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Difference between revisions of "XenServer/XenAndXenServer"

(talk)
 
(make this comparison page sit under XenServer for now)
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__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
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=Using Xen with [[OpenStack]]=
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<!-- ## page was renamed from XenXCPAndXenServer -->
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<<[[TableOfContents]]()>>
  
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There are several ways to use the Xen hypervisor with [[OpenStack]]:
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= Using Xen, XCP and [[XenServer]] with [[OpenStack]] =
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* Use [http://xen.org Xen] directly through lib virt
 
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* Use [http://www.citrix.com/XenServer XenServer] or [http://xen.org/products/cloudxen.html Xen Cloud Platform (XCP)] to manage Xen using xenapi
 
  
 
Xen and/or [[XenServer]] power some of the worlds largest clouds, including Amazon and Rackspace.
 
Xen and/or [[XenServer]] power some of the worlds largest clouds, including Amazon and Rackspace.
 +
 +
There are several ways to use the Xen hypervisor with [[OpenStack]]:
 +
* Use [http://xen.org Xen] directly through libvirt
 +
* Use [http://www.citrix.com/XenServer XenServer] or [http://xen.org/products/cloudxen.html Xen Cloud Platform (XCP)] to manage Xen using xapi/XenAPI
 +
* Convert your Debian/Ubuntu or [[RedHat]]/Fedora/CentOS box into an XCP Domain0 using Project Kronos, then use xapi as above
  
 
Please note:
 
Please note:
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* Xen is the Hypervisor
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* Xen is a hypervisor (see: http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhatisXen.pdf)
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* [[XenServer]] is a commercial product, supported by Citrix
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* [http://www.citrix.com/XenServer XenServer] is a commercial product, supported by [http://www.citrix.com Citrix]
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* XCP is an [[OpenSource]] version of [[XenServer]]
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* XCP is an [[OpenSource]] version of [[XenServer]] (see: http://xen.org/products/cloudxen.html)
 
* [[XenServer]] and XCP include Xen, but also include a Dom0 VM that includes lots of management tools, including xenapi
 
* [[XenServer]] and XCP include Xen, but also include a Dom0 VM that includes lots of management tools, including xenapi
 +
* Kronos is an XCP project to make xenapi and other core parts of XCP available via apt-get on Debian and Ubuntu
 +
 +
= [[XenServer]] Deployments =
 +
 +
When deploy [[OpenStack]] on [[XenServer]] you will get something similar to this:
 +
 +
[[Image:XenServer$$XenXCPAndXenServer$DevStackDiagram.png]]
 +
 +
Key things to note:
 +
* The hypervisor: Xen
 +
* Domain0 control VM: runs xapi/XenAPI and is provided by [[XenServer]] or XCP (or yourself using Kronos)
 +
* The nova code runs in a Para-virtulized virtual machine, running on the hyper visor it is wanting to manage
 +
* Nova uses xapi python bindings to talk to the hypervisor, and it uses a host local network, called the Guest Installer Network, that has a DHCP server
 +
 +
Some notes on the networking:
 +
* The above diagram assume FlatDHCP networking (the [[DevStack]] default)
 +
* There are three main [[OpenStack]] networks: Management traffic (Rabbit, MySQL, etc), Guest network traffic (controlled by nova-network) and Public traffic (floating ips, public api end points)
 +
* Above we show how you can use VLANs to reduce the required number of network cards on the server, in this case running the instance traffic on a VLAN when exiting the [[XenServer]] machine.
 +
 +
== [[XenServer]] pools ==
 +
 +
Before 2012.1, all [[XenServer]] machines used with [[OpenStack]] are deployments are standalone machines, usually only using local storage.
 +
 +
However in 2012.1 and later, the [[host-aggregates]] feature allows you to create pools of [[XenServer]] hosts (configuring shared storage is still an out of band activity). This move will enable live migration when using shared storage.
 +
 +
= Getting started with [[XenServer]] and [[OpenStack]] =
 +
 +
To get started working with [[XenServer]], use [http://devstack.org DevStack]. You will need to:
 +
* [[XenServer/Install|Install XenServer]] (get started by registering and downloading the latest free edition of [[XenServer]])
 +
* Get another machine (probably best with Ubuntu 11.10) with enough disk space to build [[DevStack]] VM images
 +
* Then follow the [[XenServer/DevStack|DevStack [[XenServer]] readme]]
 +
 +
== Further Reading ==
  
−
For more details see:  
+
Users have created some docs on getting started with XCP and [[OpenStack]]:
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* http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhatisXen.pdf
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* http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/XCP_OpenStack
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* http://xen.org/products/cloudxen.html
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* http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/XCP_DevStack
  
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==Getting started Developing with [[XenServer]]==
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= Xen and libvirt =
  
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To get stated developing with [[XenServer]]:
+
It may possible to talk directly to Xen using libvirt.
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* Install [http://www.citrix.com/XenServer XenServer] (get started by registering and downloading the free edition on [[XenServer]])
 
−
* Get another machine (probably best with Ubuntu 11.10) on which you can build [[DevStack]] VM images
 
−
* Follow the [[DevStack]] [[XenServer]] readme: https://github.com/openstack-dev/devstack/blob/master/tools/xen/README.md
 
  
−
For more details see:
+
However, it is easiest to get started using [[XenServer]] or XCP, because this approach is better tested and documented.
−
http://wiki.openstack.org/XenServerDevelopment
 

Revision as of 15:13, 12 March 2012

<<TableOfContents()>>

Using Xen, XCP and XenServer with OpenStack

Xen and/or XenServer power some of the worlds largest clouds, including Amazon and Rackspace.

There are several ways to use the Xen hypervisor with OpenStack:

  • Use Xen directly through libvirt
  • Use XenServer or Xen Cloud Platform (XCP) to manage Xen using xapi/XenAPI
  • Convert your Debian/Ubuntu or RedHat/Fedora/CentOS box into an XCP Domain0 using Project Kronos, then use xapi as above

Please note:

XenServer Deployments

When deploy OpenStack on XenServer you will get something similar to this:

File:XenServer$$XenXCPAndXenServer$DevStackDiagram.png

Key things to note:

  • The hypervisor: Xen
  • Domain0 control VM: runs xapi/XenAPI and is provided by XenServer or XCP (or yourself using Kronos)
  • The nova code runs in a Para-virtulized virtual machine, running on the hyper visor it is wanting to manage
  • Nova uses xapi python bindings to talk to the hypervisor, and it uses a host local network, called the Guest Installer Network, that has a DHCP server

Some notes on the networking:

  • The above diagram assume FlatDHCP networking (the DevStack default)
  • There are three main OpenStack networks: Management traffic (Rabbit, MySQL, etc), Guest network traffic (controlled by nova-network) and Public traffic (floating ips, public api end points)
  • Above we show how you can use VLANs to reduce the required number of network cards on the server, in this case running the instance traffic on a VLAN when exiting the XenServer machine.

XenServer pools

Before 2012.1, all XenServer machines used with OpenStack are deployments are standalone machines, usually only using local storage.

However in 2012.1 and later, the host-aggregates feature allows you to create pools of XenServer hosts (configuring shared storage is still an out of band activity). This move will enable live migration when using shared storage.

Getting started with XenServer and OpenStack

To get started working with XenServer, use DevStack. You will need to:

  • Install XenServer (get started by registering and downloading the latest free edition of XenServer)
  • Get another machine (probably best with Ubuntu 11.10) with enough disk space to build DevStack VM images
  • Then follow the [[XenServer/DevStack|DevStack XenServer readme]]

Further Reading

Users have created some docs on getting started with XCP and OpenStack:

Xen and libvirt

It may possible to talk directly to Xen using libvirt.

However, it is easiest to get started using XenServer or XCP, because this approach is better tested and documented.

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