Difference between revisions of "QuantumAPISpec"

Revision as of 16:00, 12 May 2011

~+Placeholder for Quantum API Spec page

Introduction

This document constitutes a first attempt in defining an API for the Quantum service. The operation list cannot be deemed complete, and formats for request and response messages have not yet been defined. Moreover, authentication, authorization, and extension mechanisms, as well as the URL structure, are not defined in this document.

Since Quantum provides “network connectivity as a service”, this API defines Layer-2 operations only. This document also proposes operations for bridging Quantum networks with external networks, such as a customer-managed network in an on-premise data centre; however, use cases in this area (bridging and federation) should be explored better.

We first introduce the operation list, and then discuss how these operations can be used to accomplish some common use cases.

Glossary

Network

Plugin

Software component providing actual implementation for Quantum APIs.

VIF Virtual InterFace, also known as virtual NIC or virtual Network Interface. Attachment Resource plugged into a port of a virtual Layer-2 network. Logical Port A port on the virtual network switch represented by a virtual Layer-2 network

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 {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
-|  Network
+| Network
-|  A virtual network providing basic connectivity only, i.e.: collection of virtual ports sharing network connectivity. In the Quantum terminology, a network is always a Layer-2 network.
 |}