traffic at the OpenStack Networking (neutron) router. This distinguishes it from security groups, which operate at the instance level.

New logging and monitoring tools which facilitate troubleshooting are now available. With a centralized, easy-to-use analytics and search dashboard, troubleshooting has been simplified, and features such as service availability checking, threshold alarm management, and collecting and presenting data using graphs have been added.

Time Series Database-as-a-Service (based on the upstream Gnocchi project) allows you to define, store, and aggregate metrics in a more robust manner. It addresses many of the scalability and performance issues that arise when attempting to use Telemetry alone for performing monitoring, billing, and alarming in large enterprise environments.

VPN-as-a-Service allows you to create and manage VPN connections in OpenStack.